Which jobs count toward LCSW hours in New York?

NYSED's list of acceptable settings

NYSED's requirements for supervised experience list these:

• A professional corporation, professional limited liability partnership or company (PLLC) authorized to provide services that include psychotherapy
• A sole proprietorship owned by a licensee, providing services within the scope of that license
• A program or service approved by OMH, OPWDD, OASAS, OCFS, DOCCS, the Department of Health, the State Office for the Aging, or a local social service or mental hygiene district
• A program or facility authorized under federal law, such as the Veterans Administration, to provide health services including psychotherapy
• A public elementary, middle or high school authorized by the Education Department to provide school social work services
• An entity exempt from the licensing requirements under New York law, or otherwise authorized under New York law

What the work has to be

Client-contact hours count when they are in diagnosis, psychotherapy and assessment-based treatment planning, under a qualified supervisor.

NYSED's FAQ says that to complete the supervised experience you must be licensed and registered as an LMSW, hold a limited permit to practice under supervision, or practice in an exempt setting. The regulation says New York experience must be gained as an LMSW or limited permit holder (8 NYCRR 74.3).

NYSED decides each application, and says it cannot determine anyone's qualifications by phone or email. If some of your weeks come before your LMSW, keep a careful, dated record of them.

Your own private practice

NYSED says a private practice owned or operated by the applicant is not lawful, and would not be an acceptable setting, for a limited permit holder.

How to check yours before you start

• Ask your employer which of the categories above it falls under, for example which state office licenses or approves the program
• Optional Form 6 ($10) lets NYSED review your supervisor and setting before your hours begin
• When in doubt, ask NYSED before the hours start, not after

Outside New York

Experience elsewhere must come after your MSW, in a setting authorized in that state, under a supervisor NYSED accepts. That supervisor also submits Form 4Q.