An updated version of a popular social work manual is now available.

The NASW Press announced in December the release of Person-in-Environment System Manual, 2nd Edition. In the new edition, authors James Karls and Maura O'Keefe brought the relevance of the original system manual into a 21st century social work perspective. The latest edition includes CompuPIE software designed to help practitioners write and record a multifaceted, comprehensive assessment and treatment plan for clients in most settings. The manual complements the book "Person-in-Environment System: The PIE Classification System for Social Functioning Problems."

Person-in-Environment (PIE) is a classification system developed by Karls, an NASW Social Work Pioneer, along with social worker Karin Wandrei. The structure provides social workers with a way to classify and code problems in social functioning as an alternative to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) classification system. Using the PIE system, practitioners record the results of an assessment that addresses the whole person. The plan helps practitioners determine recommended courses of action and a way to follow progress.

Karls, who died in 2008, had an extensive career as a clinician, administrator and teacher in social work. He started the first mental health clinic in California's Central Valley and directed mental health programs in California. Before his death, he was awarded the international Rhoda G. Sarnat Award for his development of the PIE system. The first edition of the "Person-in-Environment System Manual," published by the NASW Press, has been translated into more than eight languages.

O'Keefe has been a licensed social worker for more than 30 years and has worked in various settings. She was a faculty member at the University of Southern California School of Social Work for more than 15 years, and presently teaches at California State University, Sacramento.

Lisa O'Hearn, managing editor of journals and books at the NASW Press, said, "The PIE Manual and its companion, the PIE book, are resources that no social work practitioner, student, administrator, researcher, or educator should be without. They are excellent tools that, it is hoped, will be reached for as often as the DSM."

The new manual includes copyright-free assessment forms as well as case examples of comprehensive holistic assessments.