WASHINGTON, D.C. – National Association of Social Workers (NASW) President Yvonne Chase has launched a task force to craft a National Standard of Care for Suicide for Social Workers.
Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the United States, with more than 49,000 Americans dying by suicide in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Clinical social workers are one of the largest groups of mental health services providers in the United States and are often on the forefront of helping prevent deaths by suicide. However, there are no standards of care specifically tailored toward members of the social work profession.
“We hope the work of this task force will lead to better training of social workers to address this crisis, and lead to many more lives being saved,” Chase said.
Michelle Scott, Ph.D., professor in the Monmouth University School of Social Work and director of the SRF Suicide Prevention Research and Training Project, will lead the task force for NASW. She will be joined by co-chair Maureen Underwood, LCSW, a clinical affiliate faculty member, and Stephanie Asare Nti, LCSW-C, a Monmouth University social work doctoral student.
The task force is expected to announce its progress on this work at the NASW National Conference in Chicago in June.