How To Register As An Associate Clinical Social Worker

This post is written for people at least somewhat familiar with social work preparation and didactics. Thus, some terms & acronyms (eastward.g., 'supervision') are used without caption.

*Upon receiving my actual paperwork, I learned that the Associate Clinical Social Work (ASW) credintial "IS NOT A LICENSE, Information technology IS A REGISTRATION." This makes it clear that ASWs are not withal licensed for private/private practice.

If you're a social worker or trainee, you know that school is non enough, past itself. In most states, in order to legally call yourself a social worker, you take to have a license (yes, even if y'all're non a clinical social worker, which is problematic). Some people balk at this merely think nigh information technology: social workers are responsible for people's lives in fields including didactics, community work, constabulary, medicine, and private practice. Would YOU go to a lawyer or doctor who wasn't licensed? Yep…

That said, I have no idea where I will terminate up after I finish my PhD, but I'm definitely leaving Illinois. Withal, I finished my MSW in 2014 & I'll be here** long enough to work on my LCSW license. So certain, why not? Well, information technology turns out the licensing process and titles vary (sometimes WIDELY) by state and reciprocity is not guaranteed. Yay.

California is definitely on the list of potential relocation sites and there's enough reason to get set up there:

they don't accept whatsoever other country'southward credentials***;
they have the about stringent (and sometimes confusing) requirements; AND
pretty much any country volition accept their credentials.

(FYI: the ASWB (Association of Social Work Boards) has a land-past-state directory of licensure requirements here. And randomly, Nicole Clark wrote well-nigh passing her licensing exam in New York.)

So, first things, first, become familiar with the website for the California Board of Behavioural Sciences (BBS), which oversees licensure for behavioural health professionals. For the purposes of this post and my electric current status, I will focus on the ASW application (PDF) because this is where you lot accept to kickoff in California (many other states also have graduate-level licensure that may or may non be mandatory). Notation: I was trying to hustle a little chip, so I did every step below. Technically, you can choose to skip footstep 3 until you're ready to sit down for the LCSW exam.

Pace 1: Requestofficial transcripts from undergrad to present/most recent school TO Be SENT TO Yous.
- Yes, Bulletin board system accepts undergraduate coursework for their educational activity requirements!
- Do not ship your transcripts directly to BBS, they won't know what to practice with them.

Footstep ii: Request fingerprint cards from BBS (will launch your email client)
- Everyone has to be printed merely people who live outside California will demand to request hard copies.
- Nearly police stations will print y'all for free but you have to employ Bbs' cards because they are specially marked
- Provide the BBS with your name, mailing address, & say that you're applying for the ASW.

Step 3 (optional): Gather all your syllabi, starting with undergrad
- If you don't have all the syllabi, reach out to the authoritative assistants in the appropriate departments.
- Compare your coursework to the LCSW teaching requirements (feel gratuitous to use this spreadsheet)
- Although this technically isn't necessary at this stage, you'll take to send off a pretty thick packet of stuff just for the ASW, so y'all might besides practice information technology all at once & relieve a couple of dollars.
  - NOTE: I learned the hard manner that Bbs will non evaluate your coursework for satisfaction of the LCSW requirements until you utilise for the LCSW. This office sucks for financial reasons (see below) only ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ so at least look until you've completed your initial CEUs before sending things off.
  - If you're still in school, you can utilise that list to plan the residue of your courses.

Screen Shot 2015-12-26 at 02.39.48

Stride 4: Find an approved continuing education provider (PDF) & take the 18-hour class on California Law & Professional Ethics
- WARNING: that list is 37 pages and many of the 'websites' are actually email addresses.
- My first choice provider lost approval recently (as did quite a few others), and so I used Aspira Continuing Education. It was $69 for the 18-hour form but they do offer an unlimited packet for $129, so if you looked at your coursework and found that you for sure demand more than than xviii CEUs, get ahead & sign upwards for that i.
- I looked at the test and found that I didn't actually need to exercise much studying, because it'southward not like the professional ideals I learned are any different merely because the work is happening in California. In that location were a few stats and other specifics that I did demand to learn but that was no biggie.

Step 5: Print out your paperwork (I included my coursework spreadsheet to make friends with the people in the part) & postal service it off!

And that's it! From hither, you just expect for a response from BBS. But let's be honest: I 'cheated'. They have this online system (BreEZe) that will allow you to expect upward licenses. I haven't gotten anything in the mail service, simply I plain was awarded my license on December 21, 2015:

Screen Shot 2015-12-24 at 17.18.00

This means I tin now find a task and start earning supervision hours. The Bulletin board system provides clear rules and documentation forms to ensure that you follow their requirements for supervision, and then be sure to check those out. In that location's also an FAQ for ASW applicants that yous should cheque out.

If y'all have any questions (or Chicago social worker job leads), let me know in the comments!

**A side note: I live and am going to school in Illinois. The licensure process here is actually quite easy: graduate from an accredited plan, go 3000 hours of supervision over at to the lowest degree 1.5 years, accept your records reviewed for pre-approval, then sit for the LCSW exam. Y'all tin can sit for the LSW (a generalist exam) but it is not necessary to have that credential to sit down for the LCSW, so many people choose to save a few hundred dollars by skipping it. However, several people have told me that it does assistance to take the LSW when you're on the job market.

*** There is a way you can get your out of state license accustomed in California just information technology involves dissimilar requirements at varying tiers of experience (starting at four years) I will admit I didn't study information technology in-depth since I'm just starting out. That link volition tell you more.