To be licensed as a licensed master social worker (LMSW) in New York State you must:
- be of good moral character as determined by the Department;
- be at least 21 years of age;
- meet education requirements;
- meet examination requirements; and
- complete coursework or training in the identification and reporting of child abuse offered by a New York State approved provider.
To be licensed as a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) in New York State you must:
- be of good moral character;
- be at least 21 years of age;
- have an education that includes a masters degree in social work (M.S.W.) with at least 12 semester hours of clinical coursework acceptable to the Department;
- have at least 3 years of post M.S.W. supervised experience in diagnosis, psychotherapy and assessment-based treatment planning acceptable to the Department;
- meet clinical examination requirements; and
- complete coursework or training in the identification and reporting of child abuse offered by a New York State approved provider.
Why LCSWs just have to be "of good moral character" and LMSWs need to be "of good moral character as determined by the Department" is one of life's beautiful, bureaucratic mysteries. Suffice it to say, licensed social workers are supposed to have clean-ish records, or very good excuses for their less-than-clean-ish records.
That's not a big issue for most of the people entering this particular helping profession. The bigger obstacles are the other ones--getting the degree, getting the supervised experience, passing the exam. It all takes a long time, but it's doable. Suit up, show up, watch time pass, get those signatures, pay that application money, get studied up, go in, pass that exam...and you're licensed. Congratulations!
Find more info about becoming a licensed social worker in New York at these sites:
And here's a series of videos from the New York NASW slowly walking you through the process. Enjoy!