Changing jobs or supervisors during your LCSW hours in New York

Do my hours still count?

NYSED says all client-contact hours in diagnosis, psychotherapy and assessment-based treatment planning may be counted toward licensure if they were appropriately supervised, and that the supervisor in each setting should record the client-contact and supervision hours.

So hours from each job can count, as long as each was in a setting NYSED accepts and under a qualified supervisor.

One Form 4B for each supervisor

Your supervisors verify your experience to NYSED on NYSED's forms (8 NYCRR 74.3). Each supervisor completes a Form 4B for the period they supervised you, so two supervisors mean two forms.

Does the clock start over?

No rule starts it over. Your 2,000 client-contact hours and 36 months are counted across your settings, and the whole period can last no more than six years (8 NYCRR 74.3). Time between jobs still passes inside that six-year limit.

Before you leave a job

• Agree with your supervisor on your hours so far, while the weeks are fresh
• Get a personal email or phone number for them that will still work after you or they move on
• Check that your next job is a setting NYSED accepts and that your next supervisor qualifies

If a supervisor has died

Another LCSW may complete Form 4B, giving your original supervisor's qualifications and the dates and frequency of supervision. A dated weekly record makes this possible.

If your next job is outside New York

The setting must be authorized in that state to provide the services, and NYSED reviews your supervisor's qualifications: that supervisor also submits Form 4Q.