Crisis Intervention & Mental Health Flashcards

Under the school social worker's duty to warn, which legal precedent established the obligation to protect identifiable third parties from a client's serious threats?

Answer: Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California (1976)

Tarasoff established that mental health professionals have a duty to protect identifiable potential victims when a client makes credible threats of harm.

A student discloses ongoing physical abuse by a parent. The student begs the social worker not to tell anyone. The social worker's ethical and legal obligation is to:

Answer: File a mandatory report with child protective services regardless of the student's wishes

Mandatory reporting laws require school social workers to report suspected child abuse regardless of client preferences or consent.

Which of the following is a PRIMARY goal of psychological first aid (PFA) following a school crisis?

Answer: Promoting a sense of safety, calm, connectedness, self-efficacy, and hope

PFA's core goals are to reduce distress and foster adaptive functioning through five empirically informed elements: safety, calm, connectedness, self-efficacy, and hope.

A school social worker is working with a student who experienced a traumatic event and is now showing hypervigilance, emotional numbing, and intrusive flashbacks lasting more than one month. This presentation is MOST consistent with:

Answer: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

PTSD is diagnosed when trauma symptoms including hypervigilance, numbing, and intrusive re-experiencing persist for more than one month after the traumatic event.

When creating a safety plan with a suicidal student, which element is considered MOST essential to effectiveness?

Answer: Identifying personal warning signs and means restriction strategies

Effective safety plans include the student's own warning signs and practical means restriction, making them personally meaningful and actionable.

A school district is developing a suicide prevention program. Which of the following approaches is evidence-based and recommended by the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC)?

Answer: Implementing universal screening tools alongside gatekeeper training programs

SPRC recommends multi-tiered approaches combining universal screening with gatekeeper training as evidence-based suicide prevention strategies.

A student who is undocumented and experiencing domestic violence at home refuses to seek help because of fear of deportation. The school social worker's BEST approach is to:

Answer: Assure the student that school records are confidential and explain resources that protect regardless of status

School social workers should reassure undocumented students about FERPA protections and connect them with resources available regardless of immigration status.