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Delaware · Profession dossier

Delaware social workers

Delaware licenses bachelor, master, and clinical social workers; recent legislation changed LMSW supervision authority and narrowed reliance on agency-employment exemptions.

Public research guide—not professional advice.Verified against the cited official sources on 2026-08-11. Informational only; not legal, clinical, employment, tax, or billing advice.Editorially cross-checked by a second research agent. Professional approval was confirmed by the project owner on 2026-08-11; reviewer identity and credentials are retained outside this public guide.This remains informational research—not legal, clinical, employment, tax, or billing advice, and not approval by a regulator, licensing board, or payer.
Source verification
2026-08-11
Next scheduled review
2026-09-11
Independent cross-check
Cross-checked
Professional review
Approved — owner attested

Regulator

Board of Social Work Examiners

Credential names: LBSW, LMSW, LCSW, Social Work Interstate Telehealth Registration

Open official license verification

Claim-level evidence

What the official sources support

Applicability and exclusions are shown with each finding. “Qualified” or “conflicting” findings are not simplified into an operational answer.

Authority, credentials, and scope

Regulator, governing authority, credential names, regulated titles, scope boundaries, exemptions, and prohibited activities.

Three license levels

Published research · Confirmed

Delaware law regulates LBSW, LMSW, and LCSW credentials and assigns different generalist, master, clinical, supervision, and private-practice authority.

Applies to
Use for LBSW, LMSW, LCSW, Social Work Interstate Telehealth Registration research in DE.
Known exclusions
A payer, facility, employer, local government, or another professional board may impose additional requirements.
Effective date
No separate future date recorded
Fact checked
2026-08-11

Application and practice status

Application, education, examination, background check, fees, temporary authority, endorsement, and supervised versus independent practice.

LCSW clinical authority

Published research · Confirmed

Licensed clinical social work includes assessment, diagnosis, treatment, psychotherapy, private practice, and supervision within the statutory scope.

Applies to
Use for LBSW, LMSW, LCSW, Social Work Interstate Telehealth Registration research in DE.
Known exclusions
A payer, facility, employer, local government, or another professional board may impose additional requirements.
Effective date
No separate future date recorded
Fact checked
2026-08-11

Supervision and workforce evidence

Supervisor qualifications, written agreements, settings, hours, reporting, license verification, and hiring or credentialing evidence.

LMSW supervision transition

Published research · Confirmed

Legislation effective September 26, 2024 removed supervision from the LMSW scope for new LCSW supervision relationships while preserving specified grandfathered relationships.

Applies to
Use for LBSW, LMSW, LCSW, Social Work Interstate Telehealth Registration research in DE.
Known exclusions
A payer, facility, employer, local government, or another professional board may impose additional requirements.
Effective date
2024-09-26
Fact checked
2026-08-11

Cross-border and practice structure

Telehealth location rules, registration, compact privileges, ownership, entity naming, fee sharing, and multidisciplinary practice.

Agency exemption narrowed

Published research · Confirmed

An individual newly employed, or moved into a new position, by a covered state, private, or nonprofit agency on or after June 11, 2024 must be licensed when providing social-work services.

Applies to
Use for LBSW, LMSW, LCSW, Social Work Interstate Telehealth Registration research in DE.
Known exclusions
A payer, facility, employer, local government, or another professional board may impose additional requirements.
Effective date
2024-06-11
Fact checked
2026-08-11

Client-facing operations and records

Disclosure, consent, telehealth, emergencies, advertising, confidentiality, access, retention, minors, subpoenas, closure, fees, billing, and termination.

Compact enacted, licenses pending

Enacted, not operational · Qualified

Delaware enacted the Social Work Licensure Compact, but the interstate multistate-license system is not yet operational.

Applies to
Use for LBSW, LMSW, LCSW, Social Work Interstate Telehealth Registration research in DE.
Known exclusions
A payer, facility, employer, local government, or another professional board may impose additional requirements.
Effective date
No separate future date recorded
Fact checked
2026-08-11

Maintenance, complaints, and monitoring

Renewal, continuing education, audits, inactive status, reinstatement, complaints, discipline, effective dates, exclusions, and unresolved interpretations.

Three license levels

Published research · Confirmed

Delaware law regulates LBSW, LMSW, and LCSW credentials and assigns different generalist, master, clinical, supervision, and private-practice authority.

Applies to
Use for LBSW, LMSW, LCSW, Social Work Interstate Telehealth Registration research in DE.
Known exclusions
A payer, facility, employer, local government, or another professional board may impose additional requirements.
Effective date
No separate future date recorded
Fact checked
2026-08-11

Open implementation questions

Confirm before acting

  • Confirm how the controlling board applies its rules to the proposed facts, setting, services, and payer arrangement.

Monitoring

What gets rechecked

  • Recheck board notices, applications, fees, compact activity, and rulemaking monthly.

Corrections

Strengthen this guide

Send the controlling official section, form, bulletin, or dated regulator instruction through the public corrections route.

Report a correction

Printable tools

Credential, telehealth, and supervision worksheets

Credential and license-maintenance checklistWS-DE-LICENSE-MAINTENANCE · printable

Track verification, renewal, continuing education, audits, inactive status, and reinstatement.

Telehealth and cross-border decision treeWS-DE-TELEHEALTH · printable

Document the client location, practitioner authority, registration or privilege, consent, emergency plan, and payer rule.

Hiring and supervision checklistWS-DE-HIRING-SUPERVISION · printable

Collect credential evidence and document role, supervision, setting, hours, reporting, and payer enrollment.

Official authority

Sources used in this dossier