• Areas of Practice
  • Adolescent Health
  • Aging
  • Behavioral Health
  • Bereavement/End of Life Care
  • Children, Youth, and Families
  • Clinical Social Work
  • Diversity & Equity
  • Health
  • HIV/AIDS
  • International
  • Peace and Social Justice
  • School Social Work
  • Violence
• Special Features
  • NASW Practice Standards
    
  • Practice Research Network
  • PIPPAH
    Partners in Program Planning for Adolescent Health
  • HIV/AIDS Spectrum: Mental Health Training and Education of Social Workers Project
  • Bereavement Curriculum
  • 
  • Click here for a larger copy of the Genetics Standards Poster

• NASW Assurance Services, Inc. (formerly NASW Insurance Trust)
  • Types of Insurance
  • Understanding Risk Management
  • Frequently Asked Questions

Practice

Social work practice consists of the professional application of social work values, principles, and techniques to one or more of the following ends: helping people obtain tangible services; counseling and psychotherapy with individuals, families, and groups; helping communities or groups provide or improve social and health services; and participating in legislative processes. The practice of social work requires knowledge of human development and behavior; of social and economic, and cultural institutions; and of the interaction of all these factors.

NASW Requests Comments on Draft Guidelines for Social Work Safety in the Workplace
Public Comment Period Closes January 11 , 2013

NASW has developed guidelines for social work safety in the workplace, and we need your help in ensuring that the guidelines are relevant to current practice.  Please review the guidelines and provide feedback using the form below.  The public comment period ends at 11pm Eastern Daylight Time on January 11, 2013. Click here to submit comments.

NASW Standards

• Standards for Social Work with Service Members, Veterans, and Their Families (pdf file)
• NASW Standards for School Social Work Services (pdf file)
• NASW Standards for Social Work Practice with Family Caregivers of Older Adults (pdf file)
• NASW Standards for Social Work Practice with Clients with Substance Use Disorders (pdf file - Revised 2012)
• NASW and ASWB Standards for Technology and Social Work Practice (pdf file)
• NASW Standards for Social Work Practice in Health Care Settings (pdf file)
• NASW Standards for Clinical Social Work in Social Work Practice (pdf file)
• NASW Standards for Social Work Practice in Child Welfare (pdf file -- Revised 2012)
• Standards for Social Work Practice in Palliative and End of Life Care
• Standards for Social Work Services in Long-Term Care Facilities (pdf file)
• Continuing Education and the Social Work Profession (pdf file)
• NASW Standards for the Practice of Social Work with Adolescents (pdf file)
• NASW Standards for Integrating Genetics into Social Work Practice (pdf file)
• For Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice (pdf file)
• Indicators For Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice (pdf file)