[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.
                                 ______