Supervision Requirements
Note: The best way to verify your professional social work supervised experience is directly related to clinical social work practice as defined in Section 3(5) of the Act is to contact the Illininois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR)
Supervision for the LSW
- BSWs must work for three (3) years under the supervision of an LCSW, LSW, or social worker with a similar certification (granted they are licensed in another state)
- MSWs do not need post-graduate supervised experience and may apply to sit for the exam immediately upon graduation
Professional Social Work Experience:
- Get a job in the social work field. It may be paid or volunteer work
- You must meet with your supervisor(s) a minimum of one hour per week
Supervision for the LCSW
- MSWs must work for 3,000 hours under the supervision of an LCSW
- PhDs/DSWs must work for 2,000 hours under supervision of an LCSW
- BSWs are ineligible for the LCSW
Professional Clinical Social Work Experience:
- Get a job in the social work field. It may be paid or volunteer work, but it must be practice experience (non-clerical). Your work must consist of client contact or administrative work directly related to client contact to count toward your licensure
- You may work part time (15-30 hrs/wk) or full time (30-40 hrs/wk)
- You must meet with your supervisor(s) a minimum of one hour per week to discuss client cases and treatment procedures
- You may have different supervisors at different times, provided they’re all licensed appropriately
- You may be supervised in groups of no more than 5 people at a time
- You may either have a supervisor who works for your employer or one you retain privately
