News  Practicing While a License Application is Pending

The Board of Social Workers reminds applicants that under 258 CMR 9.02(3) an applicant is permitted to practice social work while the applicant’s application for licensure is pending, if the following conditions are met:

1. the applicant’s application has not been finally approved or denied by the Board;

2. the applicant has been approved to take the examination at the level of licensure for which the applicant applied and has not previously failed that examination more than once;

3. the applicant works under the direct personal supervision of a Massachusetts Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) or Licensed Certified Social Worker (LCSW), or an individual who meets the requirements for licensure as an LICSW or LCSW but is exempt from the licensure requirement because the individual practices social work exclusively as an employee of the Commonwealth or a county or municipal government located within the Commonwealth, and licensure is not required by some other applicable provision of law; and

4. the applicant, while performing social work services, is at all times designated as a “social work intern” or “social work trainee” or by a similar title indicating the applicant’s training status, and the applicant does not use any title or description that states or implies that the applicant is licensed to practice social work in Massachusetts.

An applicant who is already licensed may continue to practice social work within the scope of that license regardless of the status of that applicant’s application for licensure at a different level.