Practice with Children and Their Families: A Specialty of Clinical Social Work
A position statement of The Center for Clinical Social Work
?? April, 2007, Center for Clinical Social Work
Executive Summary
Practice with Children & Their Families: A Specialty of Clinical Social Work
?? 2007 Center for Clinical Social Work, www.CenterCSW.org
This is a précis of the position statement by the American Board of Examiners in Clinical Social Work (ABE), Practice with Children & Their Families: A Specialty of Clinical Social Work, to which the reader is referred for a much fuller discussion of this specialty and its impact on children and families. The position statement is the source for ABE’s national credential, the Board Certified Clinical Social Worker Specialist in Practice with Children & Their Families.
Background and Rationale for the Practice Specialty
Clinical Social Work is the largest provider of mental healthcare in the United States, with 200,000 active practitioners, of whom many thousands work expertly with children and their families. These specialists profoundly affect the quality of mental healthcare in America. Children, from infants through early adolescents, are the most vulnerable members of society and are not usually aware of their problems or able to seek out help. Therefore, the specialist must be able to identify their needs and assist them expertly, through his/her own interactions in children-related settings such as schools and through the cooperation and referral of other adults, such as parent-caregivers, nurses and physicians and other professionals, personnel at private or public agencies, and others in a position to serve as champions of children in need. The tragic fact is that millions of children have been and are being abused and neglected. It is in this area that specialty practice, with an emphasis on public safety and protection issues, is most important. Without early interventions, most of these damaged children will not receive professional help until they are old enough to seek it themselves, often after they have begun a pattern of destructiveness toward self and others. Even among children who do get help, many do not get it from a competent specialist able to provide what is truly needed. This is the crucial reason for national certification of specialty practitioners in this area: Since expert practitioners are best able to achieve good outcomes, society requires that competent experts be readily identifiable in order to help the largest number of children in need. Whatever the apparent nature or degree of a child’s problem, the quality of the rest of the child’s life—and sometimes life itself—may be at stake in any given interaction. Just one encounter with a specialist professional may be the only chance a child will have to begin on a track toward the love and nurturing that lead to proper development and a fulfilling life. With so much at stake, it is important to identify the characteristics of practice by which a clinical social worker may be recognized for specialty competence, and to explore the many issues that affect them and their clients.

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