Social workers are responsible for psychosocial assessments, care coordination and planning, counseling on adjustment to physical and mental illness, and counseling and treatment for individuals, families, and groups. Social workers are trained and licensed or otherwise regulated to provide prevention, assessment, and treatment of emotional and mental disorders, psychosocial dysfunction, disability, and impairment. Social workers are accessible geographically and demographically. Social workers are sometimes the only mental health care providers in the community. Social workers reflect the racial and cultural demographics of U.S. society and have a history of working with culturally and economically diverse populations.
Social work is a recognized and regulated profession.
All federal programs that provide mental health care coverage and most private insurers recognize clinical social workers as autonomous providers of mental health services. State regulation and professional credentials provide a measure of consumer protection. In managed care organizations, social workers perform utilization management, network development and management, and operation management. They use the fundamentals of social work case management that provide a theoretical and technical framework for coordinating mental health and substance abuse benefits with the resources of the family and the community in the best interest of the client. As part of this process, social workers have brought a familiarity with and a respect for multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary practice, as well as the ability to help various systems negotiate and work collaboratively.