Indiana LCSW Requirements: Hours, Exams & Step-by-Step Guide

Becoming a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in Indiana is governed by the Indiana Behavioral Health and Human Services Licensing Board (through the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, PLA). The Board’s primary pathway is listed as “Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) – Master level with 2 years experience.”(in.gov)

The summary below reflects the Board’s requirements as published on the PLA website as of late 2025.

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1. Overall pathway in Indiana

In Indiana, the standard route to LCSW looks like this:

1. Earn an MSW (Master of Social Work).
2. Obtain the Licensed Social Worker (LSW) license by exam (ASWB Master’s exam).
3. Accrue two years of paid, supervised post‑MSW clinical social work experience under your LSW (or Temporary LSW).
4. Receive ongoing face‑to‑face supervision from an Indiana LCSW during those two years.
5. Apply for LCSW and, if you have not already, pass the ASWB Clinical exam.
6. Once all documentation and the exam requirement are satisfied, the Board issues the LCSW license.(in.gov)

The rest of this guide focuses on steps 3–5, because that’s where the experience and hour requirements come in.

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2. Required education and foundation license

Master of Social Work (MSW)

You must have a Master of Social Work degree that meets Indiana’s requirements (typically CSWE‑accredited or otherwise acceptable to the Board). The LCSW “Master level with 2 years experience” section assumes you already hold this degree.(in.gov)

Clinical coursework verification – Form III

For LCSW, the Board requires “Form III – Clinical Coursework,” where you list specific graduate clinical courses exactly as they appear on your transcript. If your MSW began before July 1, 1997, this form is not required.(in.gov)

LSW license as the base license

If you are earning your post‑degree hours in Indiana, the Board states that those hours must be earned under:

• An Active LSW license, or
• An Active Temporary LSW Permit.(in.gov)

So practically, you:

1. Get your MSW.
2. Pass the ASWB Master’s exam.
3. Obtain the LSW.
4. Then start counting LCSW‑qualifying experience and supervision.

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3. Post‑degree clinical experience hours (Form II)

Indiana treats LCSW experience in terms of both years and hours, and also specifies the type of work that counts.

Time requirement

For the LCSW, the Board requires:

• “Two (2) years of experience” in clinical social work with clients in a clinical setting.
• This cannot be compressed: “Under no circumstances can this experience requirement be met in less than twenty‑four (24) months.”(in.gov)

Hour requirement and how “a year” is defined

On the same page, the Board clarifies how it is counting those years:

• “One thousand five hundred hours (1,500) equals one (1) year of experience.”(in.gov)

Putting this together:

• Minimum total experience hours:
  • 2 years × 1,500 hours/year = 3,000 hours of clinical social work experience.

What kind of experience counts?

The Board’s LCSW instructions (Form II – Verification of Experience) lay out several conditions for these 3,000 hours:(in.gov)

• The work must be “in the practice of clinical social work in counseling of clients in a clinical setting.”
• If the hours are obtained in Indiana, they must be under:
  • An Active LSW license, or
  • A Temporary LSW Permit.
• The experience must be:
  • Paid,
  • Full‑time, and
  • Supervised to qualify as experience.
    (Part‑time experience may be considered by the Board, but you still must meet the 24‑month and 3,000‑hour minimums.)
• To qualify as experience, you must have been providing clinical social worker services, including assessment and evaluation.

Direct client contact requirement

Critically, the Board adds a direct‑service rule:

• At least fifty percent (50%) of your qualifying time must be “providing services directly to clients.”(in.gov)

Translated into hours:

• Minimum total experience: 3,000 hours.
• At least 50% must be direct client services →
  • At least 1,500 hours of direct client contact (therapy, assessment, evaluation, counseling).
• Up to 1,500 hours can be other clinical social work tasks (documentation, team meetings, case coordination, etc.) as long as the overall work still qualifies as clinical practice under Board rules.

So, in the format you asked for:

• 3,000 total experience hours, which the Board defines as:
  • 1,500 hours per year × 2 years, and
  • At least 1,500 of those hours must be direct services to clients.

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4. Supervision requirements (Form I)

Alongside your experience hours, you need formal clinical supervision that meets specific Board criteria, documented on Form I – Verification of Supervision.

Amount and frequency of supervision

The Board’s LCSW section states that applicants must show:

“at least four (4) hours of face to face supervision per each month of experience, provided by a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW).”(in.gov)

Additional points in the same section:(in.gov)

• This supervision must:
  • Occur while you are employed, and
  • Occur over no less than twenty‑four (24) months.
• The form can be duplicated if you had more than one supervisor during the required two years.

Because the requirement is expressed monthly, not as a total, we can infer a minimum:

• Minimum supervision per month: 4 hours.
• Minimum months: 24.
• Implied minimum total supervision:
  • 4 hours/month × 24 months = at least 96 hours of face‑to‑face LCSW supervision.

The Board itself does not spell out “96 hours” as a standalone number; that figure is simply the product of their monthly rule over the minimum 24‑month time frame.

Who can supervise?

For LCSW‑track social workers in Indiana:

• If you hold an LSW in Indiana, your supervision must be from an Indiana Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW).(in.gov)

The Board also uses “face to face” in its description. It does not elaborate on whether secure video conferencing qualifies, so applicants typically follow any Board guidance or ask the PLA directly if planning to rely on tele‑supervision.

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5. Application and documentation package for LCSW

Once you have the education, LSW, 3,000 hours of experience (with at least 1,500 direct), and the required supervision, you apply to the Board under:

• “Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) – Master level with 2 years experience.”(in.gov)

The Board’s checklist for this route includes:(in.gov)

1. Online application for LCSW.
2. Application fee: $50 (nonrefundable).
3. Criminal background check.
4. Name change documentation (if your legal name has changed).
5. Official transcripts from your MSW program.
6. Form III – Clinical Coursework (unless your MSW began before July 1, 1997).
7. Form I – Verification of Supervision
   • Shows at least 4 hours of face‑to‑face LCSW supervision per month of experience, over at least 24 months.
8. Form II – Verification of Experience
   • Documents 2 years (≥24 months) of clinical social work experience:
     • At least 3,000 hours by Board definition,
     • At least 50% of the time providing services directly to clients,
     • Paid, supervised, and (if in Indiana) under Active LSW or Temporary LSW.
9. License verification (if you hold licenses in other states).

These forms are uploaded to your online PLA account.

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6. Exam requirement: ASWB Clinical exam

If you have not yet taken the clinical‑level national exam, the Board will review your application and, when your documentation is complete, issue “Examination Approval.”(in.gov)

For the LCSW route, the PLA explicitly ties that approval to the ASWB Clinical exam:

• Applicants who have not taken the national exam receive approval to take the ASWB Clinical exam.
• Once approved, you must take the exam within one (1) calendar year of the Board’s initial approval or your exam approval lapses and you must re‑apply.(in.gov)

After you take the exam:

• Official ASWB score reports are sent to the PLA.
• If you pass the ASWB Clinical exam, the Board issues your LCSW.
• If you fail, the PLA will email you instructions for reapplying to retake the exam and you must follow their “Repeat Examination Application Instructions.”(in.gov)

If you already passed the ASWB Clinical exam (for example, in another jurisdiction), you must have ASWB send an official score report directly to the Indiana PLA as part of your application.(in.gov)

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7. Putting the Indiana LCSW hour requirements into numbers

Using the Board’s own definitions and formulas, the LCSW requirements work out to:

Experience (“practice”) hours

• 2 years of experience in clinical social work with clients in a clinical setting.
• Board definition: 1,500 hours = 1 year of experience.
• Therefore: 3,000 hours total minimum.
• At least 50% of those hours must be direct client services → ≥1,500 hours direct client contact (counseling, assessment, evaluation, etc.).
• Remaining hours (≤1,500) can be other clinical social work activities that still fit within the Board’s clinical practice criteria.(in.gov)

Supervision hours

• The Board’s rule: “at least four (4) hours of face to face supervision per each month of experience” by an LCSW, over no less than 24 months.
• Implied minimum: 4 hours/month × 24 months = at least 96 hours of LCSW supervision, though the Board itself phrases this as a monthly requirement, not as a standalone 96‑hour total.(in.gov)

Taken together, Indiana’s Behavioral Health and Human Services Licensing Board effectively requires:

• 3,000 hours of post‑MSW, paid, supervised clinical social work experience (with at least 1,500 hours providing services directly to clients), and
• Ongoing face‑to‑face LCSW supervision of at least 4 hours per month over 24 or more months (implying a minimum of 96 hours of supervision),

in addition to the MSW, LSW, required forms, background check, and successful completion of the ASWB Clinical exam.