Social Worker and Social Worker Associate

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Licensing information - Apply for a license online or on paper, fees, licensing requirements, exam information and postgraduate supervision hours | Co-Occurring Disorder Specialist Enhancement | Committee information

Current Topics

  • 2SHB 1724 was signed into law effective immediately on May 11, 2023.
    • Changes are made to the licensing requirements for advanced social workers and independent clinical social workers. In addition, the following changes are made to licensing requirements for the professions
    • Advanced social workers: an applicant's doctoral degree may be from any university accredited by a recognized accrediting organization, instead of only the Council on Social Work Education. The supervised experience hours for all applicants are reduced from 3,200 hours to 3,000 hours. The requirement that at least 50 hours be supervised by a licensed advanced social worker or licensed independent clinical social worker is eliminated.
    • Independent social workers: an applicant's doctoral degree may be from any university accredited by a recognized accrediting organization, instead of only the Council on Social Work Education. The supervised experience hours for all applicants are reduced from 4,000 hours to 3,000 hours over two years instead of three years. The hours of experience that must be directly supervised are reduced from 130 hours to 100 hours.
  • Beginning January 1, 2021, health care professionals (excluding physicians) who are offering telemedicine services to patients, are required to complete telemedicine training. Please see the Department of Health policy statement with additional information related to this requirement (PDF) for more information.
    To learn more about the different training options available and access additional resources, please visit the Washington State Telehealth Collaborative Training page. To complete the free and publicly available telemedicine training, please select enroll and create a Canvas account to access the Washington State Medical Professional Telemedicine Training.
  • Take the Washington Health Workforce Survey
  • Information for providers whose credentials have been affected by a drug conviction.

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