HB5435eng 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB5435 Engrossed LRB104 19710 AAS 33159 b

AN ACT concerning regulation.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Clinical Social Work and Social Work Practice Act is amended by changing Sections 9, 9A, and 12.5 as follows:

(225 ILCS 20/9) (from Ch. 111, par. 6359)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2028)

Sec. 9. Qualifications for clinical social worker license. A person shall be qualified to be licensed as a clinical social worker if that person:

(1) has applied in writing on the prescribed form;

(2) has not engaged in conduct or actions that would constitute grounds for discipline under this Act;

(3)(a) demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Department that, subsequent to securing a master's degree in social work from an approved program and obtaining a social worker license under Section 9A or temporarily practicing pending the issuance of a social worker license under Section 9B if the license was ultimately issued, the applicant has successfully completed at least 3,000 hours of satisfactory, supervised clinical professional experience; or

(b) demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Department that such applicant has received a doctor's degree in social work from an approved program and has, subsequent to receiving the degree, completed at least 2,000 hours of satisfactory, supervised clinical professional experience after obtaining a social worker license under Section 9A or during temporary practice pending the issuance of a social worker license under Section 9B if the license was ultimately issued subsequent to the degree;

(4) has passed the examination for the practice of clinical social work as authorized by the Department or has completed the examination alternative set forth in Section 8.2; and

(5) has paid the required fees.

Notwithstanding paragraph (3), any hours of supervised clinical professional experience completed before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 104th General Assembly may be counted toward the required hours for qualification under this Section if the hours were completed subsequent to securing an applicable graduate degree and the completed hours would have qualified toward licensure under the law in effect at the time the hours were earned.

(Source: P.A. 103-433, eff. 1-1-24; 104-178, eff. 1-1-26.)

(225 ILCS 20/9A) (from Ch. 111, par. 6359A)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2028)

Sec. 9A. Qualifications for license as licensed social worker. A person shall be qualified to be licensed as a licensed social worker if that person:

(1) has applied in writing on the prescribed form;

(2) has not engaged in conduct or actions that would constitute grounds for discipline under this Act;

(3)(a) has a degree from a graduate program of social work approved by the Department; or

(b) has a degree in social work from an undergraduate program approved by the Department and has successfully completed at least 3,000 hours 3 years of supervised professional experience subsequent to obtaining the degree within a period of no more than 4 years, as established by rule. The Department may grant a waiver for or an extension of the 4-year time period under this subparagraph (b) upon a showing of good cause. If no supervision by a licensed social worker or a licensed clinical social worker is available, then supervised professional experience may include supervision by other appropriate disciplines as defined by rule;

(4) (blank); and

(5) has paid the required fees.

An individual who is in the process of completing the hours of supervised professional experience under subparagraph (b) of paragraph (3) shall be subject to oversight by the Department solely for the purpose of determining the individual's eligibility for licensure and the eligibility of the completed hours for the supervised professional experience requirement.

The Department may, by rule:

(A) establish standards for supervision, documentation, and verification of any supervised professional experience;

(B) deny or invalidate any hours of supervised professional experience obtained in violation of this Act or Department rules; and

(C) deny an application for licensure based on conduct that occurred during the time period in which the applicant was completing the hours of supervised professional experience if the conduct would have constituted grounds for discipline under this Act had the individual been licensed at the time.

(Source: P.A. 104-178, eff. 1-1-26.)

(225 ILCS 20/12.5)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2028)

Sec. 12.5. Endorsement. The Department may issue a license as a clinical social worker or as a social worker, without the required examination, to an applicant licensed under the laws of another jurisdiction if the requirements for licensure in that jurisdiction are, on the date of licensure, substantially equivalent to the requirements of this Act, except for the requirement to be licensed while obtaining the required supervised experience under Section 9, or to any person who, at the time of the person's licensure, possessed individual qualifications that were substantially equivalent to the requirements then in force in this State. An applicant under this Section shall pay the required fees.

An individual applying for licensure as a clinical social worker who has been licensed at the independent level in another United States jurisdiction for 5 consecutive years without discipline is not required to submit proof of completion of the education and supervised clinical professional experience required in paragraph (3) of Section 9. Individuals with 5 consecutive years of experience must submit certified verification of licensure from the jurisdiction in which the applicant practiced and must comply with all other licensing requirements and pay all required fees.

If the accuracy of any submitted documentation or the relevance or sufficiency of the course work or experience is questioned by the Department or the Board because of a lack of information, discrepancies or conflicts in information given, or a need for clarification, the applicant seeking licensure may be required to provide additional information.

An applicant has 3 years from the date of application to complete the application process. If the process has not been completed within 3 years, the application shall be denied, the fee shall be forfeited, and the applicant must reapply and meet the requirements in effect at the time of reapplication.

(Source: P.A. 102-1053, eff. 6-10-22; 103-1048, eff. 1-1-25.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January 1, 2027.