november 2012 currents
DESCRIPTION
November 2012 CurrentsTRANSCRIPT
An Electronic Newsletter for the NASW Washington State Chapter November 2012 Volume 2, Issue 6
NASW WA Chapter Office Website: www.nasw-wa.org Phone: (206) 706 – 7084 522 N 85th St. #B-100 Email: [email protected] Seattle, WA 98103
Index
2012 Social Work Awards.....................1
Lobby Day 2013……………..................2
Practice Alert………….………..……..2-4
Online CE Institute….…………………..4
Upcoming Workshops …......................5
NLIC FY 2013 Election……..………..5-6
Department of Treasury……………...6-7
Increase Birth Parent Engagement…7-9
Red Cross Disaster Volunteer…………9
Liability Insurance……………….…10-11
2012 ANNUAL SOCIAL WORK
AWARDS
Now is the time to consider nominating
someone for the annual social work
awards in your NASW-WA Chapter. Do
you know a great social worker who
deserves to be recognized for his or her
work? How about community members
who work hard to serve those around
them? We all know these “hometown
heros” who strive hard for excellence
not because they expect recognition, but
because they want to help those in
need. Please consider submitting a
nomination on behalf of the ones you
know. The annual social work awards
are given in each of the following areas:
Social Worker of the Year
Public Citizen of the Year
Outstanding Recent Graduate
Outstanding Student
Nominations are considered first at the
unit level, and then recognized during
Social Work Month in March 2013.
Submit a nomination by going to 2012
Chapter Awards Nomination Form. All
award
nomination
forms are due
in the Chapter
office by
February 1,
2013. Please
contact the
NASW-WA
Chapter Office with questions or if you
need assistance.
Visit our Website for more information at www.nasw-wa.org. Enjoy!
Social Work Lobby Day 2013
Make your voice heard to your elected officials. Stand up and speak out on important issues facing the social work profession in today’s legislative arena.
February 18, 2013
Governor Hotel Washington Room
621 Capitol Way South Olympia, WA 98501 8:30 AM – 3:00 PM
Join all your social work colleagues for NASW-WA Chapter Lobby Day February 18, 2013. Lobby Day is an opportunity for the social workers across the state to speak one on one with their state legislators and voice support for legislation that impacts children, families, health care, the profession of social work, and many other social justice issues. The last several years, approximately 200 social workers participated in the NASW WA Chapter Social Work Lobby Day.
Practice Alert September 2012
Mirean Coleman, LICSW, CT Senior Practice Associate
Major Changes in 2013 For Clinical Social Workers
Clinical social workers should prepare
for three major practice changes which
will significantly impact the way in which
clinical social workers practice and seek
reimbursement for mental health
services they perform. Occurring in
2013, the changes are in the areas of
coding, diagnosing, and measurement
and include the following:
The psychiatric Current
Procedural Terminology (CPT)
codes are expected to change
January 1, 2013. Clinical social
workers use CPT codes to
identify services/procedures
performed when seeking
reimbursement. Changes will
include replacement of the
current outpatient individual,
interactive, and residential care
CPT psychotherapy codes. As
information is disseminated about
the new codes, NASW will inform
its members of the new codes,
and develop training and
technical assistance to assist its
members in adapting to the new
coding changes.
Visit our Website for more information at www.nasw-wa.org. Enjoy!
The Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMS) has
announced the Physician
Quality Reporting System
(PQRS) will subject clinical
social workers and other
health care professionals who
are Medicare providers to a 1.5
percent penalty fee in 2015 if
they do not use measures
when performing services to
Medicare patients during the
year of 2013. PQRS is a
program promoting the reporting
of measures to determine quality
services. To avoid this penalty in
2015, clinical social workers must
begin using clinical measures
developed by PQRS in 2013. A
list of measures and instructions
on how to use measures with
Medicare patients is available
online at the PQRS Web site.
The fifth edition of the
Diagnostic Statistical Manual
of Mental Health Disorders
(DSM-5) is expected to be
released in May 2013. The
DSM is a classification of mental
health disorders commonly used
by clinical social workers when
conducting a diagnostic
assessment. Clinical social
workers may find changes which
include new, deleted, or
expanded diagnostic criteria and
coding for mental health
diagnoses. NASW will provide
additional information about the
DSM-5 as it becomes available
and assist members in
transitioning to the DSM-5
through trainings and technical
assistance.
The 2013 transition from the
International Classification of
Diseases, 9th Edition, Clinical
Modification (ICD-9th-CM) to the
International Classification of
Diseases, 10th Edition, Clinical
Modification (ICD-10th-CM), has been
delayed until October 2014 to allow the
health care industry additional time to
prepare for it. The ICD is a set of codes
used to identify and report medical
diagnoses. Clinical social workers
should also begin preparing for this
major change.
Preparation
Preparation for coding, diagnosing, and
measurement changes include the
following:
Updating electronic systems,
billing statements, and other
forms
Communicating with third-party
payers about their specific
requirements regarding these
changes
Enrolling in training to become
familiar with the new changes
and how to implement them in
practice.
Visit our Website for more information at www.nasw-wa.org. Enjoy!
NASW has provided advocacy for its
members in the development of
changes in CPT psychiatric coding,
measure development for clinical social
workers in the PQRS and DSM-5. As
stated above, NASW will be available to
provide technical assistance to
members as these changes are
implemented.
Additional information about the 2013
changes is available online at the DSM-
5 Website and the American Medical
Association Website. Information about
the 2014 transition to the ICD-10-CM is
available here.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and
opinions of NASW Washington State Chapter. This article is reprinted with the permission of the author, National Association of Social Workers National Chapter.
We wish you and your family a
very Happy Thanksgiving!
NASW-WA State Chapter has
CE ONLINE!
NASW WA Chapter has developed
ONLINE CE for the 24/7 convenience of
licensed Social Workers, Marriage and
Family Therapists, and Mental Health
Counselors.
Select ONLINE CE from an OnDemand
Catalog or participate in a live webcast.
To view ONLINE CE workshops, go to
our website, NASW-WA Website, click
on the CE Institute button on the home
page that says:
Featured Online Workshop this
Month is the “The Art of Writing
Mental Health Notes to Protect
the Clinician” By Federico
Grosso, MFT, BCFE
Visit our Website for more information at www.nasw-wa.org. Enjoy!
Upcoming Workshops
December 1, 2012 - North Seattle Community College, Seattle, WA LICSW/LASW Licensure Exam Prep Workshop Jonathan Beard, LICSW, CPRP
February 18, 2013 – Governor Hotel, Olympia, WA Lobby Day 2013
March 1, 2013 – Highline Medical Center, Burien, WA LICSW/LASW Licensure Exam Prep Workshop Jonathan Beard, LICSW, CPRP
March 8-9, 2013 – Red Lion Hotel Bellevue, Bellevue, WA Cognitive Behavior Therapy For Anxiety and Panic James L. Shenk, Ph.D.
March 22, 2013 – North Seattle Community College, Seattle, WA From Principles to Problem-Solving: Ethics for Social Workers Brian Giddens, ACSW, LICSW
April 26-27, 2013 - Compass Health, Everett, WA Clinical Supervision: Theory and Practice Marshall Jung, DSW
June 22, 2013 - Highline Medical Center, Burien, WA LICSW/LASW Licensure Exam Prep Workshop Jonathan Beard, LICSW, CPRP
October 26, 2013 - TBA, Seattle Area, WA The Mini Mental State Examination Thomas Starkey
Click here to Register!
NLIC FY 2013 Election Positions
Opportunities for 2013 NASW
WA Chapter Board and
Committee Positions
Greetings WA NASW Chapter members
– now that we did our civic duty to vote
for State and National elections we now
turn our attention to identifying Social
Work members to serve in leadership
positions for the Washington State
Chapter of NASW.
NASW WA Chapter wants to make sure
our membership is aware and has the
opportunity to submit an application for
our volunteer Board of Director and
Committee positions. The term for most
positions begins July 1, 2013 and end
June 30, 2015. This is an exciting
opportunity for all active members of our
Chapter to become involved in policy
and decision making, as well as our
many Chapter activities.
We will be accepting applications
effective immediately through February
1, 2013
The current openings for Board of Directors are:
Treasurer Elect – 1 year term – followed by 2 year Treasurer position
Vice President (VP) Professional Development – 2 year term
VP Social Political Action – 2 year term
The current openings for Chapter Regions are:
Central Washington Region Representative – 2 year term
Visit our Website for more information at www.nasw-wa.org. Enjoy!
Inland Empire Region Representative – 2 year term
Mt. Baker Region Representative – 2 year term
North Puget Sound Region Representative – 2 year term
Suburban King County Region – 2 year term
MSW Representative – 1 year term
BSW Representative – 1 year term
Non Board of Director Committee on
Nominations and Leadership
Identification positions:
Blue Mt. Region – 2year term
Member at Large Region – 2year
term
Mt. Baker Region – 2year term
North Puget Sound Region- 2
year term
Suburban King County Region- 2
year term
Your service as an elected leader is
important because the elected members
help determine the future programs and
services of the WA State Chapter.
You can view the position descriptions
here.
Department of the Treasury
We want to remind you that the U.S.
Department of the Treasury now
requires all federal benefit and non-tax
payments to be paid electronically.
People applying for Social Security,
Veterans Affairs or other federal
benefits, will receive their payments
electronically starting with their first
payment. People currently receiving
federal benefit checks must switch to an
electronic payment option by March 1,
2013.
Approximately 6 million Americans
still receive their payments by paper
check. See how your state ranks,
here.
Having federal benefits paid
electronically by direct deposit into the
bank or credit union account of one’s
choice or into a Direct Express® card
account is safer, faster and more
reliable than receiving paper benefit
checks. In 2010, more than 540,000
Treasury-issued checks were reported
lost or stolen, and had to be reissued.
How Your Chapter Can Help
The Go Direct® campaign makes it easy
for you to help your members help their
clients get their federal benefits paid
electronically.
Here’s what you can do:
Display Go Direct campaign and Direct Express card materials in your lobby
Include Go Direct information in your newsletter or on your social media channels
Incorporate Go Direct information into staff training and
Visit our Website for more information at www.nasw-wa.org. Enjoy!
presentations to the populations you serve
Help people who are about to apply for federal benefits be ready to choose direct deposit or the Direct Express® card at enrollment time and understand what information they should have on-hand when signing up
Actively encourage the people you serve who currently get federal benefit checks to make the switch to electronic payments today, so they can beat the last-minute rush to sign up before the deadline
For more information on how you can
get involved in the campaign or to order
free materials, please click here.
View a short video about the Go Direct
transition.
Find out why U.S. Treasury requires
electronic federal benefit payments.
Switch by Mar 1, 2013.
Elizabeth Hoffler, MSW, ACSW Special Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of NASW Washington
State Chapter. This article is reprinted with the permission of the author, National
Association of Social Workers National Chapter.
Strategies to Increase Birth
Parent Engagement,
Partnership, and Leadership in
the Child Welfare System:
A Review
Birth parent participation and
attendance in child welfare programs
has been demonstrated to reduce the
recurrence of maltreatment, as well as
contribute to the reunification of families
and improve emotional adjustment in
children. The report reviews the roles of
birth parents in the child welfare system,
as well as programs that foster birth
parent engagement. It explores barriers
and proactive strategies to engaging
birth parents in child welfare services,
developing connections between birth
parents and foster parents, utilizing birth
parents as agency partners that mentor
and train other birth parents, and
drawing upon birth parent experience in
an advisory capacity at the
organizational level. Specific program
models that focus on birth parent
involvement and their evidence-base
(where available) are also reviewed;
programs were selected for inclusion in
this report based on constituent
recommendations, prior reports, and
extant research on birth parent
engagement. Given Casey’s objective of
influencing the policies and practices
that support safe, stable, and permanent
homes for children, Casey and the Birth
Parent Advisory Committee collaborated
to produce this review.
Results
Birth Parent Engagement with Child
Welfare Services. Encouraging
participation in parenting and prevention
Visit our Website for more information at www.nasw-wa.org. Enjoy!
programs contributes to reductions in
maltreatment incidences, the
reunification of families, improved
emotional adjustment in children, and
the opportunity for birth parents to
demonstrate responsibility. Institutional
mistrust, the complex issues that
families face (e.g., substance abuse,
domestic violence, unmet basic needs),
and practical barriers (e.g.,
transportation, child care) create a
serious impediment to the engagement
process. Strategies to improve the
engagement of birth parents and
families in the child welfare system
include: early outreach to parents;
practical assistance; building supportive
relationships with peers, foster parents,
and child welfare workers; consulting
parents in the decision-making process
around service provisions; and family-
centered practices. The following
programs are briefly reviewed for their
birth parent engagement strategies:
Family Group Decision-Making,
SafeCare, Parent-Child Interaction
Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and
Signs of Safety.
Connecting Birth Parents and Foster
Parents. Facilitating positive
connections between foster parents and
birth parents, regardless of whether the
children remain in foster care or are
reunified with their birth parents, can
increase family connectedness, reduce
childhood trauma, expedite
permanency, and increase the likelihood
of reunification. There are challenges to
building positive connections, however,
including: overcoming safety concerns
for the child (for the foster or birth
parents), jealousies, condescension
from foster parents, and staff worries
that the connections will increase
problems and work. Building a Bridge,
Parent Mentoring Programs
(Washington State), Birth Parent-Foster
Family Connections Project, and
Icebreaker Meetings are reviewed.
Birth Parent Partners. Birth parent
partners, who have traversed the child
welfare system themselves, possess the
ability to provide guidance and support
to other parents in the child welfare
system and offer a unique perspective
to inform policy and program
implementation. Parent partners may
increase birth parent engagement,
decrease distrust in the child welfare
system held by birth parents, and
increase family support structures; they
can also alleviate stressors between
parents and child welfare agencies and
may help improve child outcomes.
Through alleviating stress for child
welfare workers, the utilization of parent
partners may have the additional effect
of reducing child welfare staff burnout
and increasing satisfaction. Birth parent
partner programs reviewed include: the
Parent Advocacy Program, Circle of
Parents, and the Parent Partners
Programs of Washington State and
Contra Costa County, CA.
Birth Parent Advisors. Birth parent
advisors can help make decisions about
program planning, shape agency policy,
advise statewide committees, train child
welfare agency staff, and advocate for
parent partner programs. Successful
birth parent advisory roles are
dependent on agency flexibility,
adequate information and support,
directed meeting agendas, the provision
of leadership opportunities for the birth
parents, shared responsibility, and
Visit our Website for more information at www.nasw-wa.org. Enjoy!
consistent involvement throughout the
planning and implementation process.
This report reviews Catalyst For Kids,
the Child Welfare Organizing Project,
Strengthening Families, and the Texas
Parent Collaboration Group.
Implications
Strategies for improving birth parent
engagement, including reducing
institutional mistrust through a
supportive atmosphere where goals are
clear and established and removing
logistical barriers (e.g., transportation
and child care), can be utilized to
increase birth parent participation in the
child welfare system. Creating positive
connections between foster parents and
birth parents, utilizing birth parent
partners as support structures, and
drawing upon birth parent advisors to
inform how services are delivered, what
programs are most effective, and how
agencies and parents in child welfare
interact, can contribute to reductions in
the recurrence of maltreatment, the
reunification of families, and improved
emotional adjustment in children. These
outcomes are especially significant as
recurring incidences of child abuse or
neglect have been linked to negative
child outcomes, such as delinquency,
increased behavior disorders, mental
health issues, substance abuse, and
reduced employment and educational
achievement. Birth parents have a
critical role in improving these
outcomes. To read the entire article
please click here.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and
opinions of NASW Washington State Chapter. This article is reprinted with the permission of the author,
Casey Family Programs.
Red Cross Disaster Mental
Health Volunteer.
If you meet the criteria (e.g., licensed
social worker), and are available to
deploy for at least 10 days to the
disaster relief operation for Hurricane
Sandy, the Red Cross Disaster Mental
Health Services needs your help! The
Red Cross DMH has created a
temporary deployment process that is
effect until the need for DMH volunteers
has been filled.
Please note that you will need to
complete a background check (prior to
acceptance) and complete a 3-hour
training once they arrive at the job site.
Once the disaster relief operations are
closed, you may still volunteer, but you
will need to contact your local chapter
(www.redcross.org ) and sign up as a
DMH volunteer. Please see the
attached document for critical
information.
Visit our Website for more information at www.nasw-wa.org. Enjoy!
"Like" us on Facebook to see your connections to the
NASW-WA Chapter.
NASW Endorses an Improved
Professional Liability Insurance
for Members
NASW Assurance Services (NASW ASI)
recently announced an enhanced
NASW member professional liability
insurance program. The program, which
began enrolling members in September,
offers significant discounts, new and
additional coverage, expert customer
service, and expanded online
capabilities with immediate proof of
coverage. Many of the new
improvements are the result of the
NASW Risk Retention Group (RRG) – a
liability insurance company owned by
NASW member insureds.
Just one month into the program, NASW
ASI has already helped hundreds of
members enroll in the NASW-endorsed
policy. For members interested in
obtaining coverage, the NASW ASI
website has developed detailed
information and application forms. Visit
them online here. Or, for questions
about changes to your policy, contact
NASW ASI at 855-385-2160.
Members who recently renewed their
policy with APA still have valid
coverage; however, with NASW ASI no
longer managing the program, the
association is unable to advocate for
members in instances of unfair
coverage denial or renewal.
According to NASW ASI, the RRG was
first explored years ago at the
instruction of the NASW and NASW ASI
board of directors. During that time, the
nation was suffering an economic
downturn and NASW ASI’s then
insurance provider was part of a
company that experienced extreme
financial difficulties and a near collapse
which required federal bailout. To
protect member policyholders and
identify other, more stable options,
NASW ASI researched different carriers
and insurance models.
“We determined that RRGs offered a
number of advantages for NASW
members, chapters and the
association,” said Elizabeth J. Clark,
chief executive officer of NASW.
“Because of the RRG’s structure, NASW
and NASW Assurance Services are able
to retain more program control and
ensure greater financial transparency.
For our members, this means more
flexibility to offer new program benefits.”
For several years, NASW ASI worked
with insurance program administrator
American Professional Agency, Inc.
(APA) to develop the NASW RRG. The
program, which included APA continuing
in its administrative role, was planned to
launch in 2013.
This year APA requested a significant
increase in its commission. Later, in
Visit our Website for more information at www.nasw-wa.org. Enjoy!
June, APA advised NASW ASI that it
would no longer represent NASW in this
professional liability insurance program.
According to NASW ASI, these events
left the association without a program
administrator at a very critical time – just
one week from the licensure and
incorporation of the NASW RRG.
“APA’s actions put us in a very difficult
position,” said Tony Benedetto,
executive vice president of NASW
Assurance Services. “But because of
NASW’s reputation and experience,
several companies jumped at the
opportunity to work with us. After careful
consideration, we selected CPH and
Associates to administer the new
program and they have been a valuable
addition in helping us customize a
program just for NASW members.”
NASW ASI selected new partners and
experts to help design and customize an
enhanced professional liability insurance
product for members. The program now
includes administration from CPH and
Associates, claims, litigation oversight
and risk management helpline from
Western Litigation, and extensive
reinsurance and financial backing from
Lloyd’s, London. With these partners,
we have been able to offer new and
enhanced benefits, including:
15% in discounts, including a 5%
rate reduction for applying online
and a 10% discount for
completing a risk-management
workshop or online training
course sponsored by NASW and
NASW ASI.
A waiver of the $5 NASW
purchasing group fee.
At no extra cost, expanded
benefits include an automatic
increase in licensing board
coverage to $35,000, new HIPPA
privacy coverage, emergency first
aid coverage, medical payments
coverage and first-party assault
coverage.
Online quoting and enrollment.
Customer service representatives
ready to assist members during
extended evening and weekend
hours.
Higher Deposition Expense
Coverage protection.
Subpoena, premises liability and
student practicum coverage.
CPH’s commission, which is much less
than what APA had requested, will
enable us to save millions of dollars
each year. These savings can be
passed on to policyholders in the form of
lower prices and additional benefits.
NASW members in Washington are
encouraged to learn more about the
NASW-endorsed program. To discover
new benefits and learn how to take
advantage of significant individual
discounts, visit NASW ASI online or call
NASW Member Services at 800-742-
4089. Members can also read more
about the program in the October issue
of NASW News.
Happy Holidays to you and your
family!
Visit our Website for more information at www.nasw-wa.org. Enjoy!