Category I Hours: At least twenty hours must be presented by a WV Board of Social Work Certified or Individually Approved Provider. These may be face to face or include a portion of online coursework

The Board permits individuals to take up to ten hours of approved online coursework which can include courses approved by the National Association of Social Workers, the Association of Social Work Boards or from our certified instate providers. A certificate from the provider is required; the certificate must reflect the approved provider, the course title and the amount of continuing education.

499999 Individually Approved Provider Used only when the provider agency has submitted an application to the WV Board of Social Workers and has received approval for a particular program on a specific date. Also, social workers may physically attend a social work program in another state and count those hours if it has been approved by that state’s social work board, the National Association of Social Workers, or the Association of Social Work Boards. A certificate of attendance verifying that approval and the amount of continuing education is required in order to count those hours.

Category II – 490000 Individual Professional Activities (IPA):
Individual Professional Activities hours do not require prior approval but course content must relate to social work or improving your practice and may include:

• Attendance at workshops that are not provided by an approved CE provider
• Reading or writing of papers, journals, articles, or books with relevant social work objectives and content
• Preparation time when serving as a presenter at a social work program;
• Internet research into specific areas of social work methods and practice, issues, etc.;
• Online courses in excess of the approved ten hours
• Viewing videos of prevalent and problematic social, health, family issues;

The choices are fairly broad, and at our licensees’ discretion, but the Board does require that the activities either relate to social work or enhance your area of social work practice. This category allows the licensee to use a maximum of twenty (20) hours for completing a variety of self-directed activities or education programs that are not WVBSW-approved. While these courses do not require prior approval, the Board reserves the right to question topics or activities provided if the relation to social work is not readily apparent.

Reporting & Record Keeping:

See Reporting Continuing Education Credits and the Professional Manual for information on reporting and record keeping.