Behavioral Health Practice Tools

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Task Force for Clinical Social Work Practice Standards is pleased to announce the attached draft entitled, "NASW Standards for Clinical Social Workers in Social Work Practice," is now available for public comment. The draft offers guidance to clinical social workers in all clinical settings and serves as a benchmark for the services they provide.   

The public comment period begins July 28 and ends September 15. The document is available for review at read clinical social work standards draft.

Please click the comment section below to provide your feedback along with your professional background.  Should you have any questions please email cswstandards@socialworkers.org. 

It’s National Women’s Health Week (May 14-20), an opportunity for social workers to encourage women to make their health a priority, including avoiding drinking too much alcohol. With their distinctive skillset and as key providers of mental and behavioral health services in a wide range of settings, social workers are in a unique position to prevent risky drinking among women. If you’re not sure how to begin—or why starting the conversation can make a difference—here are five facts you should know about women and alcohol:

Excessive drinking includes heavy drinking (eight or more drinks a week for women, and 15 or more a week for men) and binge drinking (four or more drinks on one occasion for women, and five or more for men). In addition, there is no known safe amount of alcohol use or safe time to drink during pregnancy. There is also no safe type of alcohol to drink while pregnant, since all types of alcohol can be harmful, including wine, beer, and liquor.

NASW is developing a task force for the revision of the 2013 Guidelines for Social Work Safety in the Workplace. The guidelines were created to establish safety measures and protocols for social workers within the workplace. Social workers utilize these guidelines as a resource to help create, develop, and assist communities, private and public agencies, local, state, and federal policymakers to create a safe working environment in areas where social workers are employed.

On December 2, 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights released for public comments the Notice for Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) regarding the Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Patient Records.

Effective January 1, 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), implemented the 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS). The 2953 page rule includes updates to policies and payments that are applicable to clinical social workers (CSWs) and other Medicare providers. The following is a summary of the provisions and their implications for CSWs.