Hi all! I put together resources that have helped me understand changes in policy regarding immigration status. Please feel free to add additional resources!

Georgia/Atlanta Specific Resources

Latin American Association

• Website: https://thelaa.org/
• Services: Can help with any immigration questions (primarily legal)
• Phone: (404) 471-1889
• Email: immigrationservices@thelaa.org

Access to Law Foundation

• Website: https://www.accesstolawfoundation.org/about-us/
• Services: Legal assistance
• Phone: (770) 685-1499
• Text: (770) 713-2686
• Email: help@accesstolawfoundation.org

Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights

• Website: https://glahr.org/
• Services: Can refer clients to various community resources regarding immigration concerns and legal help
• Phone: (770) 457-5232
• Email: info@glahr.org

National Resources

National Immigration Legal Services Directory

• Website: https://www.immigrationadvocates.org/legaldirectory/
• Info: Legal directory for finding resources in your area. Important to familiarize yourself with local resources.

National Immigration Project

• Website: https://nipnlg.org/
• Info:
• A great resource for understanding recent changes in policy. Policy has always been difficult for me, and NIP has helped tremendously by breaking policies down into layman terms.Attending any "Community Defender Training" is highly suggested as these trainings are targeted at community advocates who are not in the legal field. Under the "Resource" tab, there are several community explainers for specific executive orders.
• Helpful Community Explainer: Major topics on immigration & recent policy changes

Educational Material

Video Explaining Your Rights and How to Plan (Spanish)

• Website: https://thelaa.org/community-resources/

Red Cards (Rights Printout)

• Website: https://www.ilrc.org/red-cards-tarjetas-rojas
• Info: These red cards are easy to print and hand out to community members with mixed immigration status.Available in several languages and details individual rights.

Know Your Rights Printouts

• Know Your Rights (English)
• Website: https://nipnlg.org/work/resources/community-explainer-week-1-under-donald-trump-20
• Info: A great in-depth guide on what your rights are, gives examples, and provides a format for creating an emergency plan.
• Know Your Rights (Spanish)
• Website: https://mijente.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/2017-09-11-kyr-espanol-final.pdf
• Info: What to do when you encounter immigration officials (printable document for community members).

Immigrant Defense Project (Know Your Rights in Multiple Languages)

• Website: https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/know-your-rights-with-ice/
• Info: Infographics, flyers, and other materials covering topics like knowing your rights on the street, in your car, and at a detention center.

Detainee Locator System

ICE Detainee Locator System

• Website: https://locator.ice.gov/odls/#/search
• Info: If a loved one has been detained, you can see their location once they've been processed. Requires their A# (Alien Registration Number).

ICE Detainer FAQ

• Website: https://detainer.immdefense.org/

i am on my 5th year in child welfare (in canada) and until this point i’ve been pretty optimistic about the field, there are a lot of perks that i can’t overlook. my schedule is flexible, i have great benefits, my pay is very comfortable, the relationships i build with the kids and families are typically rewarding.

however, im suddenly feeling completely paralyzed at work. burnout hit me like a brick and i can’t get anything done. i cant relax when im at home because im constantly thinking about my job and i cant turn it off. it’s now affecting my physical health and my relationships. i have a stomach ache almost constantly, and if my stomach doesn’t hurt, I’m dealing with a migraine. its currently the middle of the night and i am wide awake completely unable to go back to sleep, which I’ve never had an issue with in the past.

I’m typically excellent at self-care practises and a long distance runner, but i haven’t been able to workout consistently in over 3 weeks because i either cant get enough sleep, or I’m fighting off some kind of illness.

i’m frantically applying for other jobs and i have two interviews next week. but the thought of working at my job even for two more weeks is enough to put me in an early grave.

have any of you ever taken a stress leave in this situation before? does taking a leave affect your career?

I have been hired as a child protection worker in WA Australia recently. I was informed that I will be working in the children in care department and will be handling 6-7 cases as a start. However, I have no experience in the child protection field and I don't really know what to expect for the first day. Any advice regarding the role and things I should prepare?

This issue has come up in conversation. Below is the text of the guideline.

"1.06 Conflicts of Interest (a) Social workers should be alert to and avoid conflicts of interest that interfere with the exercise of professional discretion and impartial judgment. Social workers should inform clients when a real or potential conflict of interest arises and take reasonable steps to resolve the issue in a manner that makes the clients’ interests primary and protects clients’ interests to the greatest extent possible. In some cases, protecting clients’ interests may require termination of the professional relationship with proper referral of the client. (b) Social workers should not take unfair advantage of any professional relationship or exploit others to further their personal, religious, political, or business interests. (c) Social workers should not engage in dual or multiple relationships with clients or former clients in which there is a risk of exploitation or potential harm to the client. In instances when dual or multiple relationships are unavoidable, social workers should take steps to protect clients and are responsible for setting clear, appropriate, and culturally sensitive boundaries. (Dual or multiple relationships occur when social workers. relate to clients in more than one relationship, whether professional, social, or business. Dual or multiple relationships can occur simultaneously or consecutively.)"

There are a lot of "should's" In there. There are no directives such as "shall's" or must not, etc that would indicate forbidden under all or specified circumstances. The mention of judgement is also there. It seems to imply that the clinician can use clinical judgemental in these decisions based on individual cljent/therapist dynamics. Is this correct?

Hi all, I'm a newish social worker at a men's homeless shelter, providing behavioral health services. I've been in my role for 4 months now (graduated June '24) and for the most part it's going well, but I'm trying to understand if my assigned workload is reasonable or not.

My main functions include one-on-one sessions with clients working on goals/referrals/mental health support, providing 8 to 11 groups a week or approximately 2-3 groups per day (including check in support groups, community feedback meetings, mindfulness groups, and library time), and work on connecting high medical need clients with medically appropriate housing (AFH, ALF, etc). Much of my role also involves crisis response and supporting our nurses on staff. We also have case managers who work on housing/employment/social services/etc who I work closely with.

I don't necessarily feel burnt out (yet), but the amount of groups I've been tasked with has put a major strain on me completing my individual client hours and getting clients into housing. I've got approximately 3-4 years experience running groups, but for some reason trying to manage these groups feels a ton harder. My coworkers say I have a disproportionate amount of work (which compared to them I do, but I'm the only social worker other than my supervisor). But my supervisor has tasked me with this amount of work and feels that I should not be struggling with this, and I should be managing my time better. I really am trying my best to manage my time well, but something as simple as one crisis response can throw off my entire schedule. Additionally, we're a 100 bed shelter currently in weather overflow, so there's up to 150 clients I should be working with.

Is this a reasonable amount of work to be doing for a new grad? This is my first professional job, and while I'm able to balance it well most of the time, I'm starting to really drop the ball in other areas of my job. I enjoy my job, the pay is decent and my benefits are good, but the workload is really starting to bog me down. Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

Hi folks!

I’m an LCSW who has worked mostly in healthcare and am in the trenches of a long job search after being laid off. I’m finally getting some traction and am interviewing for two positions that both pay in the range I need, have manageable commutes, and would qualify for my PSLF. I’m anticipating potentially getting offers from both and want to be prepared with a choice if it comes down to it.

While I have lots of experience in healthcare, it was at a community clinic and I’ve been in and out of SNFs and hospitals to see clients, but I’ve never been staff there so I don’t exactly know what I’d be getting into. I’m hoping fellow social workers who have worked in either setting or better yet, both, might have some insight regarding pros and cons. If you had to choose, which would you go with?

SNF: this is a facility run by a non-profit that is mostly assisted and independent living, but they also have LTC and short-term rehab beds. I would be in charge of around 45 beds and I would be the only social worker. This place only just started taking Medicare Part A and the administrator I interviewed with insinuated that they’ve had a rough time adjusting, which feels like a tiny red flag.

Hospital: I would be a social worker on the oncology unit at a major research hospital in my city. I don’t have many other details yet as I’m interviewing on Monday morning but I’m anticipating it being pretty standard hospital social work.

Any thoughts would be so helpful because I feel like I’m overthinking this and really can’t figure out which would be a better choice—thank you!

I was so optimistic going in and used all the allotted time but I did not pass! I did fine with the ethics part but not so great with the law aspect. Anyone else not pass their exam the first time? What'd you do differently to pass subsequent tests? I used LCSW Study Guide: Ace the ASWB Clinical Social Work Exam on Your First Try with Confidence by David Harrison Marshall Ph.D because it is free on Kindle Unlimited and I'm struggling financially at the moment 😭

I passed my clinical exam today with a score of 126 out of 102 needed!

What I did to prepare: I became eligible about 1 month ago and submitted my application to my state soon afterwards. Once I was approved (took about a week since it was around the new year) I took the official practice test. I passed that, but by a pretty small margin. Afterwards, I got the Apgar book and used that as my primary resource along with the official study guide. I did practice questions from the book fairly regularly and when I felt I was getting them right and understanding why, I scheduled my exam and passed.

What helped: I found the first section of the Apgar book very helpful because it goes through how the questions are formatted and what topics the ASWB is assessing. Most of the questions have a specific concept or topic they're assessing your understanding of and it helped me recognize how to identify the key topic and find the answer that best matches what the topic is. This is especially helpful when you're faced with one of the FIRST, NEXT, BEST, and MOST questions where there may be multiple options that could be effective, but it's focusing on a specific stage of treatment or a specific consideration like immediate client safety. I also found the practice questions in the Apgar book helpful because they have detailed explanations for the answers and why the correct one was correct, which helped me get in this habit of analyzing the question for the topic. The official practice test also helped since it gave me a good estimate of where I stood at the start and what to work on - I really like that I did it at the beginning of my studying for that reason.

What didn't help: Most of the rest of the Apgar book. The clinical exam really doesn't have a ton of pure memorization questions like the Master's exam does and it really wasn't worth my time to try and memorize all the specific pharmaceuticals, defense mechanisms, or diagnoses since there were maybe <10 questions where that knowledge really would come in handy. Most of the concepts the clinical exam assesses for are things you should be familiar with from your MSW program and your practice anyways. If anything, I would recommend memorizing some easy layups like knowing the difference between Bipolar I and II, knowing the differences between personality disorders, knowing the stages of development, and a few other things that are easier to recall.

What I'd change about the exam: I really think the ASWB should allow candidates to use an unmarked copy of the DSM or provide a PDF of it in the exam software. No one making diagnoses in the real world has memorized the DSM from cover to cover (if you have, I'd love to do research on your brain) and I think it's good practice regardless to open up the DSM and review the criteria even when you're making a diagnosis you're familiar with, so I think the exam should really reflect how people do this in real life.

Do you think it's ethical for a social worker to create a resource list for a client based on information and resources from their personal experience rather than identifying organizations that specialize in that topic? This list even includes Facebook pages that they are the admin of. I'm concerned about the implications.

This question might be dumb but I want to be culturally sensitive. If I am communicating with a professional for a professional purpose and I am supposed to document their responses to share with another professional, if they use incorrect grammar do I document their incorrect communication or correct it for them?

Think things like irregardless, misspelling the word "library", empathetic vs empathic, etc. In our profession I've come across a lot of people who maybe did not major in English composition but individuals are still typically understood.

Is it rude to assume they meant to say the correct version of the word/statement? Or is it more of an issue to leave it exactly as they said, knowing that that tiny error could impact them negatively depending on the context of the situation?

I am asking as a culture question because I am aware that within some cultures, people use English differently from "standard written English" on purpose, and I am not sure what my place is for correcting things that may come from a cultural approach to language.

Because I know so much about social work I can’t seem to pass this damn thing! I think too much into it and I’ve read the manual several times and followed the charts.

Anyone have any suggestions or assistance on this??

Hey y’all!

I feel the same as everyone right now. I feel scared and it’s easy to get into that hopeless state.

My counselor at my rehab center said something that i really like:

“Observe but don’t absorb”

I’m a 23 turning 24 in june college student who just begun my career in social work and couldn’t be happier and feel more confident and purposeful. Something we’ve been taught is at the end of the day, it’s not about us, it’s about helping people.

This isn’t to say our feelings aren’t valid bc they absolutely are. But we have to remember who we are and what we do/stand for.

I love each and every one of you. We can’t give up hope. The people in power want us to feel scared, hopeless, and to stand down. that’s what they want. we can’t give in.

“If you can’t find the light, become the light.”

I know how easy it is to get caught up in the spiral. But we can’t take it all on.

So take care of yourself. Get some rest. Drink some water. Brush yourself off and let’s lock in. Now’s the time to stand up and be loud more than ever. Don’t let the mfs in power get to you because that’s exactly what they want.

I’m here for y’all. Be kind to yourselves 💕

Hello everyone. This is not a political post. I’m taking my first social work class and over the semester I have to do a service-learning project. This includes 20 hours of working with the group or groups I wish to see more get more support. I have decided to offer my time to substance abuse rehabilitation centers. I have been through it myself and I’ve heard many stories from others. These stories prove that these individuals have been abused at some point in their lives and lacked or still lack coping skills or know how to utilize the resources available to them.

To be honest I feel a little dumb because I know that this is what I want to do for the project but I lack the insight to know exactly how I can advocate for these people or how to make an impact in my community. I am asking for your ideas and suggestions. What should I be focusing on? Thank you for everything you do everyday!

Edit: clarified what kind of rehabilitation

I've been struggling running group sessions and finding engaging activities. I run an adult zoom Spanish drug court group ages 30-70 and a in person Psychosocial rehabilitation group ages 39-70 and everyone has a different level of understanding. Wanted to know if you guys had any suggestions or ideas on what I should cover. Groups always bring up so much anxiety for me and keeping everyone engaged especially with the PSR group has been pretty challenging. I've tried therapist aid but wanted to see it you guys have any holy grail reccs.

hi all, i am a therapist with clients in the Portland metro area and am looking for any resources that provide pet fostering for clients of mine who are in the hospital for longer-term inpatient stays. the clients i serve are low-income and generally not able to pay for support, or only pay very little. the specific fostering situation i'm looking for right now would be for a dog, likely in the next 30 - 60 days. thank you so much!

I’m an LMSW currently working as a therapist, with prior experience in psychiatric hospitals. I’m interested in exploring other areas of social work, including hospice care and potentially macro-level roles. If you transitioned from being a therapist to a different role, what did you move into?

Hi Everyone,

Due to the increase in posts regarding the current political landscape in the United States, the mod team has decided to create an ongoing megathread for all political conversations moving forward. This allows everyone to post about politics and its impact on clients (and practitioners). While also allowing other posts related to Social Work practice to be visible. There will be times when political posts (similar to questions around education) will be approved as a standalone post, but that will be at the discretion of the mod team and requires the poster to reach out via mod mail. As such, we ask that all political posts be directed to this thread unless otherwise approved. Any non-approved standalone post are subject to removal without notice.

For the purposes of this megathread, political posts include current cases, executive orders, news, opinions, etc. as they relate to the current US presidential administration. Further, we understand that political discussions can become heated, but we are primarily professionals and students therefore we should be acting accordingly (even online). Those who don’t will be subject to temporary and permanent bans from the sub. Inappropriate comments will continue to be removed and behavior not exemplary of Social Work values will be removed per Rule 11.

---

This is a difficult time for everyone and we want to thank you all for being part of the subreddit, making it what it has become, and all of the work you do offline.

Can the NASW or someone please speak up about this supposed issue with FAA hiring I/DD folks who supposedly caused this plane crash????

I mean do you hear this rhetoric??? How is this legal????

I’m so beyond frustrated there’s no point in even trying to reason with this administration. They’re blaming disabled individuals for the PLANE CRASH. This is wildly irresponsible and unfounded. We’re all doomed and we need to figure out how to deal with the soon to come ripple effect it will have.

Edit: if you don’t know, the administration is criticizing DEI hiring as the reason this crash occurred.

Kinda regret going to school to become a social worker. It’s like every job I’ve been getting is in protective services and it leads me to burn out after 2 years or so because of the caseload and the second hand trauma. Really thinking about going back to school for something different or maybe keep applying for a different part is social work that doesn’t lead to burn out so quickly. Any advice on where to go next. At this time I am an MSW not licensed yet. Working on licensing.

Does anyone work as a field social worker for CVS? The position is hybrid and travel is required 50-75% of the time. It requires visits to Medicare/medicaid clients in the community. Looking for any insight.

I honestly don’t know what to do in this field. I have my master- license will have my clinical before the end of this year.

Wasn’t necessarily interested in therapy, but like the idea of having my own practice and the fact that with the LC SW you’re guaranteed more money in jobs.

Right now I seek flexibility, a work life balance , freedom, and great pay.

What are some sw roles you find that meets most or all of those needs? Please share!

** also I like working with the elderly community & I like helping people find-jobs ** ( if you know anything I might be able to do with this that meet the requirements I mentioned above - awesome! )

I've been watching this channel on YouTube and it seemed exploitive. The questions the guy asks behind the camera can be very pushy and personal like I get you're trying to get answers and the whole story and paint a picture of the persons trauma, but darn can it be personal. So personal and the reactions almost seemed impromptu. Like a skit... yes I'm saying this channel seems fake. Don't believe me? Watch the one called "Dui fatality survivor peter". At first it pulls you in with a heart felt story and it goes on and on and on until it really struck me, this guy is acting. He seemed to improv ever answer, like "it was hard" "it was tragic" "I didn't know what to do...". Stuff that felt like surface level information any one could have said.

Hi! I work primarily with adolescents and young adults at an urban community mental health center. Domestic violence, teen pregnancy, and abuse are very common within the specific population I work with. I am looking to implement education surrounding healthy relationships and boundary setting in my sessions with teens. I'm having a hard time finding interventions that my teens wont find "cringy" and will actually benefit from. Any resources or suggestions?

Also, bilingual English/Spanish resources are especially helpful!!!

I’m going to join the chorus of those of us struggling. I truly have no idea how I’m going to support anyone. I’m a DBT therapist and work primarily with suicidal folks and BPD, and I feel like my soul has been sucked out. I am always two seconds away from crying. My husband is an immigrant from a very dangerous country and we have been waiting since August of last year for our first application of two to be approved to obtain his green card. Trump eliminated TPS starting in September which is the program that gives my husband legal status here. We did everything “the right way” (an illusion) and we are still here.

How do I do anything right now? We went from applying for a mortgage to having to make plans to flee the country. I have no idea what my life will look like a year from now and the person I love most in the world, the best person I know, is not safe and won’t be for the foreseeable future. I feel like a shell of a human. I know we are being actively traumatized right now and we are powerless to stop it. I feel so alone and like no one cares.

This subreddit gives me hope. I know you guys care and you get it. It helps to know that I’m not alone. I’m in a red state. Life is so painful right now.

Thanks for reading.

I'll start by saying I'm only a BSW student right now, but I have an idea for my town to create a community garden. There's a vacant lot in my town that may or may not have a permit given to some realty group (they sent a letter asking for for an extension to their permit) that wants to build an office space, but I think a community garden would be a much better use for the space. I have a general idea and plan to do some research, but I wanted to ask the on here for anything I should focus on with my proposal. At this point I'm planning on presenting it at a town hall meeting some time in mid-March, so I should have enough time to cover my bases.

LMSW in NY here! I just started a new position at a very well known agency in NYC. It’s my third day today and yesterday my boss told me that everything here is about politics after I suggested an affinity/support group for Palestinians and that it goes against the agency’s neutral stance. Have you ever worked for an agency where you disagree with their stance? Is this a red flag? Is this grounds for leaving? I’m very very very liberal and I’m afraid this may come up again

I am an intake clinician for a large community health center run by a very large social services company the largest in my state. I was asked to complete a full assessment on a three-year-old. I immediately told my supervisor that I was not comfortable diagnosing a three-year-old as I have never been trained in the DC 0 to 5. I was told I needed to complete it anyway and that I could just Google what the codes were and find the one that best fit. Thankfully, the client was a no-show and I did not complete the assessment. I then discovered that the DC 0-5 should only be used by someone that’s been trained in it. I reported this to my human resources department stating that I felt I was asked to do something that would violate my license and have received no response. What should I do now?

This is a weekly thread for discussing leaving the field of social work, leaving a toxic workplace, and general venting. This post came about from community suggestions and input. Please use this space to:

• Celebrate leaving the field
• Debating whether leaving is the right fit for you
• Ask what else you can do with a BSW or MSW
• Strategize an exit plan
• Vent about what is causing you to want to leave the field
• Share what it is like on the other side
• Burn out
• General negativity

Posts of any of these topics on the main thread will be redirected here.

It’s been really hard to keep up with all the changes as I’m sure it has been for everyone. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to sit and read through political and legislative jargon all day. Does anyone know of a reputable and simplified resource that has updates on current changes under administration. It’ll be nice to wake up and review quickly or at least fairly quickly, so I’ll be able to better advocate for the families that I serve. Especially in clearing up false information they may be receiving, causing them to panic!