Clinical Social Work Policy & News

July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month.  During National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month HHS Office of Minority Health has many resources to help address the mental health needs of minority communities. Racial and ethnic minority groups in the U.S. are less likely to have access to mental health services, less likely to use community mental health services, more likely to use emergency departments, and more likely to receive lower quality care. Poor mental health care access and quality contribute to poor mental health outcomes, including suicide, among racial and ethnic minority populations.

Clinical social workers are the largest group of mental health services providers in the United States and are recognized by federal law as one of five core mental health professions. NASW urges Representatives and Senators to cosponsor and support the Improving Access to Mental Health Act to enhance Medicare beneficiaries’ access to mental health services.

During National Family Caregivers Month in November, NASW joins the nation's leading researchers on aging, work and family issues to send a first-of-its-kind letter to Congress urging lawmakers to address the rapidly growing demand for care.

President Trump on Oct. 26 officially declared that the opioid crisis engulfing the United States to be a public health crisis. This act followed a recommendation from the June 2017 interim report from President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, which strongly recommended that the opioid crisis be declared an emergency.