As an aspiring or active social worker with the Alberta College of Social Workers (ACSW), you may be required to follow ACSWs supervision requirements.
But what are they?
As the answer slightly differs depending on where you are in your social work journey, this article breaks down each ACSW supervision requirements for each registry.
Whether you’re a social work student, provisionally Registered Social Worker (RSW), or an RSW working towards obtaining ACSWs advanced designation of Registered Clinical Social Worker (RCSW), this interpretive review of the ACSW supervision requirements will help you better understand when you need a clinical supervisor and where to find one.
Please be advised that this article is not written on behalf of or for ACSW and it has not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by ACSW in any way. See full disclaimer below.
Understanding ACSWs Registries
As mentioned in the introduction, ACSWs supervision requirements slightly differs depending on where you are in your social work journey as well as which registry you’re classified. The ACSW uses the term “registry” to differentiate the responsibilities, expectations, and privileges that a social worker is has, and this includes supervision requirements.
While some registries are linear, meaning that as you advance your social work practice, you have the ability to “move up” the registry ladder, other registries are stand-alone classifications. Currently, the ACSW has 5 registries:
- Provisional registry,
- General registry,
- Clinical registry,
- Courtesy registry, and
- Non-member registry.
For the purpose of this article, we’ll be only discussing the first three registries.
In addition to the ACSW registry classifications, in Alberta, the act of providing psychosocial intervention is a restricted activity (Alberta Government, 2014) which requires social workers to receive authorization from the ACSW to provide this intervention in their practice unsupervised (Alberta Government, 2024). Prior to be granted this privilege, the ACSW and the Health Professions Act, requires that social workers practice under the supervision of a health professional who can attest to the social worker’s “safe and competent experience treating substantial mental health disorder(s) that grossly impair” (ACSW, n.d.1).
As ACSWs supervision requirements differ for each classification, the next section breaks down the requirements for each.
Social Work Students
First of all, social work students are not considered a classification or registry under the ACSW. However, as the successful completion of an accredited program is required as a perquisite to applying to the ACSW, we’d be remise to ignore this category.
Most accredited social work programs require social work students to complete supervised practicums as a requisite to receiving their diploma or degree. As a result, social work students must obtain eligible practicum hours that fulfill their institutions requirements for supervised practice.
In Canada, the Canadian Association of Social Work Education (CASWE) is the accreditation body for BSW and MSW programs (CASWE, n.d.1). In Alberta, social work diploma programs are accredited by the ACSW.
Below is a breakdown of the minimum required field placement hours for social work training programs in Alberta:
- Social work diplomas: a minimum of 700 hours (ACSW, 2020, March 16).
- BSW: a minimum of 700 hours.
- One-year MSW: a minimum of 450 hours.
- Two-year MSW: a minimum of 900 hours (2 x 450 hours practicums) (CASWE, n.d.2).
Although, accreditation guidelines indicate a minimum number of hours required for educational institutions to follow, it’s not uncommon for educational institutions to require students to complete above the minimum requirement. If you’re a social work student, ensure that you are following your educational institutions field placement guidelines so that you stay on track to graduate from your social work program on time.
ACSWs Provisional Registry
After completing your social work program, you can apply to register with the ACSW. Typically, newly registered social workers are placed on the provisional registry until all provisional registration requirements have been met, including completing 1500 direct practice hours under the supervision of a fully registered RSW (Alberta Government, 2003; Alberta Government, 2016).
If you work full-time, as a provisional social worker, you will likely complete your direct practice hours in about a year. Unfortunately, any hours you worked prior to the registration process will not count towards the ACSW supervision requirement for the provisional registry (ACSW, n.d.2.) that includes practicum hours or previous work hours.
But what if your current place of employment doesn’t have a fully registered social worker to supervise your practice?
Fortunately, the ACSW allows external supervision of direct practice hours (ACSW, n.d.3), so if there isn’t a fully registered social worker at your place of employment you can be supervised by an external RSW supervisor. According to the ACSW, supervision should occur at least 1-2 hours per month (ACSW, n.d.3) while completing the 1500-hour direct practice hours.
ACSWs General Registry
After completing all requirements necessary for the provisional registry, social workers usually move to the general registry, where there’s no specific number of clinical supervision hours required to maintain registration. Although, there are no formal supervision requirements in the general registry, social workers should still receive regular consultation to continue to build their social work practice. In fact, the ACSW standards of practice indicates that social workers “will have ongoing practice/clinical supervision and peer consultation appropriate to their field of practice and setting” (ACSW, 2023, March 31, p. 29).
Psychosocial Intervention Authorization
Some RSWs move on to receive authorization to provide restricted psychosocial interventions. Although, any social worker may perform psychosocial interventions under the supervision of a regulated health professional who has the authorization to perform the intervention (Alberta Government 2014). Social workers must gain authorization from the ACSW to perform restricted psychosocial intervention unsupervised. To gain authorization, social workers must meet specific educational, practice, and ACSW supervision requirements for “…treating substantial mental health disorder(s) that grossly impair” (ACSW, n.d.1).
When receiving clinical supervision for the purpose of psychosocial intervention authorization, social workers may be supervised by “any regulated health professional who is (a) authorized to perform and supervise the restricted psychological interventions and (b) is competent to do so, may supervise social workers treating substantial mental health disorders that grossly impair” (ACSW n.d.1). In other words, to gain restricted psychosocial intervention authorization, it’s not required for social workers to be supervised by another social worker, as long as the clinical supervisor is a health professional who is authorized, and has knowledge, skills, and experience treating individuals with substantial mental health disorders.
Upon the application process for psychosocial intervention authorization, any clinical supervisor(s) who supervised your practice will be required to complete an Attestation of Supervision form. The Attestation of Supervision is a formal document that demonstrates that the clinical supervisor (a) provided clinical supervision to you in this capacity and (b) believe you’re ready to provide the activity unsupervised.
ACSWs Clinical Registry
Finally, RSWs can optionally obtain an “advance standing in clinical social work practice” (ACSW, n.d.4) where successful applicants are added to the clinical registry and receive the RCSW designation. The ACSW supervision requirements for RCSW candidates include completing 1600 hours of direct clinical practice and obtaining a minimum of 100 clinical supervision hours before approval to the clinical registry (ACSW, 2021). 50 out of the 100 hours must be provided directly by an approved Clinical Supervisor on Record (ACSW, 2020, February).
To learn more about how to become a RCSW read our article, How to Become a Clinical Social Worker in Alberta.
Find an Alberta Social Work Clinical Supervisor
Although, there are many paths to receiving clinical supervisor, finding an Alberta social work clinical supervisor is quite linear. You can search for a Alberta clinical supervisor on the Canadian Clinical Supervision Therapist Directory, a directory designed specifically for therapists to find their next clinical supervisor.
You can also search the ACSW Find a Social Worker database for a social worker with the designation(s) you need to be supervised by. Unfortunately, the ACSW Find a Social Worker database does not provide contact information for social workers so you’ll need to do additional research to determine if a social worker is (a) providing clinical supervision and (b) currently accepting supervisees.
The Canadian Clinical Supervision Therapist Directory is a great place to find social work clinical supervisors who are actively accepting supervisees; and the ACSW Find a Social Worker database is a great resource for verifying social work clinical supervisors’ current designations, authorizations, and privileges.
Disclaimer #1
Please be advised that this article is not written on behalf of or for ACSW and it has not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by ACSW in any way. This is an interpretive review of the ACSW supervision requirements. This article should not be considered as advice with respect to ACSWs registration or supervision processes. If you have any questions about ACSWs registration or supervision processes, please contact ACSW directly.
Disclaimer #2
Please be advised that this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to be professional advice. Please note that information in this article is only relevant up to the date it was written and is subject to change depending on regulatory or legislative changes.
References
Alberta College of Social Workers. (2020, February). Clinical registry: Policy and procedures. Retrieved from https://acsw.ab.ca/uploaded/web/Clinical%20Registry%20Forms/ACSW_ClinicalRegistryPolicyProcedures_20200221.pdf
Alberta College of Social Workers. (16 March, 2020). COVID-19 Practicum Hours. Retrieved from https://acsw.in1touch.org/uploaded/web/docs/ACSW_memo%20to%20AASWDP_COV19_Mar16_20%20(002).pdf
Alberta College of Social Workers. (2021). Achieving the Credential towards Advanced Practice: Webinar. Retrieved from https://www.acsw.ab.ca/site/rcsw?nav=sidebar
Alberta College of Social Workers. (31 March, 2023). Standards of Practice. Retrieved from https://acsw.in1touch.org/uploaded/web/ACSW%20Council/ACSW%20Standards%20of%20Practice%202023.pdf
Alberta College of Social Workers. (n.d.1.) Restricted psychosocial interventions. retrieved form https://acsw.in1touch.org/site/RPI?nav=sidebar
Alberta College of Social Workers. (n.d.2.) Application requirements for new/recent graduate. Retrieved from https://acsw.in1touch.org/site/application%20?nav=sidebar
Alberta College of Social Workers. (n.d. 3) FAQs. Retrieved from https://www.acsw.ab.ca/site/faq_main?nav=sidebar
Alberta College of Social Workers. (n.d.4). Clinical registry. Retrieved from https://www.acsw.ab.ca/site/rcsw?nav=sidebar
Alberta Government. (2003). Social Workers Profession Regulation. Retrieved from https://kings-printer.alberta.ca/documents/regs/2003_082.pdf
Alberta Government. (2014) Psychosocial interventions: An interpretative guide to the restricted activity. Retrieved from
Alberta Government. (2016). Social Worker Registration Process. Retrieved from https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/105fa461-e5e6-48f6-9ac3-38f874d4f20a/resource/26752dc9-cbae-4c26-8307-ed36ea0d83e4/download/social-worker-fact-sheet-rev-feb-2016.pdf
Alberta Government. (2024). Health Professions Act. Retrieved from https://kings-printer.alberta.ca/1266.cfm?page=H07.cfm&leg_type=Acts&isbncln=9780779848430
Canadian Association of Social Work Education (n.d.1.). About Accreditation. https://caswe-acfts.ca/our-activities/accreditation/
Canadian Association of Social Work Education (n.d.2.). Standards for Accreditation. https://caswe-acfts.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/CASWE-ACFTS.Standards-11-2014-1.pdf