2025 Session Last amended: 2022 session

§ 148E.110 — Licensed Independent Social Workers; Supervised Practice

Plain-Language Summary

This section sets the supervised practice requirements for licensed independent social workers (LISW). An LISW who does not practice clinical social work needs no supervision after licensure. An LISW who does practice clinical social work must complete 200 hours of supervision over 4,000 to 8,000 hours of clinical practice including 1,800 direct client contact hours, supervised by a licensed independent clinical social worker (LICSW), before they can apply for an LICSW license.

Practical Notes
An LISW who works only in non-clinical social work is fully independent with no supervision requirements. However, if they want to do clinical work, they enter a supervised clinical pathway similar to LGSWs. This is a major career decision—clinical practice requires years of supervised experience and passing the clinical exam before independent practice is allowed.