Ethical & Legal Practices Flashcards

A student in crisis discloses active suicidal ideation with a plan. The school social worker's immediate ethical and legal priority is to:

Answer: Ensure the student's immediate safety through intervention, notification, and referral

Active suicidal ideation with a plan constitutes an imminent safety emergency requiring immediate intervention, parental notification, and connection to crisis resources.

Which ethical principle is most at stake when a school social worker allows personal political views to influence decisions about student services?

Answer: Objectivity and non-discrimination

Social workers must provide services objectively and without discrimination, ensuring personal beliefs do not bias professional decisions affecting students.

A school social worker is asked by an administrator to release a student's therapy notes to the school's legal team. Under FERPA and ethical standards, the worker should:

Answer: Seek parental consent and consult legal counsel before releasing the records

Releasing personally identifiable student information requires compliance with FERPA, which typically requires consent from eligible students or parents except in specific legal exceptions.

The concept of 'least restrictive environment' in special education law requires that students with disabilities:

Answer: Be educated alongside non-disabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate

LRE requires that students with disabilities be educated with non-disabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate given their individual needs and IEP goals.

A school social worker discovers that their supervisor is falsifying documentation in student records. Ethical guidelines direct the social worker to:

Answer: Report the misconduct through internal channels and, if unresolved, to external oversight bodies

Ethical obligations require social workers to report unethical conduct through appropriate channels, escalating to external bodies if internal reporting is ineffective.

Title IX protections require a school social worker to:

Answer: Report and respond to sexual harassment or assault regardless of the victim's gender

Title IX obligates schools and their staff to address sexual harassment and assault affecting any student regardless of gender, including in programs connected to the school.

A school social worker practices 'reflective supervision' primarily to:

Answer: Examine their own emotional reactions and biases to improve ethical, effective practice

Reflective supervision supports ethical practice by helping social workers examine countertransference, biases, and emotional responses that could affect professional judgment.