GROW YOUR COMMUNITY & ADVANCE YOUR CAREER
As of January 10, 2025, wildfires in the Los Angeles area have burned over 36,000 acres, destroyed more than 10,000 structures, and claimed at least 10 lives. The largest of these fires, the Palisades Fire, has consumed nearly 20,000 acres in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, while the Eaton Fire in Altadena has burned over 13,600 acres. These devastating blazes have led to the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of residents across various neighborhoods in Los Angeles County, marking one of the most destructive wildfire events in the region's history. These fires have led to the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of residents across various neighborhoods in Los Angeles County.
The California Society for Clinical Social Work is here to support you with care and compassion and information. We are committed to providing helpful resources, practical guidance, and emotional comfort during this challenging time. We are currently planning some support groups for social workers directly affected by the fires. Our thoughts are with all those impacted. We are also committed to supporting clinical social workers who are also small business owners and community members during this crisis.
This email provides critical resources for navigating evacuations, securing assistance, and preparing for recovery. Our goal is to help you protect your businesses and livelihoods & help support your mutual aid efforts in your community.
A Heartfelt Thank You to Our Heroes We extend our deepest gratitude to the firefighters, emergency responders, and volunteers who are working tirelessly to combat this fire. Their bravery and commitment are a true testament to the resilience and strength of our community.
Together, we will recover, rebuild, and grow stronger.
Community Support and Shelters
Mental Health Volunteers Opportunities: For therapist who want to help Please note this form was created by Nicole Arzt, LMFT and is being actively monitored and distributed. Sign up here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSexlCb0ZvyeoPR7F9i2G9OY9NQSR8txhEMwagIodHLZyZKzNA/viewform
LatinxTherapy-Los Angeles Wildfires - Pro Bono Psychotherapy Provider List Sign up here: https://forms.gle/TsCJhrv3RfhFYVBe8
Evacuation Centers:
Westwood Recreation Center 1350 South Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025 El Camino Real Charter High School 5440 Valley Circle Blvd, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
Pasadena Convention Center 300 E Green St, Pasadena, CA 91101
Animal Evacuation Shelters:
Los Angeles Equestrian Center 480 W Riverside Dr, Burbank, CA 91506
Pierce College Equestrian Center 7100 El Rancho Drive, Woodland Hills
Agoura Animal Care Center 29525 Agoura Rd, Agoura Hills, CA 91301
Pasadena Humane Society: Pasadenahumane.org
Mutual Aide Resources
MALAN Fire & Wind Storm Resources: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KMk34XY5dsvVJjAoD2mQUVHYU_Ib6COz6jcGH5uJWDY/htmlview?usp=sharing
Los Angeles County of Mental Health Resources: https://lacounty.gov/emergency/
Recovery and Assistance Resources:
Property Tax Disaster Relief Property owners with damage exceeding $10,000 may qualify for "Misfortune and Calamity" Property Tax Relief Program. Claims must be filed within 12 months of the damage date. Learn more here or call (213) 974-3211.
Damage Reporting Report fallen trees, downed power lines, or other public hazards via LA’s 311 Call Center at (213) 473-3231 or the MyLA311 app.
Road Closures Check live updates via CHP-West Valley here.
Federal Assistance: The Disaster Assistance Improvement Program’s (DAIP) mission is to provide disaster survivors with information, support, services, and a means to access and apply for disaster assistance through joint data-sharing efforts between federal, tribal, state, local, and private sector partners. https://www.disasterassistance.gov
In an effort to make advocacy easy and accessible to all of our members, the Advocacy Committee Chair will be providing you all with a monthly call to action. This is a meaningful and impactful way for you to stay involved and advocate for important topics surrounding clinical social work in California.
Update on Mental Health Parity Rules (from CSWA)
Please read this update regarding the current state of Mental Health Parity Rules: https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ebsa/ebsa20240909
The basic premise is that mental health treatment and substance use treatment be covered as fully as medical/surgical treatment. The primary areas where this applies include inpatient in-network; inpatient out-of-network; outpatient in-network; outpatient out-of-network; emergency; and prescription drugs. The problems in applying these reasonable standards is that there is no formula for what they should actually be, and reimbursement is not included in the areas that must be at parity for mental health treatment.
While any attempt to get insurers to cover mental health and substance use is worthwhile, until real enforcement is built into the rules – which is still not the case in the new rules – there will likely be little change to the ways that insurers currently limit coverage of mental health treatment.
Note that these new rules will go into effect in phases, with some being enacted in 2025 and some in 2026.
Reach out to the advocacy committee chair for additional guidance and support
Veronica Yakovenko, LCSW Advocacy Chair CSCSW vytherapist@gmail.com
Monthly Call to Action 5
Compact Commission Update from Clinical Social Work Association
The first meeting of the Interim Social Work Compact Commission was held on September 17. There were representatives in attendance from all 22 states that have passed the Compact bill into law at the 5-hour meeting. In addition, there were about 75 members of the public. I was asked to chair this meeting and will also chair the next meeting which will be held in January 2025. At that meeting, the Executive Committee – Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer – will be elected by the delegates; I am not eligible for these positions because I represent a national organization, not a state. CSWA will have a representative as an ex officio member or as a public member at future meetings.
It is likely that the Commission will be running by fall of 2025 or winter of 2026, at which time all individual LCSWs in states that have joined the Compact, can join the Compact individually and work with clients in all 22 states. Other states are still eligible to join the Compact if they pass the bill.
Here is a link for some additional information: https://www.clinicalsocialworkassociation.org/Announcements/13380720
Workshop Powerpoint
Description:
Learn about the Social Work Interstate Compact, how to increase access on local/state and national scale, and how to get the Compact passed in California. Laura Groshong, CSWA Director, Policy and Practice, and Interim Chair for the creation of the Compact Commission, will be our esteemed presenter and offer assistance on how to understand and advocate for this important piece of legislation.
ABOUT THE PRESENTER
Ms. Groshong is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker in Seattle and has been in clinical private practice for the past 48 years. She was a Registered Lobbyist in Washington State for 25 years. She is the Director of Policy and Practice for the Clinical Social Work Association and lobbies for CSWA nationally and in affiliated states. She has written and lectured extensively on clinical and legislative issues around the country. She has received numerous honors for her work.
This month, I would like to continue to provide you with an update on the Social Work Compact. I encourage you to attend our online webinar on the social work compact, which will take place September 25th from 7pm-8:30pm.
Please visit https://clinicalsocialworksociety.org/event-5809707 for more information and to register.
The Compact should be going into effect in 12-18 months. If you would like to see the states that have joined the compact, please visit the CSWA website, https://www.clinicalsocialworkassociation.org/.
In an effort to make advocacy easy and accessible to all of our members, the Advocacy Committee Chair will be providing you all with a monthly call to action.
This is a meaningful and impactful way for you to stay involved and advocate for important topics surrounding clinical social work in California.
This month, I would like to provide you with an update on the Social Work Compact. We appreciate the information that we are given from our parent organization, Clinical Social Work Association. As of July 9th, 22 states have joined the compact. The next phase involves states that have joined the compact to appoint a representative that will report to the Commission overseeing the compact.
CSWA added, “We are pleased to inform members that CSWA's Director of Policy and Practice, Laura Groshong, LICSW, has been asked to be the Interim Chair to facilitate electing the Commission’s permanent leadership.
CSWA and other major social work organizations (NASW, ASWB, and CSWE) will have ex officio members on the Commission, if the Commission rules allow for this provision.”
Reach out to the advocacy committee chair for additional guidance and support.
This month, we encourage you to take action on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) limitation on mental health treatment methods. The WHO issued a manual in which they describe various treatment modalities and make recommendations for evidence-based treatment practices. Our parent organization, Clinical Social Work Association (CSWA) brought up concerns with this, primarily because the WHO places emphasis on Behavior Therapy (BT) and Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) which diminishes the importance of other treatment modalities. While BT and CBT are well-known treatment modalities, they should not be considered the only effective treatment modalities.
To see the WHO’s Psychological Interventions Implementation Manual click here:
https://www.issup.net/files/2024-03/psychological%20interventions%20implementation%20manual.pdf.
To view and sign the PsiAN petition, click here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeV5toz31ab2v-feDPgnLYfmg6OidsI7FRaHc5EKi-sPtlIcQ/viewform.
Veronica Yakovenko, LCSW
Advocacy Chair
CSCSW
vytherapist@gmail.com
Direct from the source, join us to learn all you need to know to make the licensing process for LCSWs & MFTs as easy as possible. Staff of the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) including Steve Sodergren, the Executive Officer, will present an overview of the licensing process, including registering as an ASW or AMFT hours for licensure, and taking the exams.
CLICK HERE FOR THE PARTICIPANT QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
This month, get in touch with your local representative and encourage them to vote to pass the Telemental Health Access Act. Please below for more information (use this text for an email or note). You can reach out to them via email or if you have the time, schedule a meeting at their local office. While we support this bill, we encourage you to educate yourself as you engage in any legislative advocacy.
Check this link to find your local representative:
https://www.house.gov/representative
Read more about the bill here:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/3651?s=1&r=25
Veronica Yakovenko, LCSW CSCSW Advocacy Chair vytherapist@gmail.com
Telemental Health Access Act (S. 3651/H.R. 3432) – April, 2024
Telemental health, which was widely implemented in March, 2020, due to the pandemic, has been found by both therapists and patients to be an effective and efficient way of providing needed mental health care. Mental health conditions went up 20-40% in the past 4 years and show no signs of being lowered to pre-pandemic levels. Below are some reasons that Telemental Health treatment should be made permanent:
Because of the inconsistency in availability to telemental health psychotherapy services across the country, we urge Congress to create and pass a law that will rectify this inequity permanently by passing S. 3651/H.R. 3432. This bill would authorize the use of telemental health on a permanent basis, allow both video and audio only as acceptable procedures for telemental health’s provision, and require parity in coverage and payment to in-person services.
Contact: ________________________________________________
Please forward this announcement to share this FREE event with others.
BBS Panel:
Steve Sodergren, BBS Executive Officer
Steve Sodergren has worked in California state service for more than 25 years, including serving as the BBS Executive Officer. During his tenure with the board he has been responsible for the day to day operations of the board and has been instrumental in implementing board policies such as the examination restructure and the transition to an online service platform.
Carl Peralta, BBS Registration Manager
Carl Peralta is the Registration Manager for the Board of Behavioral Sciences and has been with the Board for more than 9 years. Previously Carl served as the lead analyst for the Licensing Unit from 2022 to 2024 and as the lead analyst for the LMFT Unit from 2018 to 2022.
Sasha Addison, BBS Lead Analyst
Sasha Addison has been with the Board of Behavioral Sciences for 8 years and has been the lead analyst for the LCSW Unit since 2022.
www.clinicalsocialworksociety.org | info@clinicalsocialworksociety.org -- (310) 254-9471
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