Abstract
Decades from now, social workers are likely to recall 2020 as the year their lives were transformed by COVID-19, aka coronavirus. With little notice, legions of social workers suddenly found themselves facing unprecedented roadblocks in their effort to serve their clients. In-person meetings were cancelled. Both clients and social workers scrambled to fashion new ways of connecting remotely. Within minutes of declarations of a public health emergency, I began receiving frantic telephone calls, e-mails, and text messages from social workers throughout the United States who sought clarification about the rules: Am I allowed to use my personal smartphone to talk with clients? How about using FaceTime, Google Hangouts, Google Voice, Zoom, GoToMeeting, Facebook Messenger, Skype, and WhatsApp? What’s HIPAA-compliant and what’s not? Are the major insurance companies authorizing social workers to use these digital tools? Can I serve clients who live in other states where I’m not licensed? These are reasonable and understandable questions, of course.