Get Ready for 2025–2027 Licensure Renewal!

Get ready for the upcoming November 30th deadline for Illinois social work licensure renewal!

When Do I Need to Renew My License?

• Licensure Cycle: December 1, 2025, through November 20, 2027

• 2025–2027 Renewal Deadline: November 30, 2025

Regardless of when you receive your social work license in Illinois, most* social work licenses will expire on November 30, 2025, unless you renew your license. If you wish to maintain your LSW or LCSW license in Illinois for the licensure cycle beginning on December 1, 2025, through November 30, 2027, you must renew your license with the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation (IDFPR) by the November 30, 2025, deadline.

*If you obtain your license close to the November 30th deadline, check your license expiration date as the department may give you November 30, 2027, as your expiration date instead of November 30, 2025.

Not sure if you want to keep your license for another cycle? While we understand that extenuating circumstances make it difficult for people to fulfill requirements for licensure renewal, we at the NASW-Illinois Chapter ultimately do not recommend letting your license lapse. This is due to the excessive costs and effort required to restore a license after it has lapsed. Additionally, when you do reinstate/restore your license, it will only be reinstated/restored from the date the department grants reinstatement/restoration forward—that is, your license not be backdated for the period of time during which your license was lapsed.

In short, if you're even thinking about utilizing your license in the 2025–2027 licensure cycle, save the hassle and cost of reinstating your license and renew your license!

Where Do I Renew My License?

Approximately 2–3 months before the renewal deadline, IDFPR typically sends e-mail notifications to all Illinois social workers once the IDFPR Online Services Portal is open for license renewal. If you have completed all renewal requirements (see below), you may proceed with your renewal application at that time.

Please note: Failure to receive an e-mail from the department is not considered a valid excuse for missing the renewal deadline. We strongly recommend setting a personal reminder to begin the renewal process by November 1st.

TIP! Make sure you don't miss out on any alerts or news from the department by making sure your contact information is up to date with IDFPR. If you have an account in the IDFPR Online Services Portal, sign into your account and go to Online Services, then Account Information to update your mailing address (Address Change) and/or e-mail address (Update My Contact Info). If you do not have an account, you'll need to submit the IDFPR Name and Address Change Form via paper form. 

Do I Need to Fulfill Continuing Education Requirements?

If this is your first time renewing your license, you only need to renew your license. However, if this is your second or subsequent time renewing your license, you will need to fulfill continuing education requirements as required by the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation (IDFPR).

What Are the Continuing Education Requirements?

For all Illinois social workers renewing their license for the second or subsequent time, below is a list of the current IDFPR continuing education requirements for second or subsequent time licensure renewal. All requirements listed below are accurate at time of printing although they are subject to change by the department. As always, IDFPR remains the final arbiters for all licenses in Illinois. Be sure check their website for any updates. NASW-IL members get real-time notices about these changes as announced by IDFPR. To get these alerts which save YOU time and money, join/rejoin NASW today!

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IDFPR Continuing Education Requirements

Please note these requirements apply only to Illinois social workers who are renewing their licensed social worker (LSW) or licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) licenses for the second or subsequent time in Illinois.

1. Any remote program (e.g., self-study, book-study, or computer/online based course) must include an examination. If a remote program does not include an examination, it will not be accepted by IDFPR for CEUs.

   NOTE: Take a recorded course from the NASW Social Work Online CE Institute that didn't have an exam? Take our post-event Social Work Online CE Institute Exam for IL License to validate the course for Illinois. This form applies to Social Work Online CE Institute classes ONLY.

   
   

2. All renewing applicants must obtain a minimum of 30 hours of continuing education (CE) relevant to the practice of social work or clinical social work.

Of these 30 CE hours:

• Ethics: At least 3 hours must include content related to the ethical practice of social work.

• Cultural Competency: At least 3 hours must include content related to cultural competence in the practice of social work. Note: Effective January 1, 2024, Public Act 103-0531 requires that all licensed professionals must obtain at least 1 hour of continuing education in cultural competency. Because social workers are already required to obtain 3 CE hours in cultural competency, this new requirement is redundant (i.e., it doesn't increase the 3-hour CE requirement in cultural competency to 4 hours); however, the department may write rules that specify what content the one-hour cultural competency training must cover. If this comes to pass, we will update this page accordingly.

• Implicit Bias Awareness: At least 1 hour must include a training on implicit bias awareness that fulfills content-related requirements.

• Mandated Reporter Training with Implicit Bias: A mandated reporter training with a section on implicit bias is required for every social worker who works with children once every three licensure cycles (i.e., one in every six years). There is no timed element (e.g., one hour of CEUs) to fulfill this training requirement, nor does it have to be a CEU, but there are content-related requirements. See the "More About the Specialty CEU Requirements" section on our CEU Requirements page for more about this training requirements.

• Sexual Harassment Prevention Training: A sexual harassment prevention training is required for licensure renewal. You must complete at least one CEU hour of sexual harassment prevention training unless you have already taken a sexual harassment prevention training from your employer within the current licensure cycle, at which point there is no time or CEU requirement. All education must fulfill content-related requirements. To find out if the course you took fulfills requirements or are self-employed or unemployed but looking to maintain your license, see the "More About the Specialty CEU Requirements" section on our CEU Requirements page.

• Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias: The department requires a one-hour (minimum) training on the assessment and diagnosis, effective communication strategies, and management and care planning of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. This requirement must be fulfilled by all licensees renewing their social work license for the second time, and subsequently, by all licensees once every three licensure cycles afterwards (i.e., one in every six years). This requirement applies to all health care professionals who provide health care services to, and have direct patient interactions with, adult populations age 26 or older in the practice of their profession. This requirement applies to all who work with populations age 26 or older, no matter whether their clients are actively experiencing Alzheimer's disease or other dementias or not. See the "More About the Specialty CEU Requirements" section on our CEU Requirements page for more about this training requirements.

• Clinical Supervision (One-Time Requirement for LCSWs):

  Deadline: December 1, 2027

  All LCSWs are required to complete 6 hours of clinical supervision training by December 1, 2027 or on your second renewal if your second license renewal occurs after Dec. 1, 2027. This is a one-time requirement that must be fulfilled during the lifetime of your LCSW license. Once completed, it does not need to be repeated. While you are not required to complete all 6 hours in the current licensure cycle, you may choose to complete some or all of them now.

  • Please note: These hours may only be applied toward the 30 CEUs required for license renewal in the same renewal cycle in which they are completed.

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How Can I Keep Track of All These CEUs?

In order to help keep track of all continuing education requirements for LSW and LCSW licensure, we've created the NASW-Illinois Chapter Continuing Education Worksheet for 2023–2025 LSW/LCSW Licensure. Please note this worksheet is NOT an IDFPR-required document but rather a roadmap to help you fulfill all CE requirements. ALL REQUIREMENTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

Have More Questions?

For a complete list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) which clarifies more about CEU eligibility, remote programs, seeking waivers of CE requirements, requesting reprints of CEU certificates for NASW-IL trainings, and getting an event approved to provide CEUs, be sure to check out our complete FAQ on the NASW-IL CEU Requirements page .

Please note that all specific questions concerning licensure and individual licenses or a particular license application needs to be properly directed to IDFPR as they are ultimately the licensing board who approve of licenses for Illinois. The NASW-Illinois Chapter website also has a plethora of information relating to licensure, from supervision requirements, the licensing process, testing procedures, and more. Go to the NASW-IL Licensure page to read more.

>> One of the biggest benefits of NASW membership is consultation access for questions relating to the social work profession. Become a member today! https://www.socialworkers.org/nasw/join