Social Work Licensure in Maryland: LCSW Requirements, Hours and Exams

Maryland issues four categories of license — bachelor social work (LBSW), master social work (LMSW), certified social work (LCSW) and certified social work–clinical (LCSW-C) — plus a conditional license for exam-unavailability periods.

The LCSW-C is the only license that authorizes clinical social work.

Maryland's plain LCSW is the certified, non-clinical license: it may not treat or diagnose without LCSW-C supervision and may not engage in private practice, and §19-101(g) defines it as licensed on or before December 31, 2023, so no new LCSW licenses are being issued.

That is the trap a relocating clinician should clear first: the same three letters name different tiers in different states, so check what a Maryland listing actually requires before applying.

LBSWs and LMSWs can add Board approval for independent, non-clinical practice on top of their license.

The LBSW requires a baccalaureate degree in social work from a program accredited by, or a candidate for accreditation with, the Council on Social Work Education; the LMSW requires a master's from a program accredited or in candidacy, or an equivalent organization approved by CSWE.

The LCSW-C adds a coursework gate on top of the master's in social work: documentation of 12 academic credits of clinical course work from a CSWE-accredited program, with a minimum of 6 of the 12 earned inside the master's degree program.

That transcript line is where applications stall — clinical concentration credits that sit in a bachelor's degree or outside the MSW do not satisfy the 6-in-the-master's minimum.

Candidate-status programs carry their own risk: the Board may not renew an LBSW or LMSW license for a degree from a candidate program that was denied accreditation (§19-308(f)).

The LCSW-C requires 2 years as a licensee with supervised experience of at least 3,000 hours, of which 1,500 hours are in face-to-face client contact, after receiving the master's degree, with a minimum of 100 hours of periodic face-to-face supervision in the assessment, formulation of a diagnostic impression, and treatment of behavioral health disorders and other conditions and the provision of psychotherapy.

For experience obtained in Maryland, the clock starts only once the LMSW is in hand.

Out-of-state candidates get their own shape: the experience must be performed in not less than 2 and not more than 6 consecutive years, and for compensation.

It must be direct service to clients — it may not consist solely of telephonic clinical assessment, triage, continued stay reviews or discharge planning.

Every applicant must pass an examination or examinations prescribed by the Board pertinent to the license sought, and the rule adds that the Board may use a national examination board such as the Association of Social Work Boards as its agent in examining applicants.

Which ASWB category attaches to each tier is not stated in the sources read — confirm with the Board before scheduling around a specific exam.

If an exam is unavailable for at least 15 business days, the Board may issue a conditional license to an LBSW or LMSW applicant who has met every requirement except the exam; the holder practices only under a Board-approved supervisor, and the Board reports to the legislature on exam unavailability each year beginning in 2024.

This is an exam-availability stopgap, not an exam alternative.

A supervisor must hold an active Maryland license as an LBSW, LCSW, LCSW-C or LMSW, as appropriate to what they supervise, and show supervision education — one CSWE graduate course in supervision, 12 hours of agency-sponsored supervision training, or 12 credit hours of continuing education in social work supervision — plus experience such as 18 months of active social work experience after obtaining an LCSW or LCSW-C.

For LCSW-C candidates the bar rises: the supervisor must hold a license comparable to the LCSW-C and specifically instruct the candidate in billing practices, the treatment of mental disorders and the provision of psychotherapy.

Group supervision is optional, can never be the sole form, is capped at six supervisees, and supplies at most half the required hours.

A relative may not provide supervision.

Whether supervision may be delivered remotely was not stated in the sources read — the teletherapy chapter was not among the documents read; ask the Board.

The statute writes the limits license by license.

An LBSW may not make a clinical diagnosis of a behavioral health or emotional disorder, provide psychotherapy, or engage in private practice, and may not practice independently without Board approval (§19-307(c)(1)).

The legacy LCSW, like the LMSW, may treat, diagnose and provide psychotherapy only under LCSW-C supervision and may not engage in private practice (§19-307(c)(3)).

The LCSW-C's practice includes the evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of biopsychosocial conditions and behavioral health disorders, petitioning for emergency evaluation, and the provision of psychotherapy (§19-101(n)(5)) — and private practice in Maryland means psychotherapy provided by an LCSW-C who assumes responsibility for the services, in exchange for direct payment or third-party reimbursement or on a pro bono basis as determined in regulations (§19-101(o)).

Independent-practice approval for an LBSW or LMSW is non-clinical by definition: it removes the requirement of supervision by another social worker for bachelor or master social work, never the clinical bars.

An out-of-state applicant for the LCSW-C must hold a license or registration in another state under a category equivalent to Maryland's certified social worker–clinical license, have passed an examination in that state as a condition of licensure, and show at least 1,000 hours of compensated social work practice per year for 5 of the 10 years before applying.

The rule then splits by career length: more than 5 years of clinical practice takes an active comparable clinical license plus §19-302.1, while less than 5 years takes Maryland's own LCSW-C requirements under §19-302(a) and (e), including the 12 academic credits of clinical course work.

Either way the 3,000 hours must have been performed in not less than 2 and not more than 6 consecutive years, for compensation, under a supervisor comparable to the LCSW-C.

The practice-volume test is the part relocating clinicians most often have to document from old payroll records.

Maryland enacted the Social Work Licensure Compact in 2025 Laws ch. 9 (House Bill 345), with companion ch. 10 (Senate Bill 174), adding Health Occ. §19-3A-01 under a new Interstate Social Work Licensure Compact subtitle.

The Governor approved the Act on April 8, 2025, and it took effect October 1, 2025, once its contingency — six additional states enacting substantially the same compact — was met.

Enacted is not operational: as of September 2026 the commission is not issuing multistate licenses in any state, so practicing in Maryland still takes a Maryland license by the standard route or the endorsement route above.

There is no launch date to plan a job search around; check the commission's jurisdiction list and the Board before relying on either status.

A license may not be renewed for a term longer than 2 years, and renewed licenses run November 1 through and including October 31.

Renewal takes 40 continuing education units — 30 for Licensed Bachelor Social Workers — with a minimum of 20 (15 for LBSWs) from approved Category I programs.

Inside those totals sit three named slices: 3 units on ethics and professional conduct (Category I or II), 3 on supervision for registered and Board-approved supervisors, and 3 Category I units with anti-oppressive social work practice content focusing on race, culture, or equity, a requirement added by the amendment effective December 11, 2023.

Units earned in one renewal period may not be carried over to the next.

The 3 anti-oppressive units are part of the Category I minimum, so check a course is Category I before counting it toward the total.

Three dated changes shape a Maryland file.

First, the certified social worker license closed: §19-101(g) defines it as licensed on or before December 31, 2023, and the enactment date of that sunset was not located in the sources read — the saved text is the statute only.

Second, the continuing-education rule was amended effective December 11, 2023, which is where the 3 anti-oppressive practice units enter the Category I requirement.

Third, COMAR 10.42.01.11, the endorsement and out-of-state experience rule, shows an amendment effective June 9, 2025; the saved text is the current wording and does not isolate what changed.

The compact itself arrived inside this window, effective October 1, 2025, though none of it has made multistate licenses available.

Two procedural rules are worth planning a start date around.

The Board must notify each applicant whether they are approved to take the pertinent licensure examination within 60 days from the date it received a completed application, and it must make a Board-approved examination for each category of license available at least twice a year at the times and places it determines.

A degree still in progress can be handled at application: an applicant expecting the applicable social work degree at the end of the semester may indicate the degree and its expected date on the Board's form (COMAR 10.42.01.06A(3)(b)), while candidates for the certified social worker–clinical and certified social worker exams must document their social work experience and supervision with the application (COMAR 10.42.01.06A(4)).