Behavioral Health Practice Tools

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is part of an Opioid Response Network (ORN) Addiction Workforce Interest Group. This group will be meeting to address factors contributing to the current workforce shortage. You can help us by responding to this 7 question inquiry to give us a snapshot of the current situation. We encourage you to pass the link on to your colleagues and any other staff working in any aspect of the addiction field. Please respond by June 30. Thank you in advance for your help!

National Women’s Health Week starts each year on Mother’s Day to encourage women to make their health a priority. This message is especially important given that women’s drinking has increased substantially over the last two decades. Though men still drink more overall than women do, gender gaps in drinking have narrowed, and in some cases, women are now drinking more than men in the same age group. For instance, women ages 18 to 25 are now more likely to drink and binge drink more than men, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. In addition, nearly 1 in 7 pregnant women say they drink alcohol, and about 1 in 20 report binge drinking in the past 30 days. 

April is Alcohol Awareness Month, an invitation to social workers to make conversations about alcohol use part of routine practice—and to make sure they’re armed with the facts. As the nation’s largest group of mental health services providers, social workers are uniquely positioned to help clients make significant positive changes in their health and well-being by taking time to talk with them about their drinking.

NASW’s Task force for School Social Work Practice Standards is seeking public comments for the attached document: Best Practice Standards for School Social Workers. The document provides a useful set of standards for school social workers seeking specific information related to school social workers. Your comments are important and will determine how the task force moves forward. The public comment period begins February 6 and will end March 8.

NASW is developing a task force for the revision of the 2013 Child Welfare Standards. NASW reviews and revises these standards to incorporate and update the best practices in the field of Child Welfare.

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Task Force for Clinical Social Work Practice Standards is pleased to announce the attached draft entitled, "NASW Standards for Clinical Social Workers in Social Work Practice," is now available for public comment. The draft offers guidance to clinical social workers in all clinical settings and serves as a benchmark for the services they provide.   

The public comment period begins July 28 and ends September 15. The document is available for review at read clinical social work standards draft.

Please click the comment section below to provide your feedback along with your professional background.  Should you have any questions please email cswstandards@socialworkers.org.