What Is an LSWAIC in Washington?

What the LSWAIC License Is

The statute's title-protection list restricts the title to someone licensed by the Department of Health as a "licensed social work associate-independent clinical" (RCW 18.225.020). Washington's own rules render the same title one word differently, "licensed social worker associate-independent clinical" (chapter 246-809 WAC). The Department of Health's licensee data set labels the credential type "Social Worker Associate Independent Clinical License," and the department's supervisor directory listings sometimes shorten it further to "LICSWA." All three refer to the same license.

An LSWAIC holds a Council on Social Work Education-accredited master's degree, or a social work doctorate from an accredited university (WAC 246-809-320(2)), and submits a declaration that they are working toward full licensure (RCW 18.225.145(1)). No supervised experience is required before becoming an associate (WAC 246-809-330(3)); the hours come after the license issues. Data.wa.gov listed 3,983 active LSWAIC holders statewide as of its September 20, 2026 update, alongside 9,826 active LICSW holders.

What an LSWAIC Can and Cannot Do

An LSWAIC is "a prelicensure candidate who is working towards full licensure in their profession, has a graduate degree in a mental health field ... and is gaining the supervision and supervised experience necessary to become" an LICSW. The same definition is direct about the limit: "Associates may not independently provide social work ... for a fee, monetary or otherwise. Associates must work under the supervision of an approved supervisor" (WAC 246-809-010(1); see RCW 18.225.145(2)).

Clients have to know who they are working with. At the first professional contact, an LSWAIC discloses, using a disclosure form, that they are an associate under the supervision of an approved supervisor (RCW 18.225.145(3); WAC 246-809-710(2)). Supervision itself has to meet at least one hour for every 80 hours of clinical practice time, a rate that applies to every Washington licensure candidate and does not replace the 100-hour supervision total below (WAC 246-809-020(2)(b)).

Before the LSWAIC license itself issues, Washington allows a narrow bridge: since October 1, 2025, an applicant may practice for up to 120 days after the department receives a completed application, under an approved supervisor, a window that "shall not be extended or renewed" (WAC 246-809-097(1), (2), (4); RCW 18.225.145(2)). Whether hours earned during that window count toward the LICSW total is not something Washington's rules or FAQs address, so keep a record of that time either way.

A One-Year License, With No Renewal Limit

An LSWAIC license "is valid for one year and must be renewed every year on the date of issuance" (WAC 246-809-990(2)), not on the holder's birthday. It can be renewed, with no cap on how many times: "An associate license may be renewed" (RCW 18.225.145(6)(a)).

That is a change from before June 6, 2024, when a six-renewal limit applied. Anyone whose license lapsed under that former limit is treated as if it had simply expired, and can return to active status through the same process anyone with an expired license uses (RCW 18.225.145(6)(b)).

Continuing Education: 16 Hours a Year, Plus Suicide Training Once

Every renewal requires 16 hours of continuing education for the year, including 6 hours of professional ethics and law every two years, attested at the second, fourth and sixth renewal, 2 hours of professional roles and boundaries, and 2 hours of health equity every four years (WAC 246-809-632(1) to (4)).

Social work associates (LSWAIC and LSWAA) owe one thing counseling and marriage and family therapy associates do not: 6 hours of suicide assessment, treatment and management training, completed after the license issues and before the first renewal (WAC 246-809-632(5)).

Once the full LICSW issues, the load changes shape: 32 hours of continuing education every two years, including 6 hours of professional ethics and law and 6 hours of suicide training every six years, in place of the associate's annual 16 (WAC 246-809-630(3), -990(1)).

LSWAIC vs LSWAA: Two Different Associate Licenses

Washington issues a second pre-license social work credential, the licensed social work associate-advanced (LSWAA), and the two are easy to mix up because both sit under chapter 246-809 WAC and both precede a full license. They are not the same path. The LSWAIC leads to the LICSW on 3,000 hours, with 1,000 direct client contact and 100 hours of direct supervision, 70 with an LICSW (WAC 246-809-330(2)(c)). The LSWAA leads to a licensed advanced social worker on 3,000 hours, with 800 direct client contact and 90 hours of direct supervision, 40 one-to-one (WAC 246-809-330(1)(c)).

For the comparison against the license the LSWAIC leads to, see LSWAIC vs LICSW in Washington.

How the LSWAIC Ends

The LSWAIC leads to the LICSW on "a minimum of 3,000 hours of experience, over a period of not less than two years" (WAC 246-809-330(2)(c)). Of those, 1,000 hours must be direct client contact supervised by a licensed independent clinical social worker (WAC 246-809-330(2)(c)(i)), and 100 hours must be direct supervision: 70 with an LICSW and the rest with an equally qualified practitioner, with at least 60 of the 100 in one-to-one supervision (WAC 246-809-330(2)(c)(ii)). One-to-one supervision on this track means one supervisor and one candidate, stricter than the two-candidate definition on Washington's other tracks (WAC 246-809-310).

Each supervisor completes a Verification of Social Worker Supervised Postgraduate Experience form (DOH 670-011, May 2023), one per supervisor and practice setting, checked LASW or LICSW, with the form itself warning that "experience gained through inappropriate supervision will not count." After the hours and supervision are complete, the candidate sits for either the ASWB advanced or clinical examination (WAC 246-809-340(1)).

For the full breakdown of every hour category, the supervision form, and the fee schedule, see Washington LICSW requirements and Washington LSWAIC supervision requirements.

Common Mistakes About the LSWAIC

Related Washington Social Work Guides

FAQ: What Is an LSWAIC in Washington?