Fall 2024 Issue

Technology: AI in Social Work
By Richard Jones, PhD
Social Work Today
Vol. 24 No. 4 P. 6

Reducing Burnout and Improving Care

Social workers stand on the front lines of countless crises, whether global pandemics or mental health emergencies. They protect and support individuals and families through myriad life hurdles. This work is integral to our society, but it can come at a significant psychological cost to social workers. Burnout and staffing shortages continue to plague the industry, creating a vicious cycle of overworked social workers exiting the industry, while those who remain are stretched ever thinner as cases continue to mount.1,2

While free social work degrees and other similar initiatives are a step in the right direction, true change requires continued innovation and flexibility in the field.3 Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence offer considerable potential for increasing the capacity of social workers. With the proper mindsets and guidelines, AI can serve as a force multiplier that improves the quality of care for clients while lessening the burden on social workers.

AI is a powerful tool, but it is also a new technology about which some are still skeptical. This hesitancy is reasonable; however, simply dismissing the technology—while perhaps a simpler solution at the outset—will cost social workers in the long run. AI’s ability to change the industry is still being uncovered, and social workers who reject it out of hand will quickly find themselves far behind the curve. Still, implementing AI requires considerable thought and collaboration to ensure strict adherence to the guiding principles of social work. Investing this time into learning about this tool will pay considerable dividends in the future.

The social work industry’s code of ethics shapes a series of practical standards that collectively guide everything a social worker does. In 2016, a group of social work organizations convened a committee to develop a set of guiding principles that would shape how the industry approaches technology.4 The document covers a wide range of issues including ethical considerations, relevant laws, and informed consent. In the five years since, technology has continued to develop at a rapid pace, and the industry is increasingly in need of an updated understanding of AI’s capabilities and limitations.

As burnout continues to damage the industry, AI provides an opportunity to rethink and streamline conventional processes, particularly around administrative tasks. Some estimates suggest that social workers spend as much as 45% of their time on administrative work.5 Case recording and report writing take up huge portions of a social worker’s day, tying them to the desk as they write up lengthy documents. AI can write initial drafts of reports or emails, relieving the heavy administrative burden imposed on social workers and freeing them to focus their resources on areas where their expertise is best utilized.

Using AI to complete mundane tasks improves the experience for clients and social workers, reversing the all-too-familiar story of overworked social workers and underserved clients. One study estimates that practitioners could spend as much as 45% more time with clients if their systems were optimized to support more efficiency in administrative tasks.6 This increased bandwidth allows social workers to gain an even greater understanding of their clients’ situations and needs, effectively multiplying their societal impact. AI isn’t a way to cut corners, but an opportunity to strengthen and deepen the relationships that allow social workers to impact lives.

Leveraging AI within the clinical side of social work also allows social workers to stay up to date on new techniques within the field and connect with innovators who can provide a unique perspective to their work. For example, a practitioner working with troubled youths can ask an AI chatbot or other such system to find new strategies in that particular area of social work. Within seconds, the chatbot can present findings on the work of trailblazing thinkers such as Desmond Patton, who is developing tools that turn risk factors into customized intervention plans for at-risk youths.7 Using this program—and others like it—social workers can quickly identify potential threats and develop strategies for addressing them. Easily accessing these groundbreaking techniques also opens the door for collaboration between social workers to ensure the best possible outcomes for their clients.

AI’s ability to quickly compile relevant research allows social workers to continually improve their work based on the growing body of knowledge accessible through the internet. To provide top-quality care, social workers are constantly needing to review and incorporate new findings and research into their work. That used to require extensive research, reading through long academic journal articles, and wading through convoluted abstracts. Now, with the rise of AI, social workers can input questions into a chatbot and review the most relevant research within seconds. This capability is especially useful when building out social-emotional assessment tools. AI promotes constant revision based on new research, which in turn enables social workers to create more comprehensive and robust social-emotional assessments. AI significantly streamlines the time and energy required for social workers to stay on top of emerging techniques that can enhance their ability to care for clients.

Social workers considering the use of AI in their work must start by confronting and addressing their own fears and anxieties about the tool. As with any tool, AI is not free of risks. Using it well requires intentionality and forethought on best practices and ways to mitigate potential downsides. Bias is perhaps the most well-known shortcoming of AI. Since the models are trained by humans, they can pick up and amplify the inherent biases of individuals. Users must be vigilant for signs of these biases in anything produced by AI. In some cases, social work researchers are even using AI to spot bias in social media and to create culturally sensitive algorithms that help them detect and prevent violence.8 AI isn’t inherently good or bad—but it is inherently powerful. Harnessing that power for good, rather than simply dismissing the tool because of its downsides, is key to transforming the field of social work. Being confident and knowledgeable about all sides of this topic will help other social workers feel comfortable in experimenting with and utilizing these tools in ways that truly enhance their performance.

Additionally, social workers implementing AI must communicate clearly with their clients. It’s incumbent upon the practitioner to explain the benefits and potential downsides of the technology, as well as backups in case of a technical failure. Social workers must ensure that every client is well informed and fully comfortable with the use of these technologies before moving forward. Informed consent is always ethical practice, and technology is no exception.

Working toward a strong and healthy future for AI in social work requires ongoing training as the tool develops. Integrating emerging technologies into educational programs allows students to become even more effective as social workers when they enter the field. Social workers who are already practicing should enroll in a continuing education program to learn more about how they can best utilize this tool to better serve their clients. Creating programs that educate social workers on the potential for good and threats to watch for can change the industry.

AI must become an integral part of the response to social worker burnout. By using the code of ethics to develop a robust framework through which to better understand AI, social workers can unlock the powerful tool of emerging technologies. AI presents an incredible opportunity for practitioners to constantly increase and enhance their effectiveness as they work with individuals, families, and communities. Technology is the future, and learning to utilize it well now will allow social workers to protect themselves and their clients.

— Richard Jones, PhD, is the president of the board at Preferra Insurance
Company RRG, a behavioral health liability insurance company
overseen by social workers.

References
1. Murphy E, Espinoza M. Sonoma County losing seasoned employees as burnout, departures upend government workforce. Press Democrat. January 20, 2024. https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/sonoma-county-losing-seasoned-employees-as-burnout-departures-upend-govern/. Accessed April 1, 2024.

2. Thompson T. Buncombe County struggles to recruit and retain social workers, staffing down 35%. ABC13 News website. https://wlos.com/news/local/buncombe-county-struggles-to-recruit-and-retain-social-workers-staffing-down-35-child-protective-services-social-work-division-director-rebecca-smith-fostering-hopes. Published August 1, 2023. Accessed April 1, 2024.

3. Lang M. D.C. to set up free social work degree to ease case worker shortage. Washington Post. November 8, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/11/08/dc-caseworker-shortage-free-degree/. Accessed April 10, 2024.

4. Standards for technology in social work practice. National Association of Social Workers website. https://www.socialworkers.org/Practice/NASW-Practice-Standards-Guidelines/Standards-for-Technology-in-Social-Work-Practice. Accessed April 1, 2024.

5. Ferguson H. Professional helping as negotiation in motion: social work as work on the move. Applied Mobilities. 2016;1(2):193-206.

6. Preston R. Social workers could double time spent with families through more efficient systems, report claims. Community Care. March 14, 2022. https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2022/03/14/social-workers-could-double-time-spent-with-families-through-more-efficient-systems-report-claims/#. Accessed April 1, 2024.

7. Bass D. Using AI and the human eye to spot social media posts fueling youth violence. Verizon News Center website. https://www.verizon.com/about/news/social-worker-uses-ai-stop-gang-violence. Published November 19, 2020. Accessed April 1, 2024.

8. Gwadz M, Ritchie A. Technology trends: keep a wary eye on artificial intelligence. Social Work Today. 2022;22(1):32-33.