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WACs > Title 246 > Chapter 246-809 > Section 246-809-320











246-809-310    

246-809-321







Agency filings affecting this section







WAC 246-809-320









Education requirements and supervised postgraduate experience.









(1) The following are the education requirements for the social worker applicant's practice area:
(a) Licensed advanced social worker or licensed social worker associate-advanced. Graduation from a master's or doctoral social work educational program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education and approved by the secretary based upon nationally recognized standards.
(b) Licensed independent clinical social worker or licensed social worker associate-independent clinical. Graduation from a master's or doctorate level social work educational program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education and approved by the secretary based upon nationally recognized standards.
(2) The following are the supervised postgraduate experience requirements for the social worker applicant's practice area:
(a) Licensed advanced social worker. Successful completion of a supervised experience requirement. The experience requirement consists of a minimum of three thousand two hundred hours with ninety hours of supervision by a licensed independent clinical social worker or a licensed advanced social worker who has been licensed or certified for at least two years. Of those hours, fifty hours must include direct supervision by a licensed advanced social worker or licensed independent clinical social worker; the other forty hours may be with an equally qualified licensed mental health practitioner. Forty hours must be in one-to-one supervision and fifty hours may be in one-to-one supervision or group supervision. Distance supervision is limited to forty supervision hours. Eight hundred hours must be in direct client contact.
(b) Licensed independent clinical social worker. Successful completion of a supervised experience requirement. The experience requirement consists of a minimum of four thousand hours of experience, of which one thousand hours must be direct client contact, over a three-year period supervised by a licensed independent clinical social worker, with supervision of at least one hundred thirty hours by a licensed mental health practitioner. Of the total supervision, seventy hours must be with an independent clinical social worker; the other sixty hours may be with an equally qualified licensed mental health practitioner. Sixty hours must be in one-to-one supervision and seventy hours may be in one-to-one supervision or group supervision. Distance supervision is limited to sixty supervision hours.
(3) Licensed social worker associate-advanced and licensed social worker associate-independent clinical applicants are not required to have supervised postgraduate experience prior to becoming an associate.
(4) Licensed social worker associate-advanced and licensed social worker associate-independent clinical applicants must declare they are working toward full licensure.
[Statutory Authority: Chapter 18.225 RCW. WSR 09-15-039, § 246-809-320, filed 7/8/09, effective 7/8/09. Statutory Authority: RCW 18.225.040 and [18.225.]090. WSR 06-18-043, § 246-809-320, filed 8/30/06, effective 9/30/06. Statutory Authority: 2001 c 251, RCW 43.70.250. WSR 01-17-113, § 246-809-320, filed 8/22/01, effective 9/22/01.]