A. Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) is a North Carolina mandated license to practice clinical social work. The credential is awarded to those people who have a MSW, have obtained 3000 hours of post graduate paid supervised employment in a clinical setting in no less than two years nor more than six years (no more than 1500 hours accumulated in any one year), have received a minimum of 100 hours of clinical supervision, and have passed the ASWB Clinical level exam. Provisional Licensed Clinical Social Worker (PLCSW) is a license that allows social workers to practice clinical social work while gaining the necessary supervised experience to be licensed. As with other certification/licensure levels, the P-LCSW is issued for two years. You must take and pass the clinical level exam during this two-year period. Upon passing the exam, the provisional status can be held for up to six (6) years from the original issue date to accumulate the required supervised clinical experience.