Your Success Is Our Purpose
COVID-19 changed the way many social workers deliver essential community services. NASW understands your passion for serving others and can help you thrive in a changing work environment.
NASW helps social workers increase their leadership skills, practice knowledge, and career satisfaction. We can help you make the greatest impact wherever you work.
License Portability
Social workers provide value in every community. NASW has partnered with the Association of Social Work Boards and the Clinical Social Work Association to develop an interstate compact for licensure portability for social workers. Once the compact is in place, any social worker can pursue interstate practice portability within the states participating in the compact. The multi-year initiative will
- Improve access to social work services
- Increase opportunities to practice across state lines (e.g., teletherapy)
- Enhance the mobility of social workers and their families
- Improve continuity of care
- Preserve and strengthen the state licensure system
- Enhance the exchange of licensure verification, investigatory, and disciplinary information between member states
COVID-19 and Social Work Practice
NASW continues it efforts to keep social workers safe and prepared during COVID-19, and beyond. We're helping social workers counter vaccine conspiracy theories and talk with clients about the medical science behind vaccines with a culturally responsive lens. We continue to monitor changes in commercial payer telehealth policies and advocate for telehealth coverage during the pandemic and beyond, and we continue to advocate for audio-only telehealth. We offer COVID-related resources, such as disclosure responsibilities, guidelines for reopening practices, and informed consent forms for in-person clinical social work services.
Undoing Racism in Social Work
NASW acknowledges the social work profession and this association have not always lived up to our mission of pursuing social justice for all. We apologize for supporting policies and activities that have harmed people of color. NASW is working to achieve racial equity in the social work profession and society. READ OUR REPORT, Undoing Racism Through Social Work: NASW Report to the Profession on Social Justice Priorities, to learn what we are doing to promote racial equity.
Enhance Your Job Performance. Expand Your Professional Influence
NASW resources help social workers every day. Below is a sampling of resources members rely on to enhance their job performance and increase their leadership skills and practice knowledge. View more resources and NASW benefits.
Peer Support and Connectedness
MyNASW Member Community
From solo practice to interdisciplinary teams, from students and new professionals to veteran social workers, NASW’s MyNASW online member community is a fast way to connect with peers in your specialty who are eager to listen and help you out. MyNASW community members bring new points of view to discussions, share useful resources, and add to the knowledge base. MyNASW is also a great resource for new social workers who want to find mentors and for those who want to share their years of experience.
Specialty Practice Sections
NASW’s Specialty Practice Sections (SPS)
connect social workers with practice-related resources and free CE webinars. Focus your professional development by adding a Section to your NASW membership. SPS members can participate in their corresponding
MyNASW subcommunity, at no extra charge:
- Children, Youth, and Schools, which is exclusively for members of the School Social Work; Child Welfare; and Children, Adolescents & Young Adults Specialty Practice Sections.
- Clinical Social Work, Aging, and Health, which is exclusively for members of the Aging; Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs; Health; Mental Health; and Private Practice Specialty Practice Sections.
- Social Justice, Administration, and Courts, which is exclusively for members of the Administration/Supervision, Social and Economic Justice & Peace, and Social Work and the Courts Specialty Practice Sections.
Section membership costs about the same as just one CE course per year, in addition to your NASW membership.
Chapter Membership
NASW membership includes membership in your state NASW chapter, at no additional cost. This dual membership gives you that much-needed connection to the profession where you live or work. Meet up with other social workers at chapter-run events.
Research to Practice
NASW membership opens doors to evidence-based research that you can use to advocate for the populations and communities you serve, shape treatment plans, and inform policy.
NASW Journals
Social Work is the premiere journal of the social work profession and the official journal of NASW. Social Work is dedicated to improving practice and advancing knowledge in social work and social welfare. NASW membership incudes a digital subscription with access to the full journal archive, which goes back to 1956. NASW's specialty journals, available at reduced subscription rates for NASW members, provide articles on innovations in practice, interdisciplinary efforts, research, program evaluation, policy, and planning.
Social Work Advocates Magazine
NASW’s award-winning magazine, Social Work Advocates, carries in-depth feature articles about social work trends and issues. NASW membership includes an e-subscription to our magazine. Visit the Social Work Advocates archives to catch up on issues you missed prior to joining as an NASW member.
NASW Research Library
A members-only research tool, the NASW Research Library helps social workers find evidence-based research, practice guidelines, client education, assessment tools, and more, to support practice and professional development. The NASW Research Library gives members access to more than 25 international databases with thousands of documents from leading research institutions, think tanks, and advocacy groups.
Professional Development Discounts
Social workers turn to NASW for continuing education, credentials and certifications, and licensing support. NASW members receive discounted pricing on their professional development needs.
Social Work Online CE Institute
Take free and discounted CE courses as an NASW member at the Social Work Online CE Institute. Search your practice area for relevant courses.
Credentials and Certifications
NASW credentials and certifications show you meet national levels of excellence in your discipline. NASW members save hundreds on credentials and certifications.
CE Tracker
CE Tracker is an online tool that tells you exactly what you need to renew your license and tracks your progress along the way. It even suggests content to obtain the continuing education you need. NASW members receive discounted subscription rates.
Dedicated Support
Ethics and Legal Consultations
NASW members facing job-related ethical dilemmas and social work-related legal issues can talk privately with NASW ethics and legal staff. These are free services that are highly valued by our members.
Practice and Policy Experts at National Level
When you join NASW, you help ensure that there are dedicated practice and policy experts at the national level who advocate for your practice area and for the populations and communities served by your practice area. This work cannot be done without the support of our dues-paying members, and we thank you!