Michigan LLMSW Supervision Requirements

What Supervisory Review Means for an LLMSW

Michigan's rules define supervisory review as the limited master's social worker meeting with their Michigan-licensed supervisor, individually or in a group, during which active work functions and the supervisee's work records are reviewed (R 338.2921(1)(e)). That definition sets the content of a qualifying meeting: it reviews the supervisee's active work functions and work records, in the rule's words. Every hour counted toward the monthly rate below has to be supervisory review in this sense, whether it happens one on one or in a group.

4 Hours a Month, With 2 Individual

Supervisory review has to happen for at least 4 hours a month, with at least 2 of those hours conducted individually between the limited licensee and the supervisor, in person or by live telecommunication (R 338.2949(3)(c)). This is a rate, not a total: it applies to every month the limited licensee is earning hours, for as long as the limited license is held. There is no month where it can be skipped and made up later, and no rule that lets extra hours from one month cover a light month elsewhere.

The Three Ways to Meet the Rate

The rule gives three ways to conduct supervision: individually in person, individually by a telecommunications method that provides live and simultaneous contact, or in a group modality that provides for 50 percent of the supervision to include individual contact during which active work functions and records of the applicant are reviewed (R 338.2949(3)(b)). A group session by itself does not satisfy the rule unless at least half of that group time is spent on individual review. Methods can be combined across a month, as long as the total still reaches 4 hours, with at least 2 of them individual.

Who Is Allowed to Supervise an LLMSW

A supervisor has to be a Michigan-licensed master's social worker who holds the designation being supervised, clinical or macro, with a license in good standing throughout the supervision period (R 338.2949(2)). Clinical hours specifically require a supervisor holding the clinical designation (R 338.2953(b)(ii)); a macro-only LMSW is not eligible to sign off on clinical hours. The rules set no minimum years of practice and no supervision-training requirement for an LMSW supervisor, unlike Michigan's own counseling rules, which require LPC supervisors to complete specific training. The rules set no prohibited-relationship rule for this track.

For what separates the limited license from the full one, see LLMSW vs LMSW in Michigan, and for how the clinical designation compares to a credential some other states issue, see LMSW vs LCSW in Michigan.

The March 31, 2021 Rule on Out-of-State Supervisors

Limited licenses issued on or after March 31, 2021 must be supervised by a Michigan-licensed LMSW; there is no allowance for an out-of-state supervisor on a license issued after that date. Limited licenses issued before March 31, 2021 that have never lapsed may continue to earn supervision under an equivalent license from another state (form instructions; LLMSW guide FAQ 7). For most current limited licensees, that means confirming the supervisor holds an active Michigan LMSW license with the matching designation before supervision begins.

Supervision Counts Only While the LLMSW Is Held

Supervised work experience may only be earned while holding a Michigan limited master's of social work license (R 338.2949(3)(a)). Hours earned before the limited license issues do not count, and neither does work after the full license issues, because at that point the supervision requirement itself ends. The clinical hours also have to start after the graduation requirements are complete, as verified by the applicant's program (R 338.2953(b)(i)).

There Is No Total Supervision-Hour Requirement

Michigan does not set a total number of supervision hours for the LLMSW, the way it sets a 100-hour total on the counseling track. The only supervision rule for this track is the monthly rate: at least 4 hours, at least 2 of them individual. Any total is arithmetic, not a rule. 4 hours a month over 24 months, the minimum duration behind the 4,000-hour requirement, is 96 hours, a consequence of the rate and the timeline, not a stated figure (R 338.2949(1)(b); R 338.2949(3)(c)).

What the Supervisor Certifies on the Verification Form

Once the 4,000 hours are complete, each supervisor completes a page of the Supervisor's Verification of Social Work Experience for Master's Social Worker License (LARA/BPL-SOCIALWORKMASTERSVERIF, Rev. 10/24). On that page the supervisor certifies that the hours were accumulated in not less than 16 hours per week, not more than 40 hours per week, and not more than 2,080 hours in a calendar year, and that supervision included at least four hours of supervisory review a month with at least two hours of face-to-face individual supervision, plus any group supervision that provided for at least 50 percent individual contact. The supervisor then states the applicant's total hours and the beginning and ending dates. A separate form must be completed by each supervisor the limited licensee worked under.

Supervision for a Second Designation

An LMSW who already holds one designation and wants the other needs an additional 2,000 hours of post-degree social work experience, accrued over not less than 1 year, in the second specialty designated area, with at least 50 hours of supervisory review, plus the exam for that designation (R 338.2949(4)). The rule states that figure as a total for the second designation's 2,000 hours; it does not restate the monthly rate for that period.

Common Mistakes on Michigan LLMSW Supervision

Related Michigan Social Work Guides

FAQ: Michigan LLMSW Supervision Requirements