West Virginia adopts shared license rules for social workers

A home-state licensing board issues a multistate license to an eligible social worker. The compact covers clinical, master's, and bachelor's social workers when their home state and the state where they practice are member states. Applicants must hold or qualify for an active, unrestricted home-state license, pay any fees, and submit fingerprints or other biometric data for criminal-history checks. Applicants must meet the compact's education and exam requirements. Clinical applicants must also meet its supervised-practice requirement. West Virginia's law took effect June 9, 2026. The compact takes effect when a seventh state enacts it.

States regulate social workers practicing there and share licensing and discipline information through a compact commission. These rules apply to social workers practicing across state lines under the compact. Workers must follow the laws where their client is located. A state may restrict practice within its borders; only the home state may restrict the multistate license. A restriction on the multistate license deactivates practice privileges in all other member states until the restriction is removed. States report disciplinary actions and certain significant investigation information to the shared system.

The compact commission coordinates participating states and may collect fees to cover its costs. The commission operates for the states participating in the compact. The commission includes each state that enacts the compact. It may charge member states and social workers with multistate licenses fees for its operating costs. The commission comes into existence on or after the compact takes effect, when a seventh state enacts it.