What the Kentucky Board of Social Work requires to reach LCSW — supervised hours, exams, continuing education and renewal.
150 hours, not 200. A superseded version of 201 KAR 23:025 shows 200 supervision hours and a five-year out-of-state threshold. It is explicitly marked superseded. The current figures are 150 hours and a two-year threshold. Many third-party guides still publish 200 — they are out of date.
| Credential | Full name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| LSW | Licensed Social Worker | Bachelor's-level license. |
| CSW | Certified Social Worker | Master's level. |
| LCSW | Licensed Clinical Social Worker | The clinical license. |
| Supervised experience | Kentucky counts supervision hours and elapsed time rather than a total practice-hour figure |
| Supervision hours | 150 hours of clinical supervision, per 201 KAR 23:025 §3(1) |
| Supervision frequency | At least 2 hours of individual supervision every 2 weeks of clinical practice. |
| Minimum elapsed time | 2 years full-time post-master's, or 3 years part-time. Full-time means 30+ hours a week; part-time means 20+. Work under 20 hours a week does not count at all. |
| Direct client contact | At least 60% of weekly work must be direct work with clients. The board states this as a percentage, not an hour count. |
Kentucky accepts the ASWB Bachelors, Masters and Clinical categories, and does not accept Advanced Generalist.
There is no jurisprudence exam, but Kentucky does require a board-approved 3-hour course on the Kentucky Code of Ethical Conduct each renewal period. The board states explicitly that the NASW Code of Ethics course does not satisfy it.
LCSW and CSW: 30 hours per renewal period. LSW: 15 hours. Note that Kentucky's renewal cycle is 3 years, not the 2 most states use.
Easy to get wrong. Supervised experience must be earned as an employee, not as a 1099 contractor, and your supervisor must be a board-approved LCSW supervisor. Kentucky has no reciprocity with other states.
Kentucky has enacted the Social Work Licensure Compact. Thirty-three jurisdictions have. Enactment is not the same as availability: the Compact Commission has not opened applications and no multistate licenses have been issued yet. Until it goes live, licensure by endorsement remains the route into another state. Where the compact actually stands.
Primary authority: Kentucky Board of Social Work. Where anything on this page differs from the board, the board governs.
We do not publish fee amounts. Boards revise fee schedules without notice and a stale figure on a page people budget from is worse than no figure — use the board link above for current fees.
Requirements change. Confirm anything you intend to act on with the board before you apply. Tell us if something here is out of date and we will correct and re-date the page.
Last reviewed: October 2026 · Next scheduled review: January 2027
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