Social work licensure in Florida

Requirements last verified October 22, 2026 against the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage & Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling.

License levels

• RCSWIRegistered Clinical Social Worker Intern

  No exam to register; the ASWB Clinical exam comes later, for the LCSW.

  The registration you must hold before your post-master’s clinical experience starts (s. 491.0045, F.S.): hours worked before you register do not count. It needs a CSWE-accredited MSW, a letter from a board-approved qualified supervisor and a $150 fee, and it is valid for five years and cannot be renewed.

• CMSWCertified Master Social Worker

  Requires the ASWB Advanced Generalist exam.

  An administrative license, not a clinical one: in the board’s words, “You cannot provide clinical services with this designation.” It needs a CSWE-accredited MSW and three years of social work experience, two of them after the master’s.

• LCSWLicensed Clinical Social Worker

  Requires the ASWB Clinical exam.

  Two years of post-master’s experience supervised by a licensed clinical social worker: at least 100 hours of supervision over no fewer than 100 weeks, at least one hour every two weeks, and 1,500 hours of face-to-face psychotherapy with clients, documented on the board’s Verification of Clinical Experience form. The board also asks for an 8-hour Florida laws and rules course, a 3-hour HIV/AIDS course (or its affidavit) and a 2-hour domestic violence course within six months of licensure.

Worth knowing about Florida

Florida has no LMSW. The clinical route runs from the intern registration to the LCSW; the Certified Master Social Worker is a separate administrative license. Florida gates the Clinical exam differently from most states too. Since January 1, 2023 you become eligible to sit the ASWB Clinical exam only after completing all graduate coursework and 18 months of documented post-master’s clinical experience, not counting your practicum, so plan the timeline around that. Already licensed elsewhere? Florida’s MOBILE endorsement (s. 456.0145, F.S.) asks for an active, unencumbered license from another state, DC or a territory, a passing score on a national licensure exam, at least two years of practice in the four years before you apply, and no discipline in the five years before it.

Common questions about Florida

Which ASWB exam do I need for Florida?

RCSWI: no exam to register; the ASWB Clinical exam comes later, for the LCSW; CMSW requires the ASWB Advanced Generalist exam; LCSW requires the ASWB Clinical exam. Your board tells ASWB which category you are approved to take, so confirm with them before you register — registration fees are nonrefundable.

What social work licenses does Florida issue?

RCSWI (Registered Clinical Social Worker Intern); CMSW (Certified Master Social Worker); LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker).

Is this information current?

These requirements were last checked against Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage & Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling on 2026-10-22. Licensure rules change without much notice, so treat the board as the authority and this page as a starting point.