After recommendations from the office of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the Texas State Board of Social Workers Examiners announced that it will no longer prohibit social workers from turning away clients on the basis of disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity. The rule comes as an amendment to the board’s code of conduct section which establishes when a social worker has the right to refuse service. While the state chapter of the National Association of Social Workers deemed the rule change “incredibly disheartening," Abbott's office said it was necessary and needed on the basis that "the code [of conduct's] nondiscrimination protections went beyond protections laid out in the state law that governs how and when the state may discipline social workers," The Texas Tribune reported.
The decision to change the rule was unanimously made by the state’s regulatory board on Oct.12. during a meeting held with the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council, which oversees agencies related to mental health. According to the board’s executive director Alice Bradford, the governor’s office recommended the change Friday three days before the board’s vote. Abbott’s office was not surprised the recommendation was taken, claiming that it aligned with other standards of law including the Occupations Code. “It’s not surprising that a board would align its rules with statutes passed by the Legislature,” Abbott spokesperson Renae Eze said.
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According to The Texas Tribune, a state law last year granted the governor’s office more control over rules governing state-licensed professionals. While the board was given the approval to discriminate against clients based on sexual orientation in 2010, protections against such discrimination toward gender identity and expression were added in 2012. It wasn’t until the rule had been already changed that the board allowed for comments from the public.
Advocates quickly called the change in law for what it was, discriminatory. “It’s disturbing, even if it’s unintentional,” Will Francis, director of the Texas chapter of the National Association of Social Workers said, according to The Associated Press. “They created space for people to get the impression that this is allowed now. What the governor has done is put people with disabilities at risk for discrimination for no reason.” Francis added that this change gives the impression that people with disabilities can be discriminated against despite federal regulations in place to protect them.
Additionally, advocates noted that before removing the nondiscrimination protections no social workers were allegedly contacted or consulted for feedback. A Houston social worker who works with child trauma victims called the rule a “personal gut punch.” “There’s now a gray area between what’s legally allowed and ethically responsible,” Steven Parks told The Texas Tribune. “The law should never allow a social worker to legally do unethical things.”
More than 100 Texas counties have been identified with shortages of social workers amongst other health professionals. The implementation of this rule would severely affect access to care services to vulnerable clients in those areas. “There’s research to show that members of the queer community … are at higher risk for trauma, higher risk for all sorts of mental health conditions,” Parks said.
This isn’t the first time Texas has come under scrutiny for its discriminatory policies. The current legislature has opposed expanding protections for the disabled and LGBTQ community in not only mental health initiatives, but those related to employment, housing, and other areas of state law, The Texas Tribune noted. Additionally, Abbott’s recommendation followed failed attempts to pass legislation ending nondiscrimination requirements against people due to their religious faith.
This rule change greatly impacts both the disabled and LGBTQ community which not only lacks mental health services but also has difficulty accessing them. With such a rule in place, these vulnerable communities are less likely to seek out care and services. As a result, there is bound to be an increase in the stigma associated with mental health and other issues.
According to The Dallas Morning News, at least seven advocacy groups including Equality Texas, Transgender Education Network of Texas, National Association for Social Workers-Texas Chapter, Texas Freedom Network, ACLU of Texas, Lambda Legal, and the Human Rights Campaign released a joint statement Thursday against the board’s decision noting that without Abbott’s conservative leadership such an action could not have been taken. “Pro-discrimination groups couldn’t get this passed into law,” Texas Freedom Network President Kathy Miller said in the release, “but Gov. Abbott has done their bidding by pushing it through administratively in an obscure meeting when he thought few people were watching.”
