Can anyone offer advice on social workers? I've gotten back in touch with my siblings after years of estrangement. They are all in pretty bad places, and I'm trying to help with practical guidance, but it's pretty overwhelming. Where could I find social workers that can help them with issues like education, employment, health, substance abuse, domestic dysfunction, etc? (Long list.) Would I have to pay them to reach out to them and work with them? Are there some that work on government or donor funding?
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social workers - looking for advice on how to access social care in the USA
- Post starter Dana1010
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digger
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Can you share which country you are looking for advice about? This is an international forum and social care and how to access it will vary quite widely.
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Freida
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If you have 211 service in your area you can call them - it's one stop shopping for all things social services.
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- #5
I'm not familiar with this. Is it for profit?
211 It's the United Way, nonprofit. www.211.org they are very helpful. You can try Salvation Army as they have many social services that are effective getting people off the streets into housing and counseling. You can call your county health department where your family lives. If they are older there is an Agency on Aging that offers many services, that is a governmental agency. You can reach out to your county's drug and alcohol and mental health services I think they are called "ADHM"? We always pronounce it Adam, so I may have the acronmyn wrong. You can reach out to the county where they live for their social services. Also, Catholic Social Services and Lutheran Social Services may be able to help you.
Freida
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In our area its done as a phone service by county employees - but same kind of thing. All the info you need in one place. It's amazing at keeping track of everything that is available.
Friday
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Social Workers (MSWs or LCSWs, ie “real” social workers*) are often “free” through allied services (hospitals, clinics, charities, NGOs, etc.) that pay their not insubstantial salaries (pay scale is similar to a masters of nursing, or doctorate of nursing. In my area, that’s roughly 100k, in other areas it’s 60k)... and then they take on clients and groups and case management as part of their job. So instead of paying the SocialWorker directly, their services are part of what you’re paying for in your _________. (Hospital stay, cancer treatment, eating disorder treatment, parenting classes, tornado insurance, assisted living or hospice, physical therapy, etc.). Hence why “free” is in quotation marks. Every time you’re hospitalized you have the right to access & utilize the hospital social work team / department. That most people don’t know to, or don’t need to? Doesn’t mean that their salary isn’t included in your bill, the same way the janitors, electrical engineers, security personnel, health unit coordinators, and everyone else that doesn’t have a billing code to individually charge you are.
This is one of the reasons why going TO an organization for help with XYZ, can be so phenomenally useful. Whether it’s a domestic violence shelter, alcohol treatment center, inpatient hospital setting, refugee center, etc. The support staff you magically have access to.
Failing that?
Social Workers have private practices just like Psychologists do. That focus on different areas of life & living (trauma therapy, grief & bereavement, Early childhood intervention, occupational therapy, etc.). And their fees are roughly the same.
In my area it’s about $800 for a Diagnositic Appointment (or roughly half that for an unofficial assessment), $140 an hour for counseling.
Social Workers in private practice usually list themselves in the same places psychologists & psychiatrists do... PsychologyToday, business listings, insurance companies, etc.
* Social Work is both a field and a specific term. The “social workers” handling domestic violence case evaluation, or working for CPS, in the city? May have 3 weeks of training or 12 years of higher education. And are paid very differently. Which the city hires? Varies city by city. Same as “counselors”. Someone referred to as a counselor May have a 3 month chemical dependency certification, or hold a masters of family therapy, or hold doctorate in psychology. The trick, as nearly always, is to look for the letters after their names. MSWs have to do a few thousand hours of supervised therapy before they can become LCSWs.
This is one of the reasons why going TO an organization for help with XYZ, can be so phenomenally useful. Whether it’s a domestic violence shelter, alcohol treatment center, inpatient hospital setting, refugee center, etc. The support staff you magically have access to.
Failing that?
Social Workers have private practices just like Psychologists do. That focus on different areas of life & living (trauma therapy, grief & bereavement, Early childhood intervention, occupational therapy, etc.). And their fees are roughly the same.
In my area it’s about $800 for a Diagnositic Appointment (or roughly half that for an unofficial assessment), $140 an hour for counseling.
Social Workers in private practice usually list themselves in the same places psychologists & psychiatrists do... PsychologyToday, business listings, insurance companies, etc.
* Social Work is both a field and a specific term. The “social workers” handling domestic violence case evaluation, or working for CPS, in the city? May have 3 weeks of training or 12 years of higher education. And are paid very differently. Which the city hires? Varies city by city. Same as “counselors”. Someone referred to as a counselor May have a 3 month chemical dependency certification, or hold a masters of family therapy, or hold doctorate in psychology. The trick, as nearly always, is to look for the letters after their names. MSWs have to do a few thousand hours of supervised therapy before they can become LCSWs.
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Deleted member 47632
you can get one through a primary doctor or a therapist or some clinics just need to ask..others are walk ins where you look them up usualy in a bigger hospital and you contact that way they are readily avalible in usa probably overbooked
Would they be eligible for medical assistance? Eligibility varies by state, and in some states that expanded Medicaid after Obamacare people don't know that they would be eligible under the new guidelines. Some areas may also have special programs for people with a mental health diagnosis if they have one.
Justmehere
Sponsor
Do these adult siblings want help? Have they been able to identify what they what help with the most?
There are a lot of possible routes to go. Example: Voc Rehab can offer considerable case management towards employment and help pull in all the other services.
But the one chronic hiccup you’ll run into is that it won’t generally work for you to call a social worker, and for you to set up services for your siblings.
But if your siblings can identify the top issue they want to work on, meeting with any social worker to begin to untangle that one issue will hopefully lead to getting help with other issues.
If they are not there yet, one option you might have is to ask a social worker to meet with you and give you support in helping navigate how to get them support.
If there is a county social services or Medicaid office, they may be able to help navigate some of this as well. I also strongly second the recommendation to contact 211 for resources.
There are a lot of possible routes to go. Example: Voc Rehab can offer considerable case management towards employment and help pull in all the other services.
But the one chronic hiccup you’ll run into is that it won’t generally work for you to call a social worker, and for you to set up services for your siblings.
But if your siblings can identify the top issue they want to work on, meeting with any social worker to begin to untangle that one issue will hopefully lead to getting help with other issues.
If they are not there yet, one option you might have is to ask a social worker to meet with you and give you support in helping navigate how to get them support.
If there is a county social services or Medicaid office, they may be able to help navigate some of this as well. I also strongly second the recommendation to contact 211 for resources.
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