Clinical Supervision

Although the clinical supervisors do not offer direct services to patients, they do indirectly affect the level of service offered through their impact on the supervisee. They share the responsibility for services provided to the patient and can be held liable for negligent or inadequate supervision related to negligent conduct by the supervisee. Direct liability may be charged against the clinical supervisor when inappropriate recommendations carried out by the supervisee bring harm to the patient. Direct liability also can be charged when a supervisor assigns a task to a supervisee who is inadequately prepared to perform it. The clinical supervisor and supervisee should take supervision seriously and ensure that the services provided by the supervisee meet NASW’s Code of Ethics and Standards of the social work profession.

The purpose of this supervision is to enable the supervisee to satisfy the clinical supervision requirements of the state board of California. As the independent clinical supervisor, I am not responsible for the supervisee’s job performance or for the number of cases or types assigned to him/her, or for other aspects of his/her job duties or employment agreement with the supervisee’s employer.