Public Act 0702 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
 

 
Public Act 104-0702
 
HB5435 EnrolledLRB104 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    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2028)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.