[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8010]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         WORLD SOCIAL WORK DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise in proud recognition of World 
Social Work Day. First off I would like to extend my gratitude to all 
social workers for the important work they do. It is selfless work that 
impacts the most impoverished and sick among us. Your hard work assists 
millions of individuals, families and communities across the country 
and the globe.
  I have always been a strong advocate for social workers. The field of 
social work can be a thankless profession which is not very lucrative, 
so having fully trained professional social workers is always a 
blessing. In the 108th and 109th Congresses, I introduced a bill that 
would provide loan forgiveness to social workers who work for child 
protective agencies. I hear from students all the time who express 
desire to work as a social worker, but may choose a different field in 
order to be able to pay for their education.
  I want to encourage people who are interested and have a desire to 
become a social worker, and not have them choose a different career 
based on the cost of their education. Their work is vital to my 
community and to all communities, and we need to encourage young 
people's interest in social work.
  This year's theme for National Professional Social Work Month is 
``Hope and Health.'' My home is Cleveland, Ohio, and we have been rated 
as one of the most impoverished cities in the nation. With so many 
individuals unemployed and unable to provide for themselves or their 
families, a strong social worker presence is vital for my community.
  Thirty-two percent of Clevelanders live below the poverty line.
  Almost half of the children live below the poverty line compared to a 
national average of 18 percent.
  Nineteen percent of those children lack any type of health coverage.
  There are over 21,000 social workers in the state of Ohio, and the 
majority of them work in the fields of Mental Health, Child and Family 
Welfare, Health, and Aging.
  I would like to highlight North East Ohio Health Services, which is a 
behavioral health care organization that provides services to the 
residents of Cuyahoga County. They have many programs that reach 
children through seniors in crisis intervention to continuing care. I 
am grateful for organizations like North East Ohio Health Services that 
employ social workers to assist my constituents with the greatest need.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank all my colleagues in the House who 
are social workers, and especially Congressman Ciro Rodriguez for 
arranging this special order to recognize World Social Work Day. And I 
would like to reiterate my deepest respect and admiration to all the 
people who choose to devote their lives and careers to providing a 
helping hand to the most desperate among us.

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