• Membership Benefits
  • 
  • Membership Benefits
  • Membership Brochure
  • NASW Membership Application (pdf)
  • NASW Member Types & Dues
  • Renew Online
  • Update Member Information
  • Membership Video
  • Professional Development
  • Professional and Personal Protection
  • Advancing the Profession
  • NASW Chapters
  • Insurance Protection
  • NASW Credentials
  • NASW Publications
  • Social Work Career Center
  • Legislative Advocacy and PACE
  • NASW Center for Workforce Studies
  • NASW Foundation
  • Help Starts Here

Professional and Personal Protection

Your work as a social worker can put you at risk for malpractice lawsuits. Unfortunately, good, ethical practice alone is not sufficient protection and that is why NASW offers members liability insurance, malpractice workshops, and legal assistance. Below is more information on the ways NASW provides its members professional protection. 

NASW Assurance Services Offers Insurance and Risk Management Education

NASW Assurance Services insurance programs are overseen by a Board that includes social workers who have your needs in mind. NASW Assurance Services gives members access to valuable insurance benefits:

1. Professional Liability (Malpractice) Insurance for Members,  Partnerships and Corporations, Schools, Students, and Agencies
2. Term Life
3. Long Term Disability
4. Hospital Daily Cash Benefit
5. Personal Accident Insurance
6. Auto, Home, and Renters Insurance
7. NEW Emergency Assistance Plus (EA+) Travel Program
8. NEW Long Term Care Insurance Choices Program - for more information, call 1-800-616-8759
9. NEW Senior Term Life Insurance – for more information, call 866.591.8267
10. NEW Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan
11. NEW Life Line Screening

Reduce your risk and exposure to ethical, licensing, and malpractice complaints through NASW risk management workshops. Take the free online course, “Understanding Malpractice Risk: What Social Workers Can Do,” and earn 2.0 free CEs and “An Advanced Course in Ethics and Malpractice Risk for Social Workers,” and earn 3.0 free CEUs.

NASW Provides Access to Valuable Legal Resources
NASW Legal Defense Fund (LDF) provides financial assistance and support for legal cases and issues of concern to NASW members and the social work profession. LDF also supports educational projects and programs to improve the legal status and knowledge of the social work profession. Legal Issue of the Month articles and General Counsel Law Notes provide an overview of specific legal topics of relevance to social workers.

NASW Sets and Maintains Professional Standards
Social work practice consists of the professional application of social work values, principles, and techniques. NASW promotes the quality and effectiveness of social work practice by establishing national standards for various practice settings.