CEU requirements
in plain English
📚 Know exactly which CEUs you need
🕝 Understand the renewal cycle
✅ Stay audit-ready
LCSW Continuing Education (CEU) Requirements in California
After you become licensed, your LCSW renews every two years. You owe the BBS 36 hours of continuing education per renewal cycle — plus a small set of specific topic requirements covered below.
Important: Law and Ethics, Suicide Risk, Telehealth, and HIV/AIDS all count toward the 36 hours if you take them during your renewal period.
Required for EACH renewal
- 36 hours of CE total per two-year cycle (BPC § 4996.22).
- Law and Ethics: 6 hours every renewal (16 CCR § 1887.3(d)).
One-time courses
Take these once. After completion you do not have to repeat them.
- Suicide Risk Assessment and Intervention: 6 hours — required for licensees who renew or reactivate after January 1, 2021 (BPC § 4996.27).
- Provision of Mental Health Services via Telehealth: 3 hours — required for licensees who renew or reactivate after July 1, 2023 (BPC § 4996.27.1).
Required for your FIRST renewal only
- HIV/AIDS: 7 hours — required for newly licensed LCSWs on their first renewal only (16 CCR § 1887.3(c)).
Where do I get BBS-approved CEUs?
CEUs must come from a BBS-approved continuing education provider. Common organizations LCSWs use include:
- NASW-CA (National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter)
- ASWB (Association of Social Work Boards (ACE-approved providers))
- CAMFT, ACA, APA — larger associations with approved CE catalogs
- University extension programs and local nonprofit clinics that advertise "BBS-approved CEUs"
Tip: before paying, confirm the provider is BBS-approved and that the certificate of completion lists the provider's approval number and the number of CE hours.
How to stay audit-ready
- Keep your certificates of completion for at least two years after the renewal cycle they applied to. The BBS audits a sample of renewals each year.
- Don't cram. Spread your 36 hours across the two years. It's much easier (and cheaper) than scrambling in your renewal month.
- Knock out one-time courses early. Law and Ethics (6 hrs), Suicide Risk (6 hrs), Telehealth (3 hrs), and HIV/AIDS (7 hrs) cover 22 of your 36 hours in your first renewal cycle if you take them during that period.
When does my renewal cycle end?
Your LCSW expires on the last day of your birth month every two years. Your CE hours must be completed before that expiration date — not after.
Helpful links
- BBS Continuing Education (official)
- California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS)
- NASW Continuing Education
- CE4Less — California Social Worker Requirements Guide