Social worker licensure

AN ACT Relating to alternative routes to social worker licensure; 1
and amending RCW 18.225.090. 2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:3
Sec. 1. RCW 18.225.090 and 2025 c 58 s 1003 are each amended to 4
read as follows: 5
(1) The secretary shall issue a license to any applicant who 6
demonstrates to the satisfaction of the secretary that the applicant 7
meets the following education and experience requirements for the 8
applicant's practice area. 9
(a) Licensed social work classifications: 10
(i) Licensed advanced social worker: 11
(A) Graduation from a master's social work educational program 12
accredited by the council on social work education or a social work 13
doctorate program at a university accredited by a recognized 14
accrediting organization, and approved by the secretary based upon 15
nationally recognized standards; 16
(B) ((Successful completion of an approved examination;17
(C))) Successful completion of a supervised experience 18
requirement. The supervised experience requirement consists of a 19
minimum of 3,000 hours with supervision by an approved supervisor who 20
has been licensed for at least two years. Of those supervised hours:21
S-3746.1
SENATE BILL 6060
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senators Orwall, Hasegawa, Nobles, and C. Wilson
Prefiled 01/09/26. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on Health & Long-Term Care.
p. 1 SB 6060
(I) At least 90 hours must include direct supervision as 1
specified in this subsection by a licensed independent clinical 2
social worker, a licensed advanced social worker, or an equally 3
qualified licensed mental health professional. Of those hours of 4
directly supervised experience at least 40 hours must be in one-to-5
one supervision and 50 hours may be in one-to-one supervision or 6
group supervision; and 7
(II) 800 hours must be in direct client contact; and8
(((D))) (C) Successful completion of continuing education 9
requirements established in rule by the secretary in consultation 10
with the committee, including a minimum number of hours in 11
professional ethics. 12
(ii) Licensed independent clinical social worker:13
(A) Graduation from a master's level social work educational 14
program accredited by the council on social work education or a 15
social work doctorate program at a university accredited by a 16
recognized accrediting organization, and approved by the secretary 17
based upon nationally recognized standards; 18
(B) Successful completion of an approved examination or, in lieu 19
of examination, successful completion of enhanced supervision with an 20
attestation of the applicant's skill and safety to practice from an 21
approved supervisor described in (a)(ii)(C) of this subsection. The 22
enhanced supervision requirement may be used to fulfill the minimum 23
3,000 hours of experience required under (a)(ii)(C) of this 24
subsection; 25
(C) Successful completion of a supervised experience requirement. 26
The supervised experience requirement consists of a minimum of 3,000 27
hours of experience, over a period of not less than two years, with 28
supervision by an approved supervisor who has been licensed for at 29
least two years and, as specified in this subsection, may be either a 30
licensed independent clinical social worker who has had at least one 31
year of experience in supervising the clinical social work of others 32
or an equally qualified licensed mental health practitioner. Of those 33
supervised hours: 34
(I) At least 1,000 hours must be direct client contact; and35
(II) Hours of direct supervision must include:36
(1) At least 100 hours by a licensed mental health practitioner;37
(2) At least 70 hours of supervision with a licensed independent 38
clinical social worker meeting the qualifications under this 39
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subsection (1)(a)(ii)(C); the remaining hours may be supervised by an 1
equally qualified licensed mental health practitioner; and2
(3) At least 60 hours must be in one-to-one supervision and the 3
remaining hours may be in one-to-one supervision or group 4
supervision; and 5
(D) Successful completion of continuing education requirements 6
established in rule by the secretary in consultation with the 7
committee, including a minimum number of hours in professional 8
ethics. 9
(b) Licensed mental health counselor: 10
(i)(A) Graduation from a master's or doctoral level educational 11
program in counseling that consists of at least 60 semester hours or 12
90 quarter hours, or includes at least 60 semester hours or 90 13
quarter hours of graduate coursework that includes the following 14
topic areas: 15
(I) Mental health counseling orientation and ethical practice;16
(II) Social and cultural diversity; 17
(III) Human growth and development; 18
(IV) Career development; 19
(V) Counseling and helping relationships; 20
(VI) Group counseling and group work; 21
(VII) Diagnosis and treatment; 22
(VIII) Assessment and testing; and 23
(IX) Research and program evaluation; or 24
(B) Graduation from a master's or doctoral level educational 25
program in a related discipline from a college or university approved 26
by the secretary based upon nationally recognized standards. An 27
applicant who satisfies the educational requirements for licensure 28
under this subsection (1)(b)(i)(B) is not qualified to exercise the 29
privilege to practice under the counseling compact established in 30
chapter 18.17 RCW unless the master's or doctoral level educational 31
program in a related discipline consists of at least 60 semester 32
hours or 90 quarter hours, or includes at least 60 semester hours or 33
90 quarter hours of graduate coursework that includes the topic areas 34
specified in (b)(i)(A)(I) through (IX) of this subsection;35
(ii) Successful completion of an approved examination;36
(iii) Successful completion of a supervised experience 37
requirement. The experience requirement consists of a minimum of 36 38
months full-time counseling or 3,000 hours of postgraduate mental 39
health counseling under the supervision of a qualified licensed 40
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mental health counselor or equally qualified licensed mental health 1
practitioner, in an approved setting. The 3,000 hours of required 2
experience includes a minimum of 100 hours spent in immediate 3
supervision with the qualified licensed mental health counselor, and 4
includes a minimum of 1,200 hours of direct counseling with 5
individuals, couples, families, or groups; and 6
(iv) Successful completion of continuing education requirements 7
established in rule by the secretary in consultation with the 8
committee, including a minimum number of hours in professional 9
ethics. 10
(c) Licensed marriage and family therapist: 11
(i) Graduation from a master's degree or doctoral degree 12
educational program in marriage and family therapy or graduation from 13
an educational program in an allied field equivalent to a master's 14
degree or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy approved by 15
the secretary based upon nationally recognized standards;16
(ii) Successful passage of an approved examination;17
(iii) Successful completion of a supervised experience 18
requirement. The experience requirement consists of a minimum of 19
3,000 hours of marriage and family therapy. Of the total supervision, 20
100 hours must be with a licensed marriage and family therapist with 21
at least two years' clinical experience; the other 100 hours may be 22
with an equally qualified licensed mental health practitioner. Total 23
experience requirements include: 24
(A) 1,000 hours of direct client contact; at least 500 hours must 25
be gained in diagnosing and treating couples and families; plus26
(B) At least 200 hours of qualified supervision with a 27
supervisor. At least 100 of the 200 hours must be one-on-one 28
supervision, and the remaining hours may be in one-on-one or group 29
supervision. 30
Applicants who have completed a master's program accredited by 31
the commission on accreditation for marriage and family therapy 32
education of the American association for marriage and family therapy 33
may be credited with 500 hours of direct client contact and 100 hours 34
of formal meetings with an approved supervisor; and35
(iv) Successful completion of continuing education requirements 36
established in rule by the secretary in consultation with the 37
committee, including a minimum number of hours in professional 38
ethics. 39
p. 4 SB 6060
(2) The department shall establish by rule what constitutes 1
adequate proof of meeting the criteria. Only rules in effect on the 2
date of submission of a completed application of an associate for her 3
or his license shall apply. If the rules change after a completed 4
application is submitted but before a license is issued, the new 5
rules shall not be reason to deny the application. 6
(3) In addition, applicants shall be subject to the grounds for 7
denial of a license or issuance of a conditional license under 8
chapter 18.130 RCW. 9
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