Continuing Education Information

In accordance with North Carolina Administrative Code, Title 21, Chapter 63, Section .0401, “Continuing education for certification or licensure renewal is required to maintain professional knowledge and technical competency.” The renewal cycle is defined as the certification or licensure period beginning with the date of issue or last renewal and ending with the date of expiration – usually two years. Click here for more information about the renewal of your certificate/license.

You may view the Position Statement on Continuing Education developed by the Board by clicking here.

The North Carolina Social Work Certification and Licensure Board (NCSWCLB) requires that continuing education requirements must be satisfied for maintaining all levels of credentialing, including Licensed Clinical Social Worker Associates (LCSWA, formerly P-LCSW). However, LCSWA licensees whose renewal cycle is for less than two years may document continuing education on a pro-rated basis.

Pro-rated Continuing Education for LCSWA Licensees:

• 2-year licensure period/renewal cycle requires documentation of 40 contact hours of continuing education with at least 4 hours of ethics focused training.
• 1-year renewal cycle requires 20 contact hours of continuing education with at least 2 hours of ethics focused training.
• 6-month renewal cycle requires 10 contact hours of continuing education with a least 1 hour of ethics focused training.

**While the total number of continuing education hours can be pro-rated on a monthly basis, the ethics requirement is adjusted by quarter cycles; therefore, a minimum of at least 1 hours of ethics focused training is required for any period of time less than or equal to 6 months.**

The continuing education requirements set forth through regulation are intentionally designed to allow social workers some latitude and flexibility in selecting course activity relevant to their area of interest and expertise. The Board no longer accepts self-directed learning projects as acceptable CE activity. The Board does NOT have a process for pre-approving courses or providers; however, distance learning activities must carry pre-approval by ASWB or NASW-NC (see below).

CONFERENCES / WORKSHOPS / OTHER ORGANIZED TRAINING EVENTS:

The Board does not require pre-approval of organized training events attended by the social worker. However, your continuing education activity is subject to audit. Although CEU or attendance certificates should not be attached to your Renewal Affidavit, you will need to be able to provide upon request, verifiable proof of attendance and credit hours. Please reference Chapter 63, Section .0401 of the NC Administrative Code (link available from the HOME page) for guidance on what constitutes appropriate and acceptable continuing education activities.

***Currently, the Board considers live/synchronous webinars in which participants and instructor may engage in live interactive dialogue that benefits all practitioners as equivalent to an attended training. This live interaction must be verifiable if the CE activity is audited.***

DISTANCE LEARNING ACTIVITIES / HOME-STUDY / ONLINE COURSES:

Distance Learning Activities are those in which the practitioner does not attend an organized training event in which the participants and the instructor are present in the same room such as (but not limited to) online courses, home study courses, taped webinars/seminars/conferences. A maximum of twenty hours (one-half) of the required 40 contact hours of continuing education per two-year renewal cycle may be obtained through distance learning activities. To be considered acceptable CE activity for renewal of a certificate or license, distance learning activities must be pre-approved by the Association of Social Work Boards’ Approved Continuing Education Committee (ASWB-ACE) or the North Carolina Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW-NC) AND must meet the regulatory requirements.

You can find all ASWB-ACE Providers listed on the ASWB website at www.ASWB.org and NASW-NC approved courses through their website at www.naswnc.org.