Transfer Your Social Work License to Missouri: Reciprocity & Endorsement (2026)
Does my social work license transfer to Missouri?
A clinical social work license moves to Missouri through licensure by endorsement with the Missouri State Committee for Social Workers (Division of Professional Registration): license verification, your ASWB score sent by score transfer, and Missouri's own checks. Expect $75 (Reciprocity application fee $75 (form MO 375-0901, rev. 8-2025), nonrefundable, payable by cashier's check, money order, personal check or bank draft. Fingerprinting is paid separately to IdentoGO/MACHS (amount not stated on the Committee's pages).); no verified processing time. Missouri is a Social Work Licensure Compact state on paper only: nothing was being issued as of 2026-09-27, and endorsement through the Missouri State Committee for Social Workers (Division of Professional Registration) is the route in.
Moving to Missouri from a specific state?
Pick your current state — the checker returns your exact pathway.
Verdict
SW Compact enacted — not yet issuing
Being a compact state has not changed how Missouri licenses incoming social workers. The Social Work Licensure Compact is law here but was not issuing multistate licenses as of 2026-09-27, so the Missouri State Committee for Social Workers (Division of Professional Registration) handles every out-of-state applicant through the steps below. If you expect to work across state lines later, a Missouri license will be a sensible base once the compact is running; the commission's stated target for its data system is Spring 2027.
Missouri's clinical-level license is the LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker); the reciprocity form also lists baccalaureate, master level and advanced macro social worker licenses. The Committee's standard route for a clinical social worker licensed in another state for a year or longer is its reciprocity application, which Missouri operates alongside its general out-of-state license recognition law (RSMo 324.009). RSMo 337.615 adds a fallback for clinical social workers who do not meet 324.009: an accredited MSW/DSW, five years of clinical licensure and no discipline in the preceding five years. That statute's text was read only in a search-engine excerpt because revisor.mo.gov refused connections on 2026-09-27; confirm before relying on it. Missouri has enacted the Social Work Licensure Compact, but it is not yet issuing multistate licenses, so reciprocity is the only route in.
Missouri requirements at a glance
| Exam | No exam is retaken and the reciprocity application does not list an ASWB score report among its required items (completed application, fee, license verifications, suicide-prevention training attestation, fingerprint results). No Missouri jurisprudence exam is required. |
|---|---|
| Fees | $75 (Reciprocity application fee $75 (form MO 375-0901, rev. 8-2025), nonrefundable, payable by cashier's check, money order, personal check or bank draft. Fingerprinting is paid separately to IdentoGO/MACHS (amount not stated on the Committee's pages).) |
| Processing time | No processing time is published; fingerprint results are valid for one year. A temporary permit request form exists for reciprocity applicants |
Step by step
- Confirm Missouri's current requirements on the Missouri State Committee for Social Workers (Division of Professional Registration) website — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Missouri State Committee for Social Workers (Division of Professional Registration) (application linked on this page).
- Arrange license verification from your current state via the verification system.
- Hold an active license in another state for one year or longer (if under one year, contact the Committee).
- Submit the Application for Licensure by Reciprocity (MO 375-0901) with the fee, checking Clinical Social Worker.
- Have every state where you hold or held a license send verification directly to the Committee.
- Complete 2 hours of suicide assessment, treatment and management training within the last 2 years.
- Complete IdentoGO fingerprinting (service code 5416; out-of-state applicants request an FD-258 card).
- Pay the fees listed above, and allow for the processing time shown there.
Official links
Coming from a specific state?
Direction matters — these guides cover the exact move into Missouri:
Nearby states
Social Work license transfer into the states bordering Missouri:
Missouri for other professions
- Nursing in Missouri
- Cosmetology / Barber in Missouri
- Real Estate in Missouri
- Contractor in Missouri
- Teaching in Missouri
- CPA / Accounting in Missouri
- Electrician in Missouri
- Plumber in Missouri
- Engineering in Missouri
- Pharmacy in Missouri
- Physical Therapy in Missouri
- Psychology in Missouri
- Counseling in Missouri
- Occupational Therapy in Missouri
Frequently asked questions
Is Missouri in the Social Work Licensure Compact?
Missouri has enacted it, but the compact was not issuing multistate licenses anywhere as of 2026-09-27. No one can practice in Missouri on a compact license yet; endorsement through the Missouri State Committee for Social Workers (Division of Professional Registration) is the route.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-09-27.
- Missouri Committee for Social Workers — Reciprocity page ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Missouri Committee for Social Workers — Application for Licensure by Reciprocity (MO 375-0901, 8-2025) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Missouri Committee for Social Workers — Frequently Asked Questions ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Missouri Committee for Social Workers — Criminal Background Checks / Fingerprinting instructions ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Social Work Licensure Compact — compact jurisdictions ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
Reviewed by the License Reciprocity Editorial Team · verified against primary sources 2026-09-27
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