President's Message

We have talked a lot over the past few years about the importance of educating the public about what we do as a profession. Now we have a wonderful opportunity to join with our sister organizations and in particular, NASW, to bring greater awareness to the social work profession. I'm sure most of you are aware of the National Social Work Public Education Campaign, the focus of which is marketing the profession. It takes all of us to increase awareness and understanding of the social work profession, to educate the public on the depth and breadth of social work practice, to expand perceptions of who can benefit from social work services, and to increase student interest in social work as a profession. NASW's web site www.helpstartshere.org is one part of the strategy that allows the public to access information about social work, learn about careers and even find social workers to help with specific problems.

The second important piece of the campaign is to educate decision makers in government, workplaces and the media about the critical services social workers bring to their communities and then to encourage them to support the Social Work Reinvestment Initiative. The initiative provides a framework for a unified message to increase visibility of and leadership by the social work profession by obtaining an infusion of funds to support social work students and programs. It includes expanded opportunities and mechanisms (stipends, loan forgiveness, fellowships, scholarships) to attract new social workers to the field; advocacy for funding to support social work education and training for practitioners, educators, and researchers; enhanced support for social work research; and increased compensation for social workers.

This sounds really good but we all need to be involved and work hard to make it successful. We have to communicate the value of social work education, training, credentials, and licensure to policy makers and employers; collaborate with employers and policy makers to support professional development and career ladders; and partner with government entities and other stakeholders to recruit, retain, and support workforce development.

BPDers can participate by linking with local NASW chapters and branches to identify state and local stakeholders to involve in the reinvestment efforts. We can host legislative briefings to highlight the effectiveness of social work intervention, and what a great way to involve students in the political process. We can collect and document the history of public support for social workers in our states and assess existing reinvestment components in our states, identifying needed legislative and regulatory changes. Again, this is an excellent way to get students involved.

Using the resources of the Board, our Advocacy Committee, our involvement in the ANSWER coalition and our linkage with NASW and other organizations, we are able to be part of this exciting campaign to bring public awareness and political support to our profession. In our own educational programs, our students can be a part of this unified effort of social workers to bring public awareness about the amazing things social workers can do on behalf of people in this country. I urge you to support the Public Education Campaign efforts and become actively involved in the Social Work Reinvestment Initiative. Our students can be supported and the public served. It's hard to imagine a better outcome to any campaign.

Linda Moore