hey hey Social Work tribe welcome back in today's video we're going to be doing part two of the nasw code of ethics breakdown so stay tuned uh 1.03 informed consent um a social workers should provide services to clients only in the context of a professional relationship based when appropriate on valid informed consent social workers should use clear and understandable language to inform clients of the purpose of the services risks related to the services limits the services because of the requirements of a third party payer relevant costs reasonable Alternatives clients right to refuse overdraw consent and the time frame covered by the consent social workers should provide clients with an opportunity to ask questions okay so let's really I know this could be like wait well I heard third party what who's that blah I got you guys so um again just kind of breaking it down uh bit by bit uh social Orchestra provides services to clients only in the context of a professional relationship based so um we want to make sure that it's occurring in the appropriate business professional manner not providing it in in environment that's not the professional like in an office or things of that nature when appropriate on valid informed consent so when they talk about valid informed consent and this goes into the next sentence as well of saying all the paperwork has been signed like all the HIPAA stuff and all the the understanding is understood between the client and the therapist that includes the fee again signing all the forms like the HIPAA compliance form and all that great stuff right and social workers should use clear and understandable language to inform clients of the purpose of the services so we want to make sure that both the social worker and the client are on the same page there's no confusion about you know the types of services that's going to be provided let's say in the context of therapy right you know this is where we're going to meet this is the cost the fee for services and when it goes into the limits of it right where it says limits to the risk related to the services uh limits the services because of the requirements of a third party payer so part of the limits of a third party payer it's usually referring to insurance companies right that's the third-party payer so let's say you're at a you're at a setting where you're providing Services as the social worker and someone wants to pay for those Services um via their insurance whatever Insurance you know provider they have because the insurance is paying for it um they have a say and being able to essentially see that information see what type of services are being provided how that person is doing Etc now that potential client because again they're not officially a client yet that potential client can say no I don't want my insurance or anyone involved in the on the insurance and they can say okay fine but uh we're not paying for it and because of how much these Services tend to cost usually people want to use their insurance so um they sign off again they have to sign off on it when filling out the paperwork and everything before any Services begin they sign off when they're saying yes I give permission for uh my insurance company to uh be able to obtain information so for example at a outpatient facility I used to work at um when a client would come in right they're authorized x amount of days to receive Therapy Services and if they need more days more therapy service days we would get authorization which is essentially speaking with insurance companies saying the progress how they've been progressing uh so far and advocating for more days and then the insurance company can say okay we'll give them x amount more days based off of the progress they've been making or and you know the amount of time they still need and then we'll proceed that way so again relevant costs reasonable alternatives clients right to refuse or withdraw consent so when we're getting consent consent is permission we're getting permission from the client to say Hey you agree and we want to make sure that they understand everything you agree the client that is uh for us to be able to provide you services and here's all the details all the information you need the fees the all of it right um and then when we go into the rights of refusal or Draw consent at any time they can say you know what um I don't want this person involved in my in my career to know information about the services I'm receiving so let's say someone signs a release of information pretty much giving the social worker permission to reach out to whoever that person or agency or organization is right let's say they gave permission for you to speak with uh a family member right they signed it they documented everything they said you could talk about all this stuff right and then let's say two weeks later the client said actually I I want to take back that consent I want to take back that release I don't want you to uh be able to uh communicate with that person or that agency or organization anymore then they have the right to do that and we would just proceed from there so we would you know withdraw the consent and the time frame covered by the consent so again the time frame is how long um do we are we able to to communicate with that person that agency that organization it could be you know a couple months could be a year and depending on who that person is and everything that's going on but we want to make sure that they understand it just because they sign the client that is just because they give us permission sign the paperwork and everything saying we the social workers have permission to speak with that that other party doesn't mean it lasts forever like we can always speak with them for as long as they live type of thing and social workers should provide clients with an opportunity to ask questions so uh yeah we want to make sure that they have a a solid understanding of everything that was discussed the services like everything because we don't want any surprises and again you know social workers and reflecting back on 1.01 you know clients best interest at heart right we don't want you know the clients uh not having an understanding of the thing that we're going to be providing them to help them so we definitely want them to be able to ask questions see in instances when clients are not literate or have difficulty understanding the primary language used in the practice setting social workers should take steps to ensure clients comprehension so pause for a second what happens if we get a question on the exam that says that get that puts us the social work in a scenario where the client for whatever the reason may be a language barrier uh cognitive understanding they they're not simply understanding the information we're trying to convey to them what should the social worker do so according to B in instances when clients are not literate or have a difficulty understanding their primary language used in the practice setting social workers should take steps to ensure clients comprehension this may include providing clients with a detailed verbal explanation or arranging for a qualified interpreter or translator whenever possible so if it's if we get a question that's speaking to a language barrier what should the social worker do first next that it will be the best thing the most get a qualified interpreter or translator whenever possible and what about C in instances when clients lack the capacity to provide informed consent social workers should protect clients interests by seeking permission from an appropriate third party so an appropriate third party could be let's say the close family members right let's say um a client was you know brought in by their parents or you know their spouse you know someone that would be considered an appropriate third party informant clients consent with their level of understanding in such instances social workers should seek to ensure that the third party acts in a man are consistent with a clients wishes and interests so again making sure that they're not trying to manipulate them in any way that's why we want to make sure it's appropriate we're not just going to get some random family member or random friend that you know we never heard of or anything like that um so that's what's saying make sure it's appropriate social workers should take reasonable steps to enhance such clients ability to give informed consent because again in social work we work with so many different types of populations so many different types of people right where these challenges may come up and specifically speaking to the exam if these type of questions come up when we're attempting to get informed consent from the client but there's barriers whether it's cognitive barriers language barriers or just simply just not understanding because it's like what is all this language and everything like that social workers want to be able to explain to them the best way possible us the social workers and get an interpreter if it's a language barrier and if there's other beers seeing if we get a third party that has their best interest at heart in instances when clients are receiving Services involuntarily social workership provide information about the nature and extent of services and about the extent of clients right to refuse services hey Ray what do we do if we get a question when a client is receiving Services involuntarily and you know we're supposed to promote self-determination right the client can do whatever they want yes clients can technically do whatever they want right no one's like holding them down and making them do anything but again D in instances when clients are receiving services and voluntarily meaning the court the judge said Hey to to the client you got attend those anger management classes you gotta attend those classes whatever those classes Services whatever they may be um social workers should provide information about the nature and extent of services and about the extent of the class right to refuse it because if a judge is saying to the client hey you have to attend these Services right because if you don't legal consequences happen we want to make sure like hey um just so you know us social worker speaking to the client are you aware of the consequences like let's say if a client wanted to leave the anger management class um in the middle days like I don't want to be here we want to say a social workers like hey you're aware like you know of the consequences the legal ramification of you leaving and everything right and if they're like I don't care like you know forget that judge you know it's like all right and our hands are tied because again they're there involuntarily it's not like they came there on their own free web and it's like okay yeah yeah I want to see about my anger because then absolutely they could leave we're not going to force them to be there or anything but again if they're they're uh receiving Services involuntarily not voluntary on their own free whim the rules change a bit social workers should discuss with clients the social workers policies concerning the use of technology and the provision of Professional Services so technology we know the world we live in it's a thing so we just want to make sure that you know they understand the policies regarding uh if technology is going to be used and everything like that because again it's it's just a state of the world we live in social workers who use technology to provide Social Work Services should obtain informed consent from the individuals using these Services during the initial screening or interview and prior to initiating Services social workers should assess clients capacity to provide informed consent and when using technology to communicate verify the identity and location of the clients so let's work backwards a little bit so uh that last sentence where social workers should assess clients capacity to provide inform consent essentially making sure that they know what they're getting into make sure they have a full understanding of um how services are going to be provided in the use of Technology in when using technology to communicate verify the identity and location of clients remember we're limited social workers that is to provide services by the state we're located in so for example um I have my own private practice I provide therapy services within the state of New Jersey via Telehealth right so online I can't provide services to someone that lives in New York um Arizona North Carolina right because I only have a license in New Jersey now if I had a license you know in multiple States in other states I can provide services in those states that I'm licensing but only states that I'm licensed in so that's why because it's technology we're not in person in front of each other that's why when we're providing Services we have to confirm hey um are you in New Jersey where yeah okay cool we're good to go right because let's say if they said oh I'm in you know New York or I'm in uh South Carolina or something like that then we would explain to them um hey the limitations of our licensure we can only provide services in the in the state that we're licensed in so um we're unable to provide services at this time uh let me know when you essentially get back in the state that you're licensed in so you can continue providing the services and jumping back up to the first sentence for F social workers who use technology to provide Social Work Services should obtain a form consent from the individuals using these Services during the initial screening or interview and prior to initiating services so again this is all happening in the in the beginning stage right letting them know that hey here's the like with the HIPAA paperwork and all of that stuff right a technology consent as well as saying hey just so you know we'll be providing Services um with the use of Technology you know are you okay with that do you have any questions you know how to use that and if they agree then they'll sign off on that so again getting all of that information um giving all that information up front making sure they have a firm solid understanding of everything and like I was said earlier uh leaving a space for the client or clients to ask any questions so we can clarify anything G social workers who use technology to provide Social Work Services should assess the client's suitability and capacity for electronic and remote services so again just saying you know do they know how to use everything properly or are they is it going to be beneficial Etc um social workers should consider the client's intellectual emotional and physical ability to use technology to receive services and ability to understand the potential benefits risks and limitations of such services so again and make sure they have a a really good grasp of everything and when they talk about the risk the limitation like think of D all of the above since we're not in person because again they're saying they're using a technology if we're providing services that way there's other factors that go into it and again the potential if like there could be a breach in the system and everything because it's through you know technology the system could like shut down and um like if there's a internet shortage or something like that so we're just making sure that they understand all this information if clients do not wish to use Services provided through technology social workers should help them identify alternative methods of service and you know that's fair because you know I know within recent time a lot of things just kind of went online and you know a lot of people may not want that and if that's what we're providing Services via technology and the client is just kind of like nah I'm okay I don't really I just prefer not to do that that's fine and we will want to assist them by providing resources possibly connect affecting them with other providers that you know do in person or something that would just benefit them as a whole H social workers should obtain clients informed consent before making audio or video recordings of clients or permitting observation of service provision by a third party hey Ray what happens if we get a question about you know uh getting informed consent are we allowed to you know record the client in any capacity technically yes if if if we get clients informed consent before making any audio or video of recordings of clients or permitting observations so like let's say if you had like a intern or whoever that wanted to kind of sit in and observe the services being provided we can't just bring somebody in and then you're like oh yeah this is just so and so because they're going to get like who that I don't know this person I don't know those people they just here all of a sudden so we want to get permission for them to explain and this again this is just a scenario where like hey this is you know uh intern um is it okay if they sit in and the client can say yeah that's cool that's you know no worries and or they could like now I'm I'm honestly I'm not really I'm not really okay with another person like hearing some of the things we're talking about so again get informed consent can you record a client can a third party like an intern sit in on the services being provided like a session or anything yes if we get informed consent first and I social workers should obtain client consent before conducting electronic search of the client hey Ray can we do a Google YouTube internet web search of the client yes if we get informed consent again I social workers should obtain client consent before conducting an electronic search of the client exceptions may arise when the search is for purpose of protecting the client or others from serious foreseeable and imminent harm or for other compelling professional reasons so again safety above all safety above all if it's not a safety issue where we need to do a search because it's like oh they're about to like hurt somebody is a foreseeable imminent risk right all of that um or themselves then like we gotta like do some type of search to kind of find them locate them let someone else know Etc different safety aside because again safety is above all safety aside we need that informed consent and when they say or other compelling professional reasons um earlier if you guys checked out part one of uh the nasw uh breakdown it it can't and it doesn't uh capture everything right because there's so many different scenarios that could happen the context everything there could be a situation that could arise where it's like hmm it may not be a safety concern but that's a really compelling reason why we do need to do a web search in some form to locate that person um and you know address it appropriately so again that's why they say it's compelling that means where there's no confusion this this was needed and the reason why this is here because it it's almost like an invasion of privacy right we essentially you know don't know this client exists until they contact us seeking Services right and we don't want to necessarily do background checks on them and and get all this information which is also influencing us uh to a degree and maybe how we provide services to them and again right you know it's different when they're you're already providing information to us within that space But for us to like search them up and do this like almost like a background search and and whether it's just for like oh they have a YouTube channel let me just search them up and see and everything is we want to respect their privacy right again if is it for a safety reason is it for another professional compelling reason then different but um if it's not one of those type of situations Let's uh let's honor respect the clients right to privacy okay Social Work tribe that was it for today's video thank you for watching and don't forget to tell a social work friend because we don't want to be licensed by ourselves and again this is part two of the breakdown we're really going to keep going through it so we have a really solid understanding of our guide our blueprint and it's really going to help us uh and how we approach the exam so that we can pass and become better social workers as a whole and don't forget to like comment and subscribe okay Social Work tribe I'll see you next video