A major mission of NASW is to support individual social workers and advance professional social work practice in all settings: academic, agency, business, clinical, community, educational, government, health, hospitals, industry, criminal justice, planning, policy development, and private practice. Toward this end, the Massachusetts Chapter allocates substantial staff time to work on behalf of social work standards and practice issues in these rapidly changing times by:

A. Providing free consultation to members through:

• Consultation with Chapter staff
  
• Clinical peer consultation groups
  
• Clinical consultation with a senior LICSW
  
• Networking at monthly private practice committee meetings
  
• Practice-focused articles in the monthly newsletter, FOCUS
• Providing names of Employment/Labor Lawyers familiar with mental health/social service settings
  
• Producing and distributing free fact sheets on professional issues.
  
• Publications like the Private Practice Resource Guide

• Filing legislation that protects social workers, the profession and their clients.
  
• Joining forces to advocate with the other mental health professional associations on practice and policy issues.
  
• Negotiating social work's place with managed care companies and the insurance industry.
  
• Promoting professional practice standards and ethics.
  
• Protecting and supporting members by helping them deal with developments affecting their employment, practice, and clients.