| Minimum of 50 hours must be one-on-one supervision: | Up to 50 remaining hours may be other types of supervision: |
|
|
| Minimum of 100 hours must be one-on-one supervision: | Up to 100 remaining hours may be other types of supervision: |
|
|
The amount of licensing supervision required depends your license type and whether you practice in a nonclinical or a clinical setting:
No, licensing supervision and social work practice go hand-in-hand, so you do not need to receive licensing supervision if you do not have a social work position. For example, if you are unemployed, on leave, or working in a non-social work job, you do not need to receive licensing supervision. When you complete your license renewal application, you will be asked to provide information about any time during your license renewal term when you were not practicing social work in Minnesota.
If you are not sure if a position is social work practice, go to When is a License Required? and review the definitions of social work practice and clinical social work practice in Minnesota Statutes section 148E.010, subdivisions 11 and 6. Keep in mind that even if your employer doesn't require a license, your job title is not social worker, or your job does not require direct client contact, your position may still be considered social work practice by law, in which case you are required to be licensed and comply with supervised practice requirements.
Clinical social work practice is defined in Minnesota Statutes section 148E.010, subdivision 6.
Clinical practice means applying professional social work knowledge, skills, and values in the differential diagnosis and treatment of psychosocial function, disability, or impairment, including addictions and emotional, mental, and behavioral disorders. Treatment includes a plan based on a differential diagnosis. Treatment may include, but is not limited to, the provision of psychotherapy to individuals, couples, families, and groups. Clinical social workers may also provide the services described in the definition of practice of social work.
Only LICSWs may practice clinical social work independently (without licensing supervision). LGSWs and LISWs are authorized to practice clinical social work but must comply with clinical supervised practice requirements. LSWs are not authorized to practice clinical social work.
Supervision Plan and Supervision Verification forms are used to report your licensing supervision to the Board, which are like bookends—a Supervision Plan form tells the Board that you have started social work practice and are receiving supervision, while a Supervision Verification form reports the supervised practice hours you have completed.
You are required to submit a Supervision Plan form within 60 days of beginning a social work position to report your plan for licensing supervision to the Board. A Supervision Plan form reports your employment details, who will be providing your supervision, how many hours and what types of supervision each supervisor will provide, and so on. Your supervisor or supervisors need to complete a section of the Supervision Plan form to attest to the supervision they will provide to you. You also need to submit a new Supervision Plan within 60 days of any changes to your supervision or practice so the Board has your most up-to-date plan, for example, if you start receiving supervision from a new supervisor, if you start a new job, or if you change the amount or type of supervision you will be receiving.
You need to submit Supervision Verification forms when you renew your license or when you apply for either an LISW or LICSW. Supervision Verification forms are required at the time of license renewal to show the Board that you have been receiving licensing supervision during your past renewal term, so you need to submit Supervision Verification forms at license renewal even if you have not completed your supervised practice requirement yet. You will submit additional Supervision Verification forms for any time periods, social work positions, or supervisors not already on file with the Board at subsequent license renewals or if you apply for an LISW or LICSW to show that you have completed supervised practice requirements.
You can also submit Supervision Verification forms at any time if you stop receiving supervision from a particular supervisor to avoid having to contact a former supervisor at the time of a future license renewal or application, but the Board will not review Supervision Verification forms until license renewal or application for LISW or LICSW.
Review the information under the Documenting Supervision tab above for more details on submitting supervision forms.
For Supervision Plan forms submitted to report your plan for licensing supervision to the Board:
For Supervision Verification forms submitted to report supervised practice you have completed:
You need to submit Supervision Verification forms to report the supervised practice that you have completed to the Board. Supervision Verification forms are only required—and will only be reviewed by the Board—at the time of license renewal or if you apply for an LISW or LICSW, so it is your responsibility to keep track of your supervised practice in the interim.
If you are an LGSW or LISW practicing clinical social work, supervised practice is an ongoing requirement until you obtain an LICSW, so you need to maintain supervision until your LICSW is granted even after you have completed the requirements to be eligible for an LICSW.
If you are unable to get in touch with a former supervisor to complete a Supervision Verification form to document licensing supervision you received, the Board may accept alternative verification of supervised practice, which must include a detailed description of the efforts made to locate the previous supervisor and the outcome as well as alternative verification of supervision which may include, but is not limited to:
A licensing supervisor can be someone within your agency or employer or outside of it. Your licensing supervisor does not need to be your administrative supervisor at your job but can be someone that you contract with for the specific purpose of supervision. Utilize your professional network to find a licensing supervisor—you might consider a partner agency, a professional organization, or perhaps your academic institution as resources. You can also use the Board's Public License Lookup to search for eligible licensing supervisors, however, keep in mind this resource is only intended to provide a list of licensed social workers who have attested to meeting the requirements to provide licensing supervisor and does not mean the individual is available to provide licensing supervision.
Up to 25% of your supervised practice requirement may be provided by an alternate licensing supervisor, which is a "mental health professional" as defined in Minnesota Statutes sections 245.462 and 245.4871 who is qualified to provide supervision according to their licensing board, including:
