License Journey Expands to Washington with LASW and LICSW Hour Tracking

License Journey has officially expanded beyond California. Washington social work associates can now use the platform to track every hour required for the Licensed Advanced Social Worker (LASW) and the Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) licenses — including the 3,000-hour postgraduate supervised experience minimum and every supervision sub-requirement that goes with it.

The 3,000-Hour Washington Requirement

Both LASW and LICSW applicants need 3,000 hours of postgraduate supervised experience, accrued over a minimum of 24 months. The two paths share that headline number but differ in the sub-requirements — and the sub-requirements are where most applicants run into trouble.

What License Journey Now Tracks for LICSW Applicants

• 3,000 total supervised hours — overall postgraduate experience progress
• 1,000 direct client contact hours — must be supervised by an LICSW; hours under other supervisor types do not count toward this minimum
• 100 total supervision hours — including the 70-hour minimum by an LICSW and a 30-hour cap from an equally qualified licensed mental health practitioner
• 60 hours of one-to-one supervision — tracked separately from group supervision
• 24-month span of experience — calendar-time progress, not just hour count

What License Journey Now Tracks for LASW Applicants

• 3,000 total supervised hours
• 800 direct client contact hours — under an approved supervisor (LICSW, LASW, or an equally qualified practitioner — LMHC, LMFT, Psychologist, Psychiatrist, or Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner)
• 90 total supervision hours — including the 50-hour minimum by an LICSW or LASW and a 40-hour cap from an equally qualified practitioner, one-to-one only (group supervision from an equally qualified practitioner does not count toward this category)
• 24-month span of experience

Why Tracking Washington Hours Is Tricky

Washington's structure looks simple on paper — 3,000 hours, two years — but the sub-requirements interlock. A single hour of direct client contact only counts toward the 1,000-hour LICSW minimum if it's supervised by the right person. Supervision hours from an equally qualified practitioner only count up to a cap, and for LASW applicants, only if they're one-to-one. Spreadsheets miss these distinctions; License Journey enforces them in real time as you log.

"The Washington requirements are structured a lot like California's, but with their own twists," said the License Journey team. "We've been hearing from clinicians who moved between states or who supervise across both — they want the same hour-tracking discipline that California pre-licensees already get."

The Same Purpose-Built Tracker, Now for Washington

The Washington dashboards mirror the California experience: total hours, direct client contact, supervision by qualified supervisors, and span-of-experience progress all visible at a glance. Every hour you log is checked against the right supervisor type and the right sub-requirement bucket, so the number you see at the top of the dashboard is the number you can actually submit when it's time to apply.