Overview on earning a social work license in Georgia

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Social work comes with an incredible responsibility toward humanity. Clients are often children, elderly, displaced, disabled, and many other types of people in need of support and information. Mercy and understanding, along with professionalism and knowledge of resources all play an intricate part in the character of a successful, competent social worker.

States may differ on requirements for this particular licensure. The Georgia social work licensure process is quite involved because of its specialized nature. There are two different types of social work licensure in Georgia.

GA Social Work Licensure and Master’s Degree

The first type is the Master’s degree from a social worker degree program. These programs should be accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Graduation from an accredited program is a prerequisite to sit for the exam for social work licensure in Georgia. Upon completion of the Master’s degree program, the graduate may work up to one year under direct supervision of a licensed social worker. At some time during or before the end of that year, the candidate should be able to register for the Georgia social work license exam.

The candidate can continue to work if he or she does not pass the exam, and may retake the exam up to three times. After failing the licensure exam the third time, the candidate must cease to function as a social worker until the exam is passed.

GA Social Work Licensure and Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Another avenue for degreed programs and social work licensure in Georgia is the clinical social worker. The clinical social worker, in order to register for licensure, must first have either a Master’s or Doctorate of Social Work degree from a program that is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. There is an internship type of study, consisting of at least 3,000 hours of clinical social work in the area of psychotherapy. About 2,000 hours of this required clinical study should be under direction of a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a minimum of 36 months of practice. About 120 hours of this training should be direct face-to-face supervision. All supervisory clinicians should be qualified by the Licensure Board.

There are many specialty areas to be considered in social work licensure. Professional Counseling, Pastoral Counseling, Psychology, Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, Family or Child Development, are all possible Doctoral degrees, which coupled with the Master’s Degree, can be used as proof of the required 2,000 hours of supervised Master’s experience when registering for clinical licensure.

With this being a three year experiential process where documentation of several thousand hours is required, it is a good idea to focus on keeping track of hours and signatures of supervisors in the field. Forms and applications, along with fee schedules and other information can be found at:

Application process for Georgia social work licensure can be extremely time consuming. Make sure all dates are lined out and clear documentation is available in order to prevent processing delays.

Indeed.com lists the average salary for social workers in Georgia at $59,000 annually. This includes all levels of expertise and job titles. Social workers employed in Augusta, Georgia reported an annual average wage of $66,370.