How it worksFAQ

For Michigan school social workers

Two regulators. Two clocks.
One place to track both.

Your LARA license and your MDE certificate renew on different schedules with different rules — and one course often counts toward both. Renewal Clock logs a course once, files the hours where each regulator wants them, and keeps the audit record LARA expects you to have. Free during the pilot.

Take the 60-second tourA guided walk through a sample account. Nothing to install, no sign-in.Start →Explore the sample dataPoke around on your own — move the clock, log a course, open the vault.Open the demo →
Sign in with GoogleAny Google account works. Set up your credentials in about a minute.
MASSW 2026 · October 28–30, 2026

Attending MASSW 2026? Start your account with this week's sessions.

Nearly every session at the conference earns SW-CEHs and SCECHs. All 19 published sessions are pre-loaded — tick the ones you sat in and the hours land on your LARA license and, where MASSW awards them, your MDE certificate, with the ethics and implicit-bias sessions already filed in the right LARA buckets.

See the session list

The problem

Same person. Two agencies that don't talk to each other.

LARA · Board of Social Work — your license

45 hours every 3 years, expiring April 30. Minimums LARA actually checks, all within the 45: 5 hours ethics, 2 hours pain & symptom management, 2 hours human trafficking, and 3 hours implicit bias (1 for each year of the cycle). At most half your hours may be non-interactive online self-study — live online counts as synchronous. LARA doesn't track any of it — renewal is honor-system, and you keep the proof for years in case of audit.

MDE · via MOECS — your certificate

75 professional-learning hours every 5 years, expiring June 30, earned via SCECHs, college credit, or DPPD. MOECS is the system of record — and it knows nothing about your LARA side, so a 6-hour ethics workshop that satisfies both shows up in one place and not the other.

How it works

Three steps, then it runs itself

  1. 1

    Add your credentials

    Pick LMSW or LBSW and your MDE certificate, enter one year, and your renewal cycles are computed for you — editable if yours differ.

  2. 2

    Log a course once

    Title, provider, date, hours, format. Toggle the credentials it counts toward, pick a LARA bucket, snap a photo of the certificate. Under 30 seconds on a phone.

  3. 3

    Watch both clocks — and export when asked

    Countdowns, progress rings, bucket minimums, pace warnings, reminders by email. When you renew, close out the cycle: totals freeze, a transcript is generated, certificates stay together.

See it

The three screens that matter

Course title
Ethics of Dual Relationships in School Practice
Hours
6
Format
Live — online (synchronous)
Counts toward
✓ LMSW (LARA)✓ MDE Certificate
LMSW — Social Work License — which buckets?
Ethics
4
General
2
+ Split into another bucket4 + 2 = 6 hrs ✓
Professional School SW Certificate
SCECH
6
Sponsor uploaded / evaluation completed in MOECS
Log once, count twice. A 6-hour ethics workshop becomes 4 hours of LARA ethics, 2 hours general, and a 6-hour SCECH for MDE — one form, one save.
May 1, 2021 – Apr 30, 2024Frozen snapshot

47.5 of 45 hrs · 7 courses · closed May 3, 2024 · Ethics 5/5 · Pain & symptom mgmt 2/2 · Human trafficking 2/2 · Implicit bias 3/3

Certificates (4)
ethics-prior.jpgum-pain-prior.pdfimplicit-bias-prior.jpghuman-trafficking-prior.pdf
Stored transcript (PDF)CSV
The audit vault. Every closed cycle keeps its frozen totals, a generated transcript, and the certificates behind them — the one screen you open if LARA asks.
Dec 30, 20276 months before renewal (Jun 30, 2028)EscalatedUpcoming
Reminders with your numbers in them. Written from where you actually stand as of that date — and they get more direct when you're behind pace.

What you get

Built around the rules, not around a spreadsheet

A clock card per credential

Months to renewal, hours toward the total, and every bucket LARA checks — ethics, pain, human trafficking, implicit bias.

Log once, count twice

One entry can feed both regulators, and split across LARA buckets — 4 hours ethics, 2 hours general — when a course is mixed.

Warnings before they're problems

Behind pace, nearing the online self-study cap, a required bucket still short, SCECHs still pending in MOECS.

A vault for the audit

Closed cycles keep frozen totals, a PDF transcript, and every certificate — the one screen you open if LARA asks.

Reminders that know where you stand

12, 6, 3, and 1 months before each renewal, escalating if you're behind, and naming the buckets that are still short.

Made for your phone

Log a session from the conference floor, photograph the certificate, add it to your home screen like an app.

Your data

Yours, private, and honest about what it is

No PHI. Ever.

We store your account, your credential details, and your course records. Nothing about students or clients.

Export or delete any time

A full JSON export and a one-tap account deletion live in Settings. Certificates are private files served only to you.

Rules verified, sources cited

Requirement values are checked against LARA and MDE publications — last verified Sep 14, 2026 (LARA) and Sep 14, 2026 (MDE), and every screen says so. Rules change; always confirm with the state and in MOECS.

Districts & ISDs

Interested in a version for your whole team?

We're piloting with individual social workers first. A district and ISD tier — rosters, compliance dashboards, one place to see who's on track — is next. Tell us what would help.

Talk to us

Questions

Frequently asked

Does Renewal Clock submit anything to LARA or MOECS for me?

No. It's a personal tracker. You still renew with LARA and confirm SCECHs in MOECS yourself — the app tells you what's still pending and gives you the records to do it quickly.

Is it really free?

Yes, while we pilot with Michigan school social workers. If that changes, existing users will hear about it well in advance, and your data is always exportable.

I only hold one of the two credentials. Is it still useful?

Yes. Add whichever you hold — LMSW, LBSW, Professional or Preliminary School Social Worker Certificate — and you get that clock, its buckets, reminders, and the vault.

Can I add courses from earlier in my cycle?

Yes. Backfill any course by its completion date; it lands in the right cycle automatically, even an already-closed one, and the totals update.

Which Google account should I use?

Any — your school account or a personal one. Your data follows the account you sign in with, so pick the one you'll still have after a job change.

What happens to my certificates?

Photos and PDFs are compressed on your phone, stored privately, and only ever served back to you. Closing a cycle keeps them with that cycle's transcript.