Social Work Licensure in New Hampshire: LCSW Requirements, Hours and Exams

New Hampshire issues three social work licenses: the Licensed Social Work Associate (LSWA), the Licensed Social Worker (LSW) and the Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW), plus a school social worker license and conditional licenses for each tier.

The independent clinical license carries LICSW initials; no license titled LCSW appears among them.

Where the statutes do say licensed clinical social worker, as the supervision clauses do, RSA 330-A:2, VII resolves it: for purposes of the chapter, the term clinical social worker shall include independent clinical social worker.

The surprise is the LSW: a bachelor's-level license whose statutory scope is the screening, assessment, treatment planning, and treatment of mental health conditions, including preliminary diagnoses for confirmation by an appropriate professional.

That scope starts supervised: during the first 2 years of licensure an LSW may practice only under clinical supervision, and the supervising clinician signs off on any clinical diagnostic assessment and treatment plan.

The LSWA holds the same treatment scope but practices under supervision for as long as the license is held.

The LICSW is the clinical and independent tier.

The LICSW stacks two degrees: a college undergraduate degree, then a 2-year master's or doctorate degree in social work from a school approved by the Council on Social Work Education.

The rule adds a content test: the graduate degree must be a 2-year clinical graduate degree, with course work primarily related to clinical social work in at least 5 of 9 listed areas, from theories of psychopathology to methods of casework or clinical interventions.

A graduate of a non-clinical-concentration MSW program should check their transcript against that list before applying.

The LSW requires a bachelor's degree in social work from a CSWE-approved college or university, plus 300 hours of social work or mental health education and 300 hours of supervised practical training.

The LSWA accepts an associate's or bachelor's degree in listed fields, with the same 300-hour pair.

What separates the LICSW from the LSW is the post-master's hours and the clinical exam, not more coursework.

The statute requires a minimum of 2 years of post-masters experience including 3,000 hours of post-masters supervised clinical experience.

The rule defines the unit: a year of supervised clinical work experience must be at least 1,500 hours completed within not less than 12 and not more than 24 months, for the 3,000-hour total.

Supervision rides on top: a minimum of one hour per week of individual face-to-face supervision for a total of 100 hours, and the supervision must be completed between 2 and 4 years from the date the approved supervision began.

Read together, the hours cannot be compressed below 2 years, and a plan that drifts past 4 years is out of rule.

Hours accumulated before the clinical graduate degree was conferred do not count, and your own independent private mental health practice is not an acceptable setting.

A current MLADC may substitute their experience for up to 1,500 hours of the 3,000 and up to 50% of the face-to-face supervision hours.

Every LICSW applicant must pass the clinical level exam distributed by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) and have the results sent directly to the OPLC.

The gate before it: applicants must have worked under board approved supervision for at least 18 months prior to taking the examination, documented on the Request To Sit form with the Supervisor's Confirmation of Clinical Experience Form.

The LSW sits the ASWB bachelors level examination under Mhp 307.

The LSWA takes a different instrument: a uniform competence assessment examination of social work knowledge, skills, and abilities approved by the New Hampshire board, written into the statute itself rather than drawn from the ASWB categories.

A master's-level candidate should plan the clinical exam around the 18-month supervision mark, not the day the 3,000 hours finish.

The statute names the supervisors: a board approved licensed independent clinical social worker or licensed clinical mental health counselor supervisor, or any other supervisor under criteria the board establishes in rule.

The supervisor rule sets the bar: a graduate level course in clinical supervision, or a clinical supervision certificate approved by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, the National Association of Social Workers, the American Mental Health Counselors Association or the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, plus 12 continuing education hours in clinical supervision before entering the supervision relationship.

The supervisor must be licensed in New Hampshire and have practiced clinically in the state for at least 2 years, must not be related to the candidate or hold a dual relationship, and may supervise no more than 8 candidates at once.

The supervision agreement goes on record with the board, and the supervisor assumes professional, ethical, and legal responsibility for the candidate's services.

Sessions may be on site where services are delivered, at a mutually convenient and ethically appropriate site, or using a virtual HIPAA compliant platform.

Two of the licenses carry treatment scope.

The LSW's statutory scope covers clinical evaluation, treatment planning and case management referrals, counseling including crisis prevention and intervention, and preliminary mental health disorder diagnoses for further assessment and confirmation by an appropriate professional.

For the first 2 years of licensure that work is supervised and countersigned; what applies to an LSW after those 2 years is not stated in the statutes read.

The LSWA holds the same list of services but only under clinical supervision for as long as the license is held.

For LICSW hours, the setting rules bite: no hours before the degree was conferred, never your own independent private practice, and, for supervised experience in a private practice, a W-2 relationship with the site.

A 1099 independent contractor relationship does not meet the requirement, so an associate weighing a contract role at a private practice should check how they will be paid before signing, because those hours would not count.

The application rules do include a track for those licensed in another state: applicants who meet the substantially similar qualifications for licensure by endorsement as required by Plc 313.37 apply for initial licensure through the standard process.

The rule that would give those words content, Plc 313.37, was not among the sources read, so what substantially similar means for an LICSW applicant, which exam transfers, and whether supervised hours carry over are not stated in the sources read.

Ask the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification what Plc 313.37 requires before assuming credit for your exam or hours.

The compact below is the future multistate route, and it is not issuing licenses yet.

New Hampshire enacted the Social Work Licensure Compact: RSA 330-A:18-e adopts its provisions, effective July 1, 2024, and the commission's jurisdiction list includes New Hampshire as of September 2026.

Enactment is not the same as mobility.

The commission has reached activation status, but it is not yet issuing multistate licenses, and it estimates its data system will be complete in spring 2027 rather than naming a launch date.

Until multistate licenses begin, practicing in New Hampshire still takes a New Hampshire license by the routes above.

Check both the commission's list and the OPLC before relying on either status.

The CE cycle runs every 2 years.

Mhp 402.01, which covers the LICSW alongside the chapter's other independent practitioners, requires 40 hours of approved continuing education: at least 30 from Category A, at least 6 in ethics, at least 3 in suicide prevention, and no more than 10 from Category B.

A board-approved supervisor adds at least 6 Category A hours in clinical supervision.

The LSW completes 30 hours every 2 years, including at least 3 in ethics and 3 in suicide prevention; the LSWA completes 10 hours, with the same 3-and-3.

On top of CE, every licensee completes 40 hours of collaboration every 2 years: small group meetings among licensed practitioners, supervision or consultation with another licensed practitioner, study groups, and consultation with recognized experts, documented by the licensee.

Renewal itself follows the Plc 308 process the rules cite; the sources read do not restate its deadlines, so confirm your expiration date with the OPLC.

The window's changes cluster at both ends.

In statute: RSA 330-A:18, the LICSW qualifications including the MLADC substitution, was amended effective July 1, 2024 and again September 13, 2025.

RSA 330-A:18-c, the LSWA statute, was amended effective July 13, 2025.

RSA 330-A:18-d, the conditional licenses, was amended effective October 3, 2023, July 1, 2024 and September 13, 2025.

The compact statute took effect July 1, 2024.

In rule: Document #13786, effective December 19, 2023, adopted the Mhp 302.03 Supervisor Requirement.

The current Mhp 304.01-.03 carry a source note of Document #14464, effective February 17, 2026 and expiring February 17, 2036.

Mhp 307, the LSW rules, carry Document #13903, effective May 14, 2024.

The CE and collaboration rules carry Document #14273, effective August 19, 2025.

The saved texts are the current wording; the source notes give dates, not what each amendment changed.

Supervised practice runs in two legal shells.

The first is the candidate for licensure: candidate and supervisor file a supervision agreement with the board, which approves it and holds the supervisor responsible for the candidate's services (RSA 330-A:22).

The statute then adds conditional licenses for the LICSW, school social worker, LSW and LSWA routes: the degree their route requires (a CSWE master's or doctorate for the LICSW and school social worker, a CSWE bachelor's for the LSW, the listed associate's or bachelor's fields for the LSWA), plus, on the LSWA route, 300 hours of education and 300 supervised practical training hours, a board approved supervisory agreement with documented intent to pursue licensure, and, on the school social worker route, intent to pursue licensure as a clinical social worker (RSA 330-A:18-d, I(b)(2)) — a bridge toward clinical licensure, not the school social worker license.

Upon approval the OPLC issues the conditional license, the holder is subject to board jurisdiction, and the license is valid for no more than 2 years with a one-time renewal for applicants in good standing.