PRE-APPROVAL NO LONGER REQUIRED FOR SUPERVISION PLANS

Effective 02/04/2021, the Texas State Board of Social Worker Examiners (TSBSWE) will no longer require supervision plans be submitted for pre-approval. Instead, the supervision plan is to be kept on file with the clinical supervisor and be submitted along with the Clinical Supervision Verification form at the conclusion of supervision. This change applies both to social workers who are beginning their supervision now and any social workers who have submitted plans in the past but have not heard back from the Board or Council. 

What this means… 

• Entering into clinical supervision does not require pre-approval by the Board or Council
• The clinical supervisor must develop and maintain a supervision plan
• The supervisor is required to ensure that the experience gained is clinical in nature
• When supervision concludes, both the supervision plan and the form documenting the hours must be submitted to the Council’s office 

Important Notes… 

It is incumbent upon the LMSW to make sure the LCSW is a Council-approved supervisor. This can be done by using the Council’s online verification system found here.  Supervisors are identified in the “Specialty” field.

What you need to do… 

If you have submitted a clinical supervision plan to the Board or Council for approval but haven’t heard back from our office, your supervisor should make sure a copy of the plan is in your supervision file. No approval from the Board or Council will be necessary for the supervision to continue.

If you have found a clinical supervisor but have not yet submitted a plan to the Council, your supervisor should make sure a copy of the plan is in your supervision file. No approval from the Board or Council will be necessary for the supervision to begin. 

If you have already received approval from TSBSWE, your supervisor should make sure a copy of the plan is in your supervision file. When the supervision is complete, submit a copy of the plan with the Clinical Supervision Verification form. Even though the plan was already approved, submitting it in that format will avoid confusion and delays.

Posted on February 4, 2021