Clinical Social Work Practice Tools: Practice

NASW Task Force for Social Workers’ Safety in the Workplace is pleased to announce the attached draft practice standards for public comment by April 25, 2026. The draft standards offer guidance to social workers on essential, helpful provisions for social workers to feel secure when carrying out their social work duties in any setting or environment. We value your input and encourage you to review the document by clicking Here.

Please use the comment section to provide your feedback no later than April 25, 2026. We kindly request that you include your professional background with your comments. Thank you.

Submit your comment.

NASW Task Force for Suicide Prevention is pleased to announce the attached draft practice standards for public comment, NASW Standards of Care for Suicide Prevention.  The draft standards of care offer guidance to social workers and serve as benchmarks for services social workers provide.  We value your input and encourage you to review the standards by clicking HERE.

Please use the comment section to provide your feedback no later than March 31. We kindly request that you include your professional background with your comments.  Thank you in advance for your comments.

On October 31, 2025, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) for calendar year (CY) 2026). This rule updates policies and payments for clinical social workers (CSWs) and other Medicare providers. It also affects health coverage for beneficiaries.

NASW appreciates the opportunity to submit comments on CMS–1832–P, Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) on the revisions of Medicare and Medicaid Programs; CY 2026 Payment Policies Under the Physician Fee Schedule and Other Changes to Part B Payment and Coverage Policies; Medicare Shared Savings Program Requirements; and Medicare Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate Program. 

Effective September 30, 2025, several telehealth flexibilities that were put into place during the COVID-19 pandemic expired and now require congressional actions to be renewed. As of today, lawmakers have not addressed the expirations. Clinical social workers should be aware of two expirations that may impact the way they practice:the geographic waiver and in-person requirement.

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) has received numerous member inquiries about the status of Medicare waivers for telehealth services. There has been some confusion centered around the status of telehealth flexibilities. Most telehealth flexibilities were scheduled to end on December 31, 2024; however, Congress implemented telehealth waivers January 2025 and extended the waivers until March 31, 2025.