Licensed independent social worker: Internship required for licensure; requirement may include multiple agencies; approval of postgraduate hours completed in agency; approval of postgraduate hours in different state.

1. Except for an applicant for licensure by endorsement, an applicant for licensure as a licensed independent social worker must complete an internship consisting of not less than 3,000 hours of supervised, postgraduate social work. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, the required work must be: (a) Undertaken in a program that is approved by the Board before the applicant begins the program. The program must include, without limitation: (1) An examination, if deemed necessary by the Board; (2) An appropriate setting, as determined by the Board; (3) Supervision of the applicant by a supervisor who has been approved by the Board; and (4) A plan of supervision that has been approved by the Board. (b) Completed not earlier than 2 years or later than 3 years after the Board approves the program. For good cause, the Board will grant a specific extension of this period. The Board will disallow credit for all hours of internship accrued under the program if the required work does not result in the issuance of a license to engage in social work as an independent social worker within 3 years after the end of the program. (c) Conducted pursuant to the requirements and standards set forth by the Board. For good cause, the Board will withdraw its approval of a particular program. Good cause for withdrawal of approval of a program includes, but is not limited to: (1) The inability of a program to sustain, after 2 full, consecutive calendar quarters, the minimum number of hours necessary to complete the program as required by paragraph (b); (2) An investigation or finding by a local, state or federal authority pertaining to alleged practices conducted at the setting of the program which may be deemed unethical or unsafe under this chapter or chapter 641B of NRS; or (3) An investigation by the Board of a licensee who engages in practices which may be deemed unethical or unsafe under this chapter or chapter 641B of NRS while supervising an intern as an owner, operator, employee or contractor of an agency that is part of a program of internship. 2. The Board will authorize a program to be conducted at not more than three agencies simultaneously. 3. Upon application to the Board by an applicant who is currently a social worker or an associate in social work licensed in this State, the District of Columbia or any other state or territory of the United States, the Board may approve and accept for licensure supervised, postgraduate hours completed in an agency that provides social work services if the applicant: (a) Has been continually licensed as a social worker for the immediately preceding 10 years; (b) Provides evidence satisfactory to the Board of continuous supervision by a licensed master’s level social worker for at least 5 of the immediately preceding 10 years; and (c) Has passed an examination recognized and approved by the Board. 4. The Board will approve work submitted by an applicant who is not licensed as an independent social worker in the District of Columbia or another state or territory pursuant to subsection 3 and accept it towards the hours of supervision that are required for licensure pursuant to subsection 1 if the Board determines that the experience of the applicant is substantially equivalent to or exceeds the current standards established by the Board for those applicants who complete their supervised, postgraduate social work in this State. 5. The following activities do not qualify as supervised, postgraduate social work: (a) Instruction in techniques or procedures through classes, workshops or seminars. (b) Orientational programs. (c) Practice which is not under the supervision of an agency approved by the Board. The Board will consider a person to be under the supervision of an agency if: (1) Each client who is served by the intern is a client of the agency and that fact is clearly set forth on each contract, release, agreement for financial reimbursement and billing statement which relates to that client; (2) All records regarding clients belong to the agency and the agency has provided for their confidentiality and safekeeping; (3) The agency appoints a specific employee of the agency to act as the board-approved supervisor of the intern, if such an employee is available, or otherwise approves a nonemployee to do so; (4) The appointed supervisor reviews the work of the intern in the manner required for supervisors of interns; (5) The appointed supervisor is granted complete access to all records of the agency related to the practice of the intern; and (6) Any compensation for the services of the intern is provided directly by the agency. (d) Any other activity that the Board determines is not within the scope of the practice of social work.