Clinical Social Work Practice Tools: Practice

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.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)  is seeking feedback from clinical social workers and other providers about how they should provide estimates for costs of services for patients who use their insurance to pay for health and mental health services.  Your feedback would be helpful in providing information to CMS who may create a proposed rule for preparing national standards in this area.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, social workers work diligently to address the growing mental health needs of their patients.

In July, many NASW members alerted their state chapters to a disturbing and potentially deceptive marketing practice impacting social workers nationwide

NASW recognizes June as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Awareness Month. PTSD impacts millions of people in the United States. “According to the National Center for PTSD, a program of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, about seven or eight of every 100 people will experience PTSD in their lifetime. Although PTSD has commonly been associated with the military and veteran populations, it affects people of all ages, communities, gender, and social economic background. Social workers are the largest group of mental health providers in the United States and treatment of PTSD is one of their specialty areas.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) wishes to bring attention to the importance of mental health as it affects millions of people in the United States. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), each year 1 in 5 adults and 1 in 6 youths ages 6-17 deal with mental illness. The impact has been further exacerbated by the Covid pandemic. While the pandemic has greatly affected the overall safety and wellbeing of the population, it has also highlighted longstanding issues with accessing care. A statical report from NAMI indicated 11% of those who are mentally ill in the United States were uninsured in 2022. The same report also found 148 million people in this country live in areas with a shortage of mental health providers.