Getting licensed as a social worker in California
California Board of Behavioral Sciences, read .
Your first license
Associate Clinical Social Worker (registration held while the 3,000 LCSW hours accrue)
ASWExam comes after the first credential
No exam for this one. California registers you first, then you test.
Known fees
| ASW initial registration | $75 |
|---|---|
| California Law and Ethics Exam | $75 |
| Known total | $150 |
What else it takes
- Supervised hours
- 3,000 hours, 750 client contact
- ASWB exam level
- None for this credential
- Licensure compact
- Not a member
- Last checked
Next step
Earn a master's degree in Social Work from a program accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Register as an Associate Clinical Social Worker (ASW) with the Board before accruing postdegree supervised experience in California (except under the 90-day rule).
The ladder
California has 2 rungs. 1 of them need an ASWB exam.
limited
ASW
No ASWB exam
Associate Clinical Social Worker (registration held while the 3,000 LCSW hours accrue). Practice is supervised at this rung.
clinical
LCSW
ASWB Clinical
Licensed Clinical Social Worker.
Requirements change
Nothing on our law calendar changes California's exam requirement today. The change that does touch you is national: ASWB launched the 2026 exams on August 3, 2026 with three content areas and 122 items, and held fees at $230 Masters and $260 Clinical. ASWB's announcement.
Law calendar read . If California moves, this page moves with it.
Sources
We read the board's own pages. Nothing here is a guess.
- California Board of Behavioral Sciences · ASW applicant resourceswww.bbs.ca.gov · Last checked
- BBS Final Statement of Reasons - Fee Reductions, 16 CCR 1816, 1816.1, 1816.2, 1816.4 (Jan 30, 2026)www.bbs.ca.gov · Last checked
- BBS Initial Statement of Reasons - Fee Reductionswww.bbs.ca.gov · Last checked
- OAL Notice of Approval of Regulatory Action - effective 7/1/2026 (OAL Matter Number 2025-1222-02)www.bbs.ca.gov · Last checked
- BBS Fee Increase Notice, effective 1/1/2021 (superseded fee levels, kept for history)www.bbs.ca.gov · Last checked
- ASW Answers to Frequently Asked Questionswww.bbs.ca.gov · Last checked
- Social Work Licensure Compact · member jurisdictionsswcompact.org · Last checked
- BBS - LCSW Summary of Experience Requirements chart (revised 10/2023)www.bbs.ca.gov · Last checked
- BBS - Summary of Supervisor Qualifications for Supervisors of ASWs (revised 06/2023)www.bbs.ca.gov · Last checked
- BBS - Guide to Licensure Requirements, LCSW Out-of-State and Out-of-Country Applicantswww.bbs.ca.gov · Last checked
- ASWB Exam feeswww.aswb.org · Last checked
SWTPA is not affiliated with any state board or with ASWB. Requirements change; the board's page is the source of record. This record is also available as JSON.
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