Chapter News

This step-by-step overview is designed to help first-time LCSW applicants prepare to complete the online LCSW license application.

With graduation season approaching, this step-by-step overview is designed to help first-time LSW applicants prepare early, submit quickly, and enter the profession alongside their peers.

While the NASW-Illinois Chapter is not the licensing board and cannot make final determinations about what the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation (IDFPR) will accept, we’ve created this quick guide to help you evaluate whether a course is likely to meet Illinois requirements.

NASW-Illinois Chapter membership dollars help us to devote staff time to provide clarification around many commonly asked questions about social work practice. As the largest membership association in Illinois advocating on behalf of social workers, consider adding your support to our efforts and join/renew your NASW membership today. With many new BSW and MSW social work students graduating and entering the workforce this spring, questions arise around whether they can beg

NASW-Illinois Chapter membership helps us to push for legislation that helps and supports the profession. As the largest membership association in Illinois advocating on behalf of social workers, consider adding your voice to our efforts and join/renew your NASW membership today. An updated version of the social work license application utilizing the alternative to the ASWB clinical exam for clinical (LCSW) licensure in Illinois has now been released by the Illinois Departm

One of the newer education requirements affecting the current licensure cycle ending on November 30, 2023, is the requirement of one-hour...

Update: The state officially removed the in-person requirement July 2023. To learn more goto: https://www.naswil.org/post/idfpr-officially-removes-in-person-ce-requirement This February, we shared news that Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation (IDFPR) officials informed us that a proposal had been drafted to entirely remove the in-person continuing education requirement from licensure renewal. The rule then entered a period for public comment, and we are

Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation (IDFPR) renewal requirements for the current 2021–2023 licensure cycle...

With the state of Illinois having an unprecedented number of new licensed social workers join the profession in 2022 due to the removal of the licensing examination as requirement for licensed social workers (LSWs), many are looking ahead to that next step in licensing—becoming a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW). LCSWs are authorized to independently practice clinical social work in Illinois under the auspices of an employer or in private practice. For questions about w

Regardless of when you first receive your license, every license shall expire on November 30 of each odd-numbered year. The next license...

As "reopening" continues and social workers and their clients become more mobile in their locations, social workers are ethically and legally responsible for understanding if they can continue utilizing telehealth services if they or their client leaves the state. While there is no easy answer for any situation, the NASW-Illinois Chapter has created a Telehealth Practice webpage for commonly asked questions pertaining to telehealth (excerpt shown below). It also provides a fl

Update: The state officially removed the in-person requirement July 2023. To learn more goto: https://www.naswil.org/post/idfpr-officially-removes-in-person-ce-requirement One of the most common questions we've been getting these days is whether the IDFPR in-person CEU requirement is still in effect. As of today, the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation (IDFPR) still requires in-person CEUs for 2023 licensure renewal. As with the previous 2019–2021 licen