🤝The risk of calling 988

Your 08/14/22 update on all things social work

Aug 14

Good morning! ☀️

The Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) recently released its report “2022 ASWB Exam Pass Rate Analysis”. The report found that:

Most test-takers passed the social work licensing exams on their first attempt
The highest pass rates were observed among women, younger test-takers, individuals whose first language is English, and white test-takers
The lowest pass rates were observed among men, older test-takers, individuals whose first language is not English, and Black test-takers.

The flyer below highlights some additional information gathered from their report.

Informational graphic showing highlights of the exam pass rate data for the Clinical exam. Exam volume more than doubled between 2011 and 2021, from 9,100 exams in 2011 to 20,657 exams in 2021. Members of historically marginalized groups made up 14% more of the test-taker population in 2021 than in 2011. 88% of all test-takers eventually passed. The following percentages apply to test-takers from 2018 through 2021. 80% of Asian test-takers eventually passed. 57% of Black test-takers eventually passed. 77% of Hispanic/Latino test-takers eventually passed. 87% of multiracial test-takers eventually passed. 74% of Native American/Indigenous peoples eventually passed. 91% of White test-takers eventually passed. 80% of men eventually passed. 83% of women eventually passed. 91% of test-takers 18 years old to 29 years old eventually passed. 86% of test-takers 30 years old to 39 years old eventually passed. 76% of test-takers 40 years old to 49 years old eventually passed. 65% of test-takers 50 years old or older eventually passed. 83% of test-takers whose primary language is English eventually passed. 70% of test-takers whose primary language is not English eventually passed.

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News

The risks of calling 988

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline was launched last month. Amidst celebration of its launch, some advocates and people with lived experiences with the mental health system took to social media to voice concerns.

One Instagram post stated that “988 is not friendly. Don’t call it, don’t post it, don’t share it, without knowing the risks”. The post received a quarter of a million likes and went on to list said risks including police involvement and involuntary treatment into emergency rooms or psychiatric hospitals.

NPR reached out to the creators of some of these posts, including the one above, which was authored by Liz Winston. During their conversation, Liz shared her personal experience with our mental health system. She elaborated that during the summer of 2021, she had visited a hospital in New York after having suicidal thoughts, and ended up being involuntarily detained in the psychiatric wing of the emergency room.

All she had wanted was to speak with a psychiatrist and a counselor.

There are risks associated with calling 988. For example, according to the hotline’s policy, emergency services can and should be called “when the caller cannot or will not collaborate on a safety plan and the counselor feels the caller will harm themselves imminently”. This may lead to involuntary hospitalization.

This is concerning given that research has found that suicide rates “increase drastically in the months after people are discharged from psychiatric hospitals” and that those who were involuntarily sent were more likely to attempt suicide. Furthermore, there are financial risks, such as large bills for treatment which were unplanned and unwanted.

Other social work-related news

As many as 2,000 mental health care workers at Kaiser Permanente, the largest health care provider in California, are set to strike Monday, August 15th.
Amazon Care, which currently offers virtual health visits, in-person primary care visits at patients' homes or offices and prescription delivery, is adding behavioral health care to its slate of services. Amazon's health service business plans to team up with teletherapy startup Ginger as an optional add-on to Amazon Care.
Can math models predict—and prevent—the next suicide?

Reads on research

Using data from the Education Department, the Wall Street Journal analyzed federal tax records from 1.7 million graduates in undergraduate and graduate degree programs at around 2,000 universities from 2015 and 2016 to determine potential pay disparities between men and women. The Journal found that there were “early-career pay disparities … at every degree level and in a variety of fields, including those dominated by men and those dominated by women”.
The Argentinian economy is eating away at the nation's mental health. A survey by Buenos Aires University's (UBA) applied psychology department found that upwards of 85% of 1,700 respondents think that the present crisis has made them less hopeful for the future, with half describing the change as significant or drastic. Furthermore, the poll showed the most used terms by respondents to describe their current state of mind were "anguish," "fed up," "angry" and - the single most used term among 18-29 year-olds - "fear for the future."

Reads on policy

The 730-page Inflation Reduction Act passed the House and is set to be signed into law by President Biden next week. Among other things, the law will:
- Allow Medicare to renegotiate prices of certain drugs through an expansion of power
- Cap out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 starting in 2025 for people who participate in Medicare Part D, the prescription drug plan for seniors
- Pump $369 billion into “measures to fight climate change such as a $7,500 tax credit for new electric vehicles and a 30% tax credit for solar panels and wind energy

Tech, social work, and cool opportunities 😎

Clinical Implementation Lead at Blueprint Health, a company which helps clinicians run more effective therapy sessions and spend less time on documentation
Interested in transitioning into sales? Check out the Sales Development Representative position at Together Senior Health, a startup which empowers older adults with memory loss, Alzheimer’s and dementia to maintain their health and independence at home.
Here’s a very interesting newsletter on the criminal justice system
Cool companies:
- Freedom Reads - A non-profit which has shipped more than 25,000 books to prisons across the country.
- Aravind Eye Care - An Indian hospital chain which has had a major impact on eradicating cataract-related blindness in India. The company uses the revenue from people who can afford services to subsidize and deliver affordable and free services to those who cannot afford care.