[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 59 (Tuesday, April 15, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3028-S3029]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Ms. MIKULSKI (for herself, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Smith, and Mr.
Inouye):
S. 2858. A bill to establish the Social Work Reinvestment Commission
to provide independent counsel to Congress and the Secretary of Health
and Human Services on policy issues associated with recruitment,
retention, research, and reinvestment in the profession of social work,
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor,
and Pensions.
Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, in honor of World Social Work Day, I
rise today to introduce the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr.
Social Work Reinvestment Act. I am proud to sponsor this legislation
that will improve the shortage of social workers as we move into an era
of unprecedented healthcare and social service needs. Social workers
play a critical role combating the social problems facing our Nation.
We must have the workforce in place to make sure that our returning
soldiers have access to mental health services, our elderly maintain
their independence in the communities they live in, and abused children
are placed in safe homes. This bill reinvests in social workers by
providing grants to social workers, reviewing the current social
workforce challenges, and determining how this shortage will affect the
communities social workers serve. I am honored to introduce this bill
named after two social visionaries, Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M.
Young. Dorothy Height, a pioneer of the civil rights movement, like me
began her career as a case worker and continued to fight for social
justice. Whitney Young, another trailblazer of the civil rights
movement, also began his career transforming our social landscape as a
social worker. He helped create President Johnson's War on Poverty and
has served as President of the National Association of Social Workers.
Congressman Towns introduced the companion bill in the House of
Representatives last month.
As a social worker, I understand the critical role social workers
place in the overall care of our populations. Social workers can be
found in every facet of community life--in hospitals, mental health
clinics, senior centers, and private agencies that serve individuals
and families in need. Social workers are there to help struggling
students, returning soldiers, and chronically ill. Oftentimes, social
workers are the only available option for mental health care in rural
and underserved urban areas. The number of adults over the age of 65
will double by the year 2030 and social workers will be at the
forefront of providing compassionate care to this burgeoning community.
Yet there will not be enough social workers to meet these needs. Today
30,000 social workers specialize in gerontology, but we will need
70,000 of these social workers by 2010. I want to make sure that when
the aging tsunami hits us, we have the workforce in place to care for
our aging family members, the Alzheimer patients, the disabled.
This bill is about reinvesting in social work. It provides grants
that invest in social work education, research, and training. These
grants will fund community based programs of excellence and provide
scholarships to train the next generation of social workers. The bill
also addresses how to recruit and retain new social workers, research
the impact of social services, and foster ways to improve social
workplace safety. This bill establishes a national coordination center
that will allow social education, advocacy and research institutions to
collaborate and work together. It will facilitate gathering and
distributing social work research to make the most effective use of the
information we have on how social work service can improve our social
fabric. This bill also gives social work the attention is deserves. It
creates a media campaign that will promote social work, and recognizes
March as Social Work Awareness Month.
As a social worker, I have been on the frontlines of helping people
cope with issues in their everyday lives. I started off fighting for
abused children, making sure they were placed in safe homes. Today I am
a social worker with power. I am proud to continue to fight every day
for the long range
[[Page S3029]]
needs of the Nation, on the floor of the United States Senate and as
the Chairwoman of the Aging Subcommittee of the Health, Education,
Labor and Pensions Committee.
I believe that social work is full of great opportunities, both to
serve and to lead. Social work is about putting our values into action.
Social workers are our best and brightest, our most committed and
compassionate. They are at the frontlines of providing care, often
putting themselves in dangerous and violent situations. Social workers
have the ability to provide psychological, emotional, and social
support--quite simply, the ability to change lives. That is why we must
reinvest in social work--we must recruit, retain and research. I think
we can do better by our Nation's troops, seniors, and children, by
making sure we have the social workforce in place to meet their needs.
I'm fighting to make sure we do.
The Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work
Reinvestment Act is strongly supported by the National Association of
Social Workers and the Institute for the Advancement of Social Work
Research. I want to thank Senators Stabenow, Smith, and Inouye for
their cosponsorship of this bill.
I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact this important
piece of legislation.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that letters of support be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be placed in
the Record, as follows:
National Association of
Social Workers,
Washington, DC.
We, the undersigned professional social work organizations,
join with the National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
in showing our full support for the Dorothy I. Height and
Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act. Social
workers provide indispensible services in nearly every
community nationwide and to millions of Americans including
aging baby boomers, wounded veterans, former prisoners, at-
risk students, abused and neglected children, and those
diagnosed with cancer, serious mental illness, and those with
HIV and AIDS. These essential services have a positive impact
on the mental, social, and psychosocial functioning of
clients across the country. While professional social workers
are more necessary today than at any other time in our
history, they are also facing barriers that challenge the
profession including insurmountable education debt,
insufficient salaries, and serious safety concerns.
The Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work
Reinvestment Act takes important steps to ensure the future
viability of the social work profession. The legislation
explores the many successful efforts already undertaken by
our nation's social workers, while examining the persistent
challenges to these efforts. A Social Work Reinvestment
Commission will provide a comprehensive analysis of current
workforce trends and develop long-term recommendations and
strategies to maximize the ability of America's social
workers to serve their clients with expertise and care.
Demonstration programs will be funded in the areas of
workplace improvements, research, education and training, and
community-based programs of excellence. This investment will
be returned many times over both in support for effective
social service solutions and in direct services to client
populations.
The Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work
Reinvestment Act is a commitment to ensure that social
workers can provide indispensable services for years to come.
The future of the profession depends on the measures that are
taken toward reinvestment today. We thank Senator Mikulski
for her dedication to and leadership of the social work
profession and urge every member of the Senate to show their
support for professional social workers as well as the
individuals, groups, and communities they serve.
Sincerely,
Action Network for Social Work Education and Research,
Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program
Directors, Association of Oncology Social Work,
Clinical Social Work Association, Council on Social
Work Education, Group for the Advancement of Doctoral
Education in Social Work, Institute for the Advancement
of Social Work Research, National Association of Deans
and Directors of Schools of Social Work, Social Welfare
Action Alliance, Society for Social Work and Research.
____
Institute for the Advancement
of Social Work Research,
Washington, DC, April 12, 2008.
Hon. Barbara Mikulski,
U.S. Senate, Senate Office Building, Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Mikulski: As the Institute for the Advancement
of Social Work Research (IASWR) celebrates its 15th
anniversary, this is an important opportunity to recognize
the strides that have been made in knowledge development and
research infrastructure development in social work over the
past decade and one half. However, the growing demands for
social work services, the focus on implementation of
evidence-based practices, and the need to address both
recruitment and retention of professional social workers,
requires that there be enhanced federal investments in the
social work profession. As the number of children in foster
care rises, as our population ages, as school drop-out rates
increase, and as deployed soldiers and returning veterans
require expanded access to health, mental health and social
services, the need for professional social workers at all
levels of practice and in all fields of practice has never
been greater.
IASWR would like to thank you for standing with your
profession in introducing the Dorothy I. Height/Whitney M.
Young Social Work Reinvestment Act in the Senate. This Act is
one important step in addressing workplace and workforce
issues faced by social workers. It will also provide
discretionary grants to implement best practice models in
social agencies and it provides incentive programs to attract
the next generation of social work practitioners and social
work researchers. Of particular importance will be the Social
Work Reinvestment Commission that will examine critical
issues and potential solutions facing the profession today.
As a social worker, I know that you recognize the
challenges faced by the social work profession, including low
salaries, high caseloads, lack of access to the latest
technology to facilitate service delivery, shrinking
availability of services, and concerns about safety. The
Social Work Reinvestment Act begins to address these
concerns.
Thank you for all of your leadership and commitment to
social work and to the millions of vulnerable individuals,
families and communities that we work with daily. IASWR and
the social work research community stands ready to work with
you. If you have questions or need additional information,
please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Joan Levy Zlotnik,
Executive Director.
Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, I rise today, on World Social Work Day, to
introduce the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work
Reinvestment Act. I am pleased to be joined by my colleagues Senator
Barbara Mikulski and Senator Debbie Stabenow in supporting this
important legislation to help ensure the sustainability of the social
work field. I look forward to continuing our collaboration on this bill
and other efforts to support the tremendous work of our nation's social
workers as they ensure the safety and welfare of our citizens in need
of guidance and protection.
Social workers in America face an array of issues that impact their
ability to stay in the profession. We know that as the U.S. population
increases and ages, caseworkers' caseloads continue to increase,
causing greater pressure to perform with ever decreasing resources.
Further, relatively low wages make it difficult for social workers to
stay in their profession long-term. These are just a few of the many
challenges they face. Those in the social work field need our support
in creating innovative ways to keep them in the profession they love
and therefore help the people in our communities who need their
expertise and compassion.
Unfortunately, my home State of Oregon is not immune to these
problems. We all know of the wonderful work that social workers do to
protect children from abuse and neglect. Particularly in parts of
Oregon where Methamphetamine abuse has caused widespread suffering,
social workers have risen to the occasion to ensure children get the
help that they need. However, less recognized is the work that they do
on behalf of our elderly. About 13 percent of Oregon's population is
persons over the age of 65, which is above the national average of
about 12.4 percent. This number is expected to increase dramatically in
coming years as our population continues to age, our seniors live
longer and we see more of our elderly with multiple chronic conditions.
Many of these elderly will depend on the help and guidance of social
workers to ensure their well being.
I encourage all of my colleagues to join me, Senator Mikulski and
Senator Stabenow in championing this legislation to support the needs
of our social workers. I look forward to its swift passage.
______