SSW Crisis Intervention & Mental Health 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: 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?
- In re Gault (1967)
- Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California (1976) (Correct answer)
- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
- Jaffee v. Redmond (1996)
Correct 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.
Question 2: 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:
- Respect the student's autonomy and maintain confidentiality
- Consult with a supervisor before taking any action
- File a mandatory report with child protective services regardless of the student's wishes (Correct answer)
- Discuss the situation with the student's other parent first
Correct 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.
Question 3: Which of the following is a PRIMARY goal of psychological first aid (PFA) following a school crisis?
- Facilitating emotional processing of the traumatic event
- Promoting a sense of safety, calm, connectedness, self-efficacy, and hope (Correct answer)
- Diagnosing students with acute stress disorder
- Ensuring students return to academic performance quickly
Correct 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.
Question 4: 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:
- Acute Stress Disorder
- Adjustment Disorder with Anxious Mood
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Correct answer)
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Correct 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.
Question 5: When creating a safety plan with a suicidal student, which element is considered MOST essential to effectiveness?
- A written no-suicide contract signed by the student
- Identifying personal warning signs and means restriction strategies (Correct answer)
- Listing emergency hotline numbers as the primary resource
- Notifying the entire school staff about the student's plan
Correct 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.
Question 6: 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)?
- Conducting school-wide assemblies where survivors share detailed accounts of attempts
- Implementing universal screening tools alongside gatekeeper training programs (Correct answer)
- Focusing prevention efforts exclusively on students with prior psychiatric diagnoses
- Distributing informational pamphlets listing suicide warning signs to all students
Correct 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.
Question 7: 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:
- Inform the student that school social workers are required to report immigration status
- Assure the student that school records are confidential and explain resources that protect regardless of status (Correct answer)
- Avoid discussing the violence to prevent further distress
- Immediately contact ICE as part of mandatory reporting
Correct 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.
SSW Crisis Intervention & Mental Health 3
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?