Upon certification by the State Board of Licensed Social Workers, the Board shall authorize the issuance of provisional licenses to persons who have met all qualifications for licensure under provisions of the Social Worker's Licensing Act except passage of the required examination. Such persons shall, upon payment of the necessary fee and submission of documentation as required by the Board, be issued a provisional license subject to the following provisions:

1. If a person subsequently fails the examination, upon receipt and recording of the person's examination score by the Board, such person may retake the examination every ninety (90) days until the person passes, or until one (1) year from the date of issuance of the provisional license;

2. Upon receipt and recording of a person's passing score by the Board, the provisional license will be replaced by a permanent license; and

3. Upon a person's failure to pass the examination within one (1) year from the date the provisional license was issued, that license will be automatically revoked. A new application may be submitted by the individual who fails to pass the exam within one (1) year of their approval date, however, for the licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), licensed social worker with administration specialty (LSWAD), and licensed social worker (LSW), the applicant must be under board approved supervision prior to the submission of a new application requesting license.

a.Those seeking to re-apply for licensure past their provisional year must remain under supervision until such time the Board office confirms a passing score for the appropriate licensure exam.

b.If an applicant is unable to pass the appropriate licensure exam during the provisional year or two subsequent approval years, the applicant may not apply for licensure again until they have completed an additional 4000 hours of supervised practice with a Board approved supervisor. If completed by the applicant, the Board may approve up to two additional years of examination testing.

c.For all licensure levels, any applicant who fails to pass the exam after a total of five approval years permanently loses their application eligibility status.

Added by Laws 1982, c. 122, § 7, operative July 1, 1982. Amended by Laws 2003, c. 85, § 11, eff. Nov. 1, 2003; Laws 2006, c. 100, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2006; Laws 2014, c. 95, § 4, eff. Nov. 1, 2014.