From bans on gender-affirming care and forced outing bills to attempts to limit client confidentiality regarding citizenship status and restrictions on free speech through so-called “divisive concept/DEI” bans, social workers’ ability to practice ethically is under direct threat in the state of Ohio. Dozens of bills have been introduced by the Ohio Legislature, along with local ordinances and school district policies—some of which have already been passed—that would not only harm our clients and most vulnerable community members, but directly prohibit and even criminalize aspects of ethical social work practice. Providing a collective voice for Ohio social workers, and as experts in social work regulations and ethics, NASW Ohio is uniquely positioned to address these attacks.

We are fighting hard to defend the rights of social workers to practice ethically and to provide them with the resources and information they need to manage risk while keeping professional values centered—but we need your support.

NASW membership not only provides access to valuable resources, up-to-date information, discounted liability insurance, and free CEUs, but is a tangible way social workers pool our resources to enable essential advocacy. Membership dues directly impact our ability to fight harmful legislation, provide risk management resources, and offer ethical and practice consultations. Put simply, your NASW membership matters.

Join NASW Ohio today to protect ethical social work practice and gain access to all the Ohio Chapter membership benefits and NASW National resources. If you are unable to join due to financial barriers, there are other ways to support NASW Ohio: talk to your colleagues about NASW Ohio’s advocacy work and membership, encourage your organization to sponsor NASW Ohio events, choose to get your CEUs from us, follow, like, and share our content on social media, and get involved with our advocacy efforts.

How is NASW Ohio Protecting Ethical Social Work Practice in Our Changing Political Landscape?

• NASW Ohio is actively mobilizing other health and human services associations around a collective advocacy goal: to stop the criminalization of ethical practice and protect our health and human services workforce. Together, we can be a powerful lobbying voice at the Ohio Statehouse.
• NASW Ohio staff attend every single Ohio Counselor, Social Worker, & Marriage and Family Therapist Board meeting. We are sounding the alarm on how legislation conflicts with ethical social work practice and advocating for regulation that complies with our Code of Ethics.
• In May 2022, NASW Ohio, along with the Abortion Fund of Ohio (AFO), filed suit against the City of Lebanon, Ohio, over its unlawful abortion ban, which criminalized the “aiding and abetting” of abortion. Supporting clients in their pregnancy and parenting education is a regular part of ethical, competent social work practice. Lebanon’s ordinance, in essence, created a criminal penalty against social workers who were simply doing their jobs. As a result of litigation brought by NASW Ohio and AFO, Lebanon officials declined to defend the abortion ban in court and agreed to stop enforcement as they plan to amend the ordinance. Learn more here>>>
• We established our Task Force on Criminalization of Social Work Practice to support and guide NASW Ohio’s advocacy around these issues.
• We are engaging in legislative advocacy by providing testimony on proposed legislation and meeting with members of the Ohio Legislature.
• We collaborate with other advocacy organizations and coalitions to bring a unique social work perspective to social justice–focused advocacy campaigns.
• We successfully secured an amendment for SB 1, the DEI ban on higher education (along with many other things), that creates an exemption pathway for programs that would otherwise lose accreditation due to following SB 1. While we hoped to stop the bill from passing altogether, this was a meaningful harm reduction measure to protect accreditation for schools of social work. 
• We rally our members and the broader social work community through advocacy updates and action alerts.
• We monitor legislation and policy changes to provide up-to-date information on how legislation impacts social work practice.
• We develop practice guidance and source legal expertise to support social workers in navigating ethically under ever-changing laws. Access resources here>>>
  • We created practice resources after the fall of Roe v. Wade. Now that the passage of Issue 1 in 2023, which we worked to support, abortion is now protected by Ohio’s Constitution!
  • We created robust practice guidance and a full-day training on how social workers can best navigate providing care to youth after the passage of HB 68, which banned gender-affirming medical care for youth and put limitations on gender affirming mental healthcare. 
  • Along with partners, we created an HB 8 toolkit for schools having to adapt to the forced outing requirements of HB 8. We offered a webinar and gathered resources on how to respond to ICE raids and detention.
• We provide one-on-one ethical and practice consultations to our members, centering ethical practice and client well-being while balancing risk management.

Follow along with the current legislation we are tracking here>>>

Join the Task Force on Criminalization of Social Work Practice