Clinical Social Work with Uniformed Service Members, Veterans, and Their Families

This specialty certification is designed to publicly recognize clinical social workers for their proficiency in Clinical Social Work with Uniformed Service Members, Veterans, and Their Families. The ABCSW promotes this certification through social media and other channels, and supports this credential and practice through its online resources. The application fee for this certification has been waived leaving only the exam fee, paid to The Association for Advanced Training in the Behavioral Sciences (AATBS) of $200 due to apply for this specialty certification.

Description: Clinical social work with uniformed service members, veterans, and their families involves clinical social work practice, supervision, consultation, education, or research relevant to the delivery of clinical social work services to service members, veterans, and their families. Clinical social workers use a person-in-environment perspective to enhance the social, psychosocial, or bio-psychosocial functioning of those who are served, and involves specialized clinical knowledge and advanced clinical skills in assessment; diagnosis; treatment of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders, conditions and addictions, including severe mental illness and serious emotional disturbances; consultation; and evaluation of services. Services may be provided across a variety of setting and locations (e.g., uniformed service, government service, private practice, community mental health, and so forth), are offered by a diverse array of providers (e.g., active duty, civil service, private practitioners, employed clinicians, and so forth), and include the full array of clinical social work services dedicated to improving the well-being and biopsychosocial functioning of service members, veterans, and their families as they encounter the unique challenges experienced in their lives.

Specific Criteria:
  1. Maintain the BCD certification.
  2. Have practiced in the specialty area for five (5) or more years, and have accumulated at least 2,250 clinical hours of practice experience during the five (5) or more years’ time frame; 300 of which must have been in the past year.
  3. Have obtained and documented 24 clock hours of supervision or consultation relating to the practice specialty since earning the master’s or doctoral degree. The supervisor or consultant must have held the highest clinical licensure in their state for their respective profession for at least five years.
  4. To have obtained at least 20 clock hours of continuing education in the last year relating to the specialty area.
  5. Pass an online exam ($200) authorized by ABCSW and administered by AATBS. AATBS sends ABCSW results automatically on a fixed schedule.

This certification is available online for those who are Board Certified Diplomates in Clinical Social Work (BCD).

AATBS also offers test prep material at a cost of $150 found here.

Unsuccessful applicants who wish to reapply should promptly inform the ABCSW in writing of their intention to reapply and retake the specialty assessment after the wait period defined by AATBS. The $200 assessment fee may still apply.

Recertification

This certification must be renewed annually based on the following criteria:

  1. Maintain BCD certification in good standing.
  2. Have at least 150 hours of practice experience in practice specialty (i.e., clinical social work practice, supervision, consultation, education, or research relevant to the practice specialty).
  3. Have at least 20 hours of continuing education relating to the practice specialty.
  4. Pay the renewal fee for the BCD. ($135)
  5. Pay the renewal fee for the specialty certification. ($100 per specialty certification)

 

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