Law and Ethics Review and Updates

The past few years have brought significant changes in federal and state statutes and case law relevant to the provision of mental health services. This update and review on ethics and law will assist clinicians in achieving currency regarding such changes, while maintaining a focus on basic ethical principles, guidelines and methods of enhancing decision-making and judgement. We will begin with a discussion of challenges to and methods of addressing the quality of ethical decision making, with an emphasis on steps to reduce bias and address racism and barriers to equity in mental health care. The course will also cover the implications of the Information Blocking rule, the No Surprises Act, and California SB221 (regarding timely access to care). Recent case and statutory developments in the duty to protect and child abuse and elder/dependent adult abuse reporting will be discussed, as will steps to support supervisors and supervisees in being successful in their respective roles. Issues regarding inter-jurisdictional practice will also be explored. Last, this workshop will assist professionals in navigating work with high conflict families—whether with individual adults embroiled in, or children and adolescents affected by such situations.