Using Technology as a Mental Health Professional: Ethical and Legal Implicatins, Course #4860, is approved by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program to be offered by Leslie S. Tsukroff, Inc. as an individual course. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE course approval period: 03/16/2023 - 03/16/2025. Social workers completing this course receive 5 ethics continuing education credits.

ACE individual course approval meets the NJ Board of Social Work Examiners requirements for individual course approval pursuant to NJ Code 13:44G-6.4.16.

Approved Delivery Methods and Formats: 
In-person
Distance learning: Live, interactive and synchronous distance​

Join New Jersey’s premier ethics consultant, Leslie S. Tsukroff, MSW, LCSW for an informative and interactive workshop in which participants will leave being able to:
 
1.    Cite the various laws, ethical guidelines and regulatory standards that impact the use of digital technology in mental health practice.
2.    Apply the information received to guide in the development and implementation of technology-related policies and procedures.
3.    Apply, analyze and integrate ethical and legal principals into the use of digital technology in mental health practice.    
 

Course Description

Modern technology influences almost every aspect of how we live, socialize, play, shop, communicate and work. As mental health professionals, most of us utilize electronic technology for service delivery, communication, and the maintenance, storage and retrieval of client's sensitive data. Although mental health practitioners were introduced to digital technology many years ago, the laws and ethical guidelines governing its use are struggling to catch up. In this workshop, essential technology-related state and federal laws, regulatory standards and professional Codes of Ethics will be examined.   The fundamental professional standards of informed consent, privacy and confidentiality, competence, and conflicts of interest will be highlighted.

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Fees 

$125.00

Target Audience
This course is designed for all mental health professionals who use or plan to use any form of digital technology (ex. e-mail, text, social media, video-conferencing, PMS/EHR) in their work.

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Course Content Level

Intermediate

Agenda
Program will be 5 hours of actual time
There will be 2 ten minute breaks mid-morning and mid-afternoon

Lunch will be 30 minutes on your own

Program

Introduction (20 minutes)
Welcome/Discussion of Agenda

Goals

Primary consulting documents

History of Digital Technology (15 min)
General; MH professionals
Review of the key documents related to technology (35 min)
NASW Code of Ethics – 2017 revisions
NASW Standards for Technology in Social Work Practice
Examples of regulatory and statutory laws
Asynchronous and Synchronous Telehealth Services
Reimbursement issues, insurance,
Model Regulatory Standards for Technology and Social Work Practice

Federal waivers

BREAK- 10 minutes  
2017 Amendments to the NASW COE related to technology (80 minutes)
Ethical decision making
Definition of “technology-assisted social work services”
Informed consent
Model Regulatory Standards for Technology and Social Work Practice
HIPAA Compliance and video-teleconferencing
Documentation
Practitioner competence
Jurisdictional boundaries
Cultural Awareness & Social Diversity

LUNCH 30 MINUTE BREAK (on your own)
Amendments to the NASW COE related to technology, continued (75 minutes)
Conflicts of Interest
The Standards for the Use of Technology in Social Work practice
Social networking and boundaries
Privacy and Confidentiality
Breaching confidentiality
Discharging duty to protect
Model Regulatory Standards for Technology and Social Work Practice
Standards for the Use of Technology in Social Work Practice
Special populations- couples, families and groups
Protection of electronic communications
Unauthorized breach of confidential data
The use of testimonials
Access to Records      
Model Regulatory Standards and Social Work Practice
Policies and procedures
Digital communications/interruptions of service

BREAK (10 Minutes)
Amendments to the NASW COE related to technology, continued (45 minutes)
Supervision & Consultation and Education & Training
Dual relationships
Competence
Video-conferencing
Client records
Evaluation and research
Development of Technology Policies & Procedures (25 min)
Purpose
Risk Management
Social Media/Use of Technology Policies
Guidelines

Q and A/Final Thoughts (5 minutes)

 

 

How to Register

Registration

On-line: www.LeslieTsukroff.com

     Register and pay on-line with a credit card        

By Phone: 973-879-1678

     Register and pay with a credit card or

     Request a registration form

E-mail: LTsukroffLCSW@Hushmail.com

     Request a registration form

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Deadlines, Cancellation/Refund Policies, Complaints, ADA Needs, Questions/Concerns

 

• If participants have any questions or concerns or are dissatisfied with any part of the registration process, facilities, non-receipt of certificates, the presenter or the presentation, or any other complaints, they should contact Leslie S. Tsukroff, MSW, LCSW, the program administrator directly @ 973-879-1678 or @ LTsukroffLCSW@Hushmail.com

• In order to assist in the ethical and timely resolution of grievances, Leslie S. Tsukroff, Inc.’s Auxiliary Social Work Consultant, Laura Taylor, MSW, LSW will be actively involved in addressing and resolving all disputes.  

• If the results of the grievance process are unsatisfactory, New Jersey social workers have the option to contact the approving entity, with an option to appeal to their licensing board.

• All complaints will be responded to within 7 days from the receipt of the complaint.

• Full refunds will be given to registrants up until 1 week (7 days) prior to the event. 

• Requests for refunds must be made in writing and mailed to Leslie S. Tsukroff, Inc., Business Management Consulting for Mental Health Practitioners, 68 North Bridge Street, Somerville, NJ 08876 or via e-mail to LTsukroffLCSW@Hushmail.com

• Registration Deadlines:  BY MAIL 7 days prior to event. BY E-MAIL 1 day prior to the event. ONLINE- 90 minutes prior to event. 

• ​Leslie S. Tsukroff, Inc. would be happy to accommodate your ADA Needs.  Please call (973-879-1678) to discuss at least 2 weeks prior to event.

• If you have any questions, please call Leslie S. Tsukroff, MSW, LCSW @ 973-879-1678 or e-mail her @ LTsukroffLCSW@Hushmail.com

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Course Completion

 Virtual/synchronous

Certificates will be e-mailed to all social workers within 7 days:

1. Who attend the entire session

2. Return a completed course evaluation. 

3. Course evaluations will be e-mailed to registrants who attend the entire session, within 30 minutes of the workshop ending.

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Presenter

Leslie S. Tsukroff, MSW, LCSW is the Founder and Executive Director of Leslie S. Tsukroff, Inc, which encompasses both her private psychotherapy practice and her consulting business, Business Management Consulting for Mental Health Practitioners. Leslie hails from a long line of entrepreneurs, following in the footsteps of her grandfathers, uncles, father and her mother.  Prior to launching her own psychotherapy practice in 1999, she worked in the trenches as a child/family preventative services worker, an on-site school mental health counselor, and as staff clinician at a community-based agency.  She gained further invaluable knowledge while developing clinical preventive programs for at-risk youth, spearheading startup programs for non-profits and working as an outpatient care manager during the rise of managed care during the 1990s.  

 

Leslie is a recognized authority in professional ethics, risk management and private practice development in New Jersey. Her passion for social work professional ethics grew from her interest in the law and her prior employment at a law firm during college. While she determined early on that a career in law was not the right fit for her, serving on the NASW-NJ Ethics Committee and later being appointed Chairperson presented the opportunity to meld her clinical, ethical and legal worlds.

 

Most recently, she had the honor and privilege of serving on a task force charged with developing a new, comprehensive, and practical document for NASW entitled, “Clinical Social Workers in Private Practice: A Reference Manual.” In addition to providing input on the entire document, Leslie lent her professional ethics and private practice expertise by authoring sections on the subjects of professional wills, retirement and closing a private practice, minor's rights, issues impacting minors whose parents are divorced/separated, business planning, subpoenas, sliding scales, client–social worker practice agreements, informed consent standards and suggested case record forms.

 

With close to 3 decades of giving back to the social work and mental health communities, Leslie has served on various Boards of Directors, written articles, offered pro-bono presentations, and provided low-cost supervision and consultation to mental health professionals throughout the tri-state area.  As a Qualified Clinical Supervisor in New Jersey, she is committed to ensuring future generations of clinical social workers have the necessary skills to practice competently and ethically. Throughout her career she has served on several professional committees/task forces focused on continuing education for social workers, private practitioner concerns, insurance and managed care issues and social work licensure rules and requirements.
 

Leslie conducts engaging training workshops focusing on traditional business practices, risk management, documentation and record-keeping, private practice development, billing, ethical and legal issues and clinical matters. She has a passion for the collaborative learning process, and drawing on her clinical/ethics–related expertise she provides customized clinical, ethical, and private practice building consultations.  

 

In addition to her mental health consulting business, she maintains an office in Somerville, New Jersey and provides remote psychotherapy to clients located in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.