November 2012 Currents

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!