People who go into the field of social work are by nature drawn to the downtrodden and disenfranchised.
This makes the recent decision by the Texas State Board of Social Work Examiners to change its code of conduct to allow them to refuse their services based on a client’s disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression — populations who are among the most disenfranchised — totally enraging.
The board’s unanimous decision was in response to a last-minute recommendation by Gov. Greg Abbott that the code change to “align” with state law that governs how and when state-licensed social workers can be disciplined. Those four populations aren’t explicitly mentioned in the state statute.
But a national code of ethics, professional standards taught to all social work students who attend accredited programs — something required to get a license — specifically bars refusal of service based on a client’s sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or disability.
So what we have here is a new Texas rule that inserts discrimination where before there was none and flies in the face of the grounding philosophy of social work — to help the most vulnerable.
The new language, which was added without any public input from actual social workers apart from those on the board, has many in the field up in arms, along with certain legislators and advocacy groups, which have vowed to fight the change.
Amy Chanmugam, chair of the department of social work at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said the most dangerous consequence of the change is the message it sends to LGBTQ Texans or those with disabilities who seek counseling and other help social workers provide.
“This first thing I thought of was the LGBTQ youth I served at a rural middle school,” said Chanmugam. “It was hard enough for them to ask for help. Now, if they think they could be turned away, it will only increase their reluctance.”
She said social workers are allowed under the code of ethics to not take on clients if they don’t have the “competency” to treat them — say, if a client has an eating disorder and the worker doesn’t feel qualified in that area. The social worker would refer the client to someone who is qualified.
But a big part of social work training is learning to overcome prejudices, Chanmugam said.
“Students wrestle with learning how to distinguish between their personal beliefs and their professional practice,” she said. “They learn how to work through that and to embrace diversity.”
The Texas decision is reverberating in social work classrooms throughout the nation, she said, the reaction one of “shock, surprise and universal dismay.”
Will Francis, head of the Texas chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, said Abbott’s move was truly one of a solution in search of a problem: There’s been no clamoring for a license to discriminate on the basis of disability, sexual orientation or gender expression among the state’s 26,000 social workers.
Further, the “alignment” argument doesn’t hold water: The code of conduct has always had the statutory ability to build on and enlarge state law, to comport with the field’s ethical principles.
Francis notes that people with disabilities — unlike the LGBTQ community — can turn to federal protections to prevent discrimination. He said he thought disability was added to give “cover” to the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender in the new language.
“What’s really concerning is that this change could lead to a shrinking of access to services, when we should be expanding it, during a pandemic,” he said.
Those in small towns and rural areas, which have a dearth of social workers, may be especially affected.
Advocacy groups say Abbott’s move was an “end run” around failed attempts by lawmakers to exempt social workers and mental health professionals from nondiscrimination requirements based on religious beliefs.
Perhaps owing to the growing revolt, the chair of the council that oversaw the decision said the issues, or at least the one around gender, will be addressed at a meeting Tuesday.
Francis said if public comments are allowed — something that didn’t happen at the online meeting that made the change — the board can expect to get an earful.
Reverse this decision.
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October 24, 2020 at 06:00PM
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Editorial: Social work code change a license to discriminate - San Antonio Express-News
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