SOCW 6103 Week 2 - Discussion 2: Duty to Warn and Protect
balls269
OhioLaws-DutytoWarn-DutytoProtect.docx
1
Ohio
Walden University
Policy Identification
This paper is written with the student referencing internship work hours completed at Access Ohio. Access Ohio. This student’s internship location is Access Ohio located in Dayton Ohio. Access Ohio provides both outpatient and inpatient treatment for substance use disorder (SUD) and mental health conditions. The student will be working in the outpatient area with clients who may be working through a substance use disorder and mental health conditions related to the used disorder. There are many laws, regulations, policies, and rules which are intended to govern and control the administration of services to assist those facing substance use disorder. The following pages will detail and describe several policies pertaining to SUD, the policy impact on the field agency, and propose specific recommendations on how to advocate for policies pertaining to advancing social justice for the agency and the clients it serves.
Substance Used Disorder Policies
There are many policies designed to define and regulate the service which agencies can and must provide to clients with substance use disorders. In addition to Ohio laws, social workers follow rules and guidelines established by The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and the Council on Social Work Education. The NASW has established ethical provisions, guidelines, and requirements which we as social workers follow. The NASW Code of Ethics social justice, dignity, importance of human relationships, worth of a person, integrity, and competence, compels us to be engaged in political and social actions to advocate for policy and legislation which undermine reproductive rights. The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) details nine areas of social work practice to which students are to gain competency, practice, and understanding. CSWE competency number five (Engage in policy practice) details how social workers understand that human rights, social justice, social welfare and services, are mediated by policy at the federal (Macro), state (Mezzo), and agency (micro) levels. Access Ohio, and others like is, which provide services for SUD and mental health follow Ohio codes. Several of the Ohio codes include Ohio Revised Code (ORC) 2305.51 Mental health professional or organization not liable for violent behavior by client or patient. This policy, in short, defines the social worker’s duty to warn the potential victim if they believe their client presents an imminent threat to that person, people, and individual. The Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) 5122-3-12 details the Duty to protect requirements. OAC 5122-3-12 is the policy to implement the duty to protect requirement detailed in ORC 2305.51. The duty to protect is the notification of a credible stated threat by a patient or client, the workers are required to report the credible threat to the chief clinical officer. Other codes pertinent to the interns’ micro practice within the agency are OAC 5122-27-04 Progress notes and OAC 5122-29-13 SUD case management services. OAC 5122-27-04 details the documentation processes and procedures for documenting the progress or lack of progress toward the achievement of the treatment plan goals (Lawriter, 2018). OAC 5122-29-13 details the case management activities provide to assist and support clients and patients in acquiring access to necessary medical, social, educational, and other services essential to meeting basic human needs (Lawriter, 2018).
Many laws, rules, regulations, and policies have been implemented as results of the assessment of requirements and needs. With specific reference to SUD and mental health, laws have been evaluated for effectiveness, enhance, revised, and implemented to assist those with substance use disorder and mental health concerns. By reading, learning, understanding, following, and implementing existing laws we are best positioned to implement treatment plans which will be effective for our clients and patients. With only being at Access Ohio, for approximately five weeks, my plan is to do my best to learn and understand the existing laws and how they are utilized in the most effective manner. This student’s field supervisor has many years of hands on experience in working with clients with SUD and mental health concerns and conditions. If this student has a concern on how a law is written and it’s intended use, with 100 percent confidence the field supervisor will be able to provide the details and understanding. At that time, if a gap in service is identified, the student and supervisor can work together to provide detailed descriptions of the possible need of an ORC or OAC enhancement, revision, or ask questions for clarification to the law and policy makers.
Council on Social Work Education (2015), retrieved from https://www.cswe.org/getattachment/Accreditation/Accreditation-Process/2015-EPAS/2015EPAS_Web_FINAL.pdf.aspx
LAW Writer® Ohio Laws and Rules (2018), 5122-29-13 SUD case management services, retrieved from http://codes.ohio.gov/oac/5122-29-13
LAW Writer® Ohio Laws and Rules (2018), 5122-29-13 SUD case management services, retrieved from http://codes.ohio.gov/oac/5122-27-04
National Association of Social Workers, (August 9, 2018), The personal is Political: Why social workers must take action to protect abortion access and reproductive rights, retrieved from https://www.naswnc.org/news/412688/Editorial-Social-Workers-must-take-action-to-protect-abortion-access-and-reproductive-rights.htm
