{
  "_schema": {
    "about": "Social work licensing requirements per US jurisdiction, for the FIRST credential an MSW graduate holds in that jurisdiction.",
    "nullRule": "null means we have not read that figure off the board's own page. It never means zero. Do not substitute a default, an average or another state's number.",
    "attribution": "Social Work Test Prep Academy is not affiliated with any state licensing board or with ASWB. We read each board's published pages and record what they say; the board's page is the source of record. Requirements change.",
    "fields": {
      "abbr": "Two-letter USPS code, uppercase.",
      "name": "Jurisdiction name.",
      "url": "Absolute URL of the human-readable page.",
      "json": "Absolute URL of the full record for this jurisdiction.",
      "checked": "true when we have read this board's own pages and published the record. false means no data yet, not \"no requirements\".",
      "firstCredential": "The first credential an MSW graduate holds here (abbreviation, title, and the ASWB exam category needed to hold it, null when none is).",
      "examRequiredFirst": "true when the ASWB exam gates that first credential. false when the jurisdiction licenses or registers you first and the exam comes later (Michigan, California, Florida, Illinois).",
      "knownFeesUsd": "Sum of ONLY the fees the board publishes for that first credential, in US dollars. null when it publishes none.",
      "hours": "Plain-language supervised-hour requirement on the path, or the not-checked sentence.",
      "lastChecked": "ISO date WE last read the board pages behind this record. It is not a board review, approval or sign-off.",
      "ladder": "Every rung of the licensure ladder in order. `exam` is the ASWB category required to HOLD that rung (null = none); `supervised` means practice only under supervision.",
      "fees": "The board's own fee lines for the first credential, each with the page it was read from. amount_usd is null when the board does not publish the amount.",
      "supervision": "The supervised-experience package on the path, each figure with its own source page. A figure the board does not publish is null.",
      "applicationSequence": "The board's published order of operations, in the board's own terms.",
      "sources": "The board and statute pages this record was read from.",
      "records": "The raw rulebook records for this jurisdiction, unmodified."
    }
  },
  "abbr": "MA",
  "name": "Massachusetts",
  "url": "https://www.socialworktestprepacademy.com/licensing/ma",
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "checked": true,
  "lastChecked": "2026-09-06",
  "board": {
    "name": "Massachusetts Board of Registration of Social Workers",
    "url": "https://www.mass.gov/orgs/board-of-registration-of-social-workers"
  },
  "firstCredential": {
    "abbr": "LCSW",
    "title": "Licensed Certified Social Worker (Massachusetts's master's-level, non-independent license)",
    "rung": "masters",
    "exam": "Masters"
  },
  "examRequiredFirst": true,
  "summary": "The ASWB Masters exam is required before the license.",
  "aswbExam": {
    "level": "Masters",
    "feeUsd": 230
  },
  "knownFeesUsd": 471,
  "unknownFeeCount": 0,
  "fees": [
    {
      "name": "New applicant application fee (all license types)",
      "amount_usd": 173,
      "source_url": "https://www.mass.gov/how-to/apply-for-a-social-worker-license",
      "verified_date": "2026-09-06"
    },
    {
      "name": "LCSW license issuance fee",
      "amount_usd": 68,
      "source_url": "https://licensing.reg.state.ma.us/public/dpl_fees/dpl_fees_results.asp?board_code=SW",
      "verified_date": "2026-09-06"
    },
    {
      "name": "ASWB Intermediate/Masters-level examination",
      "amount_usd": 230,
      "source_url": "https://www.aswb.org/exam/",
      "verified_date": "2026-09-06"
    }
  ],
  "supervision": {
    "experience_hours": {
      "value": 3500,
      "source_url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/massachusetts/258-CMR-9-03",
      "verified_date": "2026-09-06"
    },
    "client_contact_hours": null,
    "supervision_hours": {
      "value": 100,
      "source_url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/massachusetts/258-CMR-9-03",
      "verified_date": "2026-09-06"
    },
    "minimum_months": {
      "value": 24,
      "source_url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/massachusetts/258-CMR-9-03",
      "verified_date": "2026-09-06"
    },
    "maximum_months": null,
    "notes": [
      "Hours begin accruing from the date of LCSW licensure, not from graduate program completion; MA's LCSW is itself the master's-entry rung, so LICSW is reached by post-LCSW clinical hours, not post-master's-degree hours.",
      "Clinical experience must meet the standards of 258 CMR 12.02 (not independently fetched this batch; mass.gov blocked - flag for a follow-up pull of 258 CMR 12.02 text)."
    ]
  },
  "hours": "3,500 hours, 100 supervision",
  "compactMember": false,
  "applicationSequence": [
    "Earn a master's or doctoral degree in social work from a CSWE-accredited graduate school (or CSWE-equivalent foreign degree).",
    "Submit application and fee to the Board (processed by ASWB on the Board's behalf via healthprofessionlicensing.mass.gov).",
    "Obtain three professional references on Board-provided forms; one must be from the applicant's most recent field placement supervisor holding or eligible for LCSW/LICSW.",
    "Pass the Intermediate licensure examination administered by ASWB within two years before application (or an equivalent exam approved by the Board).",
    "Pay licensing fees set by the Executive Office of Administration and Finance and receive the LCSW license."
  ],
  "ladder": [
    {
      "rung": "bachelors",
      "abbr": "LSW",
      "title": "Licensed Social Worker (six alternate education and experience pathways under 258 CMR 9.05)",
      "exam": "Bachelors",
      "supervised": true,
      "source": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/massachusetts/258-CMR-9-05"
    },
    {
      "rung": "masters",
      "abbr": "LCSW",
      "title": "Licensed Certified Social Worker (Massachusetts's master's-level, non-independent license)",
      "exam": "Masters",
      "supervised": true,
      "source": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/massachusetts/258-CMR-9-04"
    },
    {
      "rung": "clinical",
      "abbr": "LICSW",
      "title": "Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker",
      "exam": "Clinical",
      "supervised": false,
      "source": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/massachusetts/258-CMR-9-03"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "label": "Massachusetts Board of Registration of Social Workers · LCSW applicant resources",
      "url": "https://www.mass.gov/orgs/board-of-registration-of-social-workers"
    },
    {
      "label": "258 CMR 9.04 - Requirements for Licensure as a Licensed Certified Social Worker (LCSW)",
      "url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/massachusetts/258-CMR-9-04"
    },
    {
      "label": "258 CMR 9.07 - Licensure by Reciprocity",
      "url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/massachusetts/258-CMR-9-07"
    },
    {
      "label": "M.G.L. c.112 §130 - Social worker licensure definitions",
      "url": "https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXVI/Chapter112/Section130"
    },
    {
      "label": "ASWB - Massachusetts application processing and fees",
      "url": "https://www.aswb.org/massachusetts/"
    },
    {
      "label": "Fees and License Renewal Schedules for Social Workers (Mass. Division of Occupational Licensure)",
      "url": "https://licensing.reg.state.ma.us/public/dpl_fees/dpl_fees_results.asp?board_code=SW"
    },
    {
      "label": "LCSW fees · New applicant application fee (all license types)",
      "url": "https://www.mass.gov/how-to/apply-for-a-social-worker-license"
    },
    {
      "label": "LCSW fees · ASWB Intermediate/Masters-level examination",
      "url": "https://www.aswb.org/exam/"
    },
    {
      "label": "Social Work Licensure Compact · member jurisdictions",
      "url": "https://swcompact.org/compact-jurisdictions/"
    },
    {
      "label": "258 CMR 9.03 - Licensure Requirements for a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW)",
      "url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/massachusetts/258-CMR-9-03"
    },
    {
      "label": "258 CMR 9.02 - Exceptions to General Licensure Requirement",
      "url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/massachusetts/258-CMR-9-02"
    }
  ],
  "records": [
    {
      "state": {
        "name": "Massachusetts",
        "postal_code": "MA"
      },
      "license_target": {
        "track": "masters",
        "title": "Licensed Certified Social Worker",
        "abbreviation": "LCSW"
      },
      "board": {
        "name": "Massachusetts Board of Registration of Social Workers",
        "source_url": "https://www.mass.gov/orgs/board-of-registration-of-social-workers"
      },
      "fees": [
        {
          "name": "New applicant application fee (all license types)",
          "amount_usd": 173,
          "source_url": "https://www.mass.gov/how-to/apply-for-a-social-worker-license",
          "verified_date": "2026-09-06"
        },
        {
          "name": "LCSW license issuance fee",
          "amount_usd": 68,
          "source_url": "https://licensing.reg.state.ma.us/public/dpl_fees/dpl_fees_results.asp?board_code=SW",
          "verified_date": "2026-09-06"
        },
        {
          "name": "ASWB Intermediate/Masters-level examination",
          "amount_usd": 230,
          "source_url": "https://www.aswb.org/exam/",
          "verified_date": "2026-09-06"
        }
      ],
      "application_sequence": [
        "Earn a master's or doctoral degree in social work from a CSWE-accredited graduate school (or CSWE-equivalent foreign degree).",
        "Submit application and fee to the Board (processed by ASWB on the Board's behalf via healthprofessionlicensing.mass.gov).",
        "Obtain three professional references on Board-provided forms; one must be from the applicant's most recent field placement supervisor holding or eligible for LCSW/LICSW.",
        "Pass the Intermediate licensure examination administered by ASWB within two years before application (or an equivalent exam approved by the Board).",
        "Pay licensing fees set by the Executive Office of Administration and Finance and receive the LCSW license."
      ],
      "aswb_exam": {
        "level": "Masters",
        "fee_usd": 230,
        "source_url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/massachusetts/258-CMR-9-04",
        "verified_date": "2026-09-06"
      },
      "supervision_requirement": {
        "experience_hours": null,
        "client_contact_hours": null,
        "supervision_hours": null,
        "minimum_months": null,
        "maximum_months": null,
        "notes": [
          "258 CMR 9.04 calls the LCSW examination the \"Intermediate\" exam, a legacy Massachusetts label. ASWB's current fee schedule folds it into the Associate/Bachelors/Masters tier at $230.",
          "Massachusetts inverts the usual naming: the LCSW is the MASTER'S-level, non-independent license, and the LICSW is the clinical/independent one reached with 3,500 post-LCSW clinical hours.",
          "Below LSW the Board also registers an LSWA (Licensed Social Work Associate, $42 issuance, Associate-level exam score). It sits under the bachelor's rung and is not modeled on the ladder.",
          "Fee caveat: mass.gov returns HTTP 403 to non-browser clients, so the $173 application fee and the $68/$82 issuance fees are sourced from aswb.org/massachusetts (the Board's authorized processor) and from licensing.reg.state.ma.us, which lists the same amounts as biennial renewal fees. Whether first issuance and renewal genuinely coincide is unconfirmed."
        ]
      },
      "supervisor_eligibility": null,
      "forms": [
        {
          "name": "Applications and Forms for the Board of Social Workers",
          "source_url": "https://www.mass.gov/lists/applications-and-forms-for-the-board-of-social-workers"
        }
      ],
      "processing_benchmark": null,
      "endorsement_rules": [
        "258 CMR 9.07 (Licensure by Reciprocity): an applicant licensed in another ASWB-member state may be licensed without exam if (1) the other state's education/experience requirements are substantially equivalent, (2) the license scope is substantially equivalent, (3) the applicant obtained that license by passing an ASWB exam, and (4) the license is in good standing (not revoked/suspended/surrendered/denied/restricted).",
        "ASWB's Massachusetts page lists a separate 'Reciprocity' application fee of $187-$267 depending on license type (verified 2026-09-06, https://www.aswb.org/massachusetts/)."
      ],
      "compact_status": {
        "member": false,
        "multistate_licenses_available": false,
        "source_url": "https://swcompact.org/compact-jurisdictions/",
        "verified_date": "2026-09-06"
      },
      "last_verified": "2026-09-06",
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "258 CMR 9.04 - Requirements for Licensure as a Licensed Certified Social Worker (LCSW)",
          "url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/massachusetts/258-CMR-9-04"
        },
        {
          "label": "258 CMR 9.07 - Licensure by Reciprocity",
          "url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/massachusetts/258-CMR-9-07"
        },
        {
          "label": "M.G.L. c.112 §130 - Social worker licensure definitions",
          "url": "https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXVI/Chapter112/Section130"
        },
        {
          "label": "Massachusetts Board of Registration of Social Workers",
          "url": "https://www.mass.gov/orgs/board-of-registration-of-social-workers"
        },
        {
          "label": "ASWB - Massachusetts application processing and fees",
          "url": "https://www.aswb.org/massachusetts/"
        },
        {
          "label": "Fees and License Renewal Schedules for Social Workers (Mass. Division of Occupational Licensure)",
          "url": "https://licensing.reg.state.ma.us/public/dpl_fees/dpl_fees_results.asp?board_code=SW"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "state": {
        "name": "Massachusetts",
        "postal_code": "MA"
      },
      "license_target": {
        "track": "clinical",
        "title": "Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker",
        "abbreviation": "LICSW"
      },
      "board": {
        "name": "Massachusetts Board of Registration of Social Workers",
        "source_url": "https://www.mass.gov/orgs/board-of-registration-of-social-workers"
      },
      "fees": [
        {
          "name": "New applicant application fee (all license types)",
          "amount_usd": 173,
          "source_url": "https://www.mass.gov/how-to/apply-for-a-social-worker-license",
          "verified_date": "2026-09-06"
        },
        {
          "name": "LICSW license issuance fee",
          "amount_usd": 82,
          "source_url": "https://licensing.reg.state.ma.us/public/dpl_fees/dpl_fees_results.asp?board_code=SW",
          "verified_date": "2026-09-06"
        },
        {
          "name": "ASWB Clinical examination",
          "amount_usd": 260,
          "source_url": "https://www.aswb.org/exam/",
          "verified_date": "2026-09-06"
        }
      ],
      "application_sequence": [
        "Hold a Massachusetts LCSW license, or a substantially equivalent out-of-state clinical social work license (per 258 CMR 9.04's cross-reference into 9.07-style equivalence review).",
        "Complete at least 3,500 hours of clinical social work services over not less than two years, meeting the practice standards of 258 CMR 12.02, beginning from the date licensed as an LCSW.",
        "Complete a minimum of 100 hours of individual, face-to-face clinical supervision during that post-LCSW clinical experience.",
        "Obtain three professional references attesting to good moral character and professional competence, with at least one from the clinical supervisor.",
        "Pass the Clinical licensure examination administered by ASWB within two years of application.",
        "Pay licensing fees and receive the LICSW license from the Board."
      ],
      "aswb_exam": {
        "level": "Clinical",
        "fee_usd": 260,
        "source_url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/massachusetts/258-CMR-9-03",
        "verified_date": "2026-09-06"
      },
      "supervision_requirement": {
        "experience_hours": {
          "value": 3500,
          "source_url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/massachusetts/258-CMR-9-03",
          "verified_date": "2026-09-06"
        },
        "client_contact_hours": null,
        "supervision_hours": {
          "value": 100,
          "source_url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/massachusetts/258-CMR-9-03",
          "verified_date": "2026-09-06"
        },
        "minimum_months": {
          "value": 24,
          "source_url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/massachusetts/258-CMR-9-03",
          "verified_date": "2026-09-06"
        },
        "maximum_months": null,
        "notes": [
          "Hours begin accruing from the date of LCSW licensure, not from graduate program completion; MA's LCSW is itself the master's-entry rung, so LICSW is reached by post-LCSW clinical hours, not post-master's-degree hours.",
          "Clinical experience must meet the standards of 258 CMR 12.02 (not independently fetched this batch; mass.gov blocked - flag for a follow-up pull of 258 CMR 12.02 text)."
        ]
      },
      "supervisor_eligibility": [
        "Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) in Massachusetts.",
        "An individual meeting LICSW requirements but exempt from licensure per 258 CMR 9.02.",
        "A licensed independent clinical practitioner from another jurisdiction holding substantially equivalent credentials."
      ],
      "forms": [
        {
          "name": "Applications and Forms for the Board of Social Workers",
          "source_url": "https://www.mass.gov/lists/applications-and-forms-for-the-board-of-social-workers"
        }
      ],
      "processing_benchmark": null,
      "endorsement_rules": [
        "258 CMR 9.07 (Licensure by Reciprocity): applicant must hold/have held a license from another ASWB-member jurisdiction with substantially equivalent education/experience and scope, obtained by passing an ASWB exam, and currently in good standing.",
        "ASWB's Massachusetts page lists a separate 'Reciprocity' application fee of $187-$267 depending on license type (verified 2026-09-06)."
      ],
      "compact_status": {
        "member": false,
        "multistate_licenses_available": false,
        "source_url": "https://swcompact.org/compact-jurisdictions/",
        "verified_date": "2026-09-06"
      },
      "last_verified": "2026-09-06",
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "258 CMR 9.03 - Licensure Requirements for a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW)",
          "url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/massachusetts/258-CMR-9-03"
        },
        {
          "label": "258 CMR 9.02 - Exceptions to General Licensure Requirement",
          "url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/massachusetts/258-CMR-9-02"
        },
        {
          "label": "258 CMR 9.07 - Licensure by Reciprocity",
          "url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/massachusetts/258-CMR-9-07"
        },
        {
          "label": "M.G.L. c.112 §130 - Social worker licensure definitions",
          "url": "https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXVI/Chapter112/Section130"
        },
        {
          "label": "ASWB - Massachusetts application processing and fees",
          "url": "https://www.aswb.org/massachusetts/"
        },
        {
          "label": "Fees and License Renewal Schedules for Social Workers (Mass. Division of Occupational Licensure)",
          "url": "https://licensing.reg.state.ma.us/public/dpl_fees/dpl_fees_results.asp?board_code=SW"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}