MEMORANDUM TO THE NEXT PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION: A VISION FOR SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION November 2008

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1 MEMORANDUM TO THE NEXT PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION: A VISION FOR SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION November 2008 The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is a nonprofit national association representing more than 3,000 individual members as well as 650 graduate and undergraduate programs of professional social work education. Founded in 1952, this partnership of educational and professional institutions, social welfare agencies, and private citizens is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) as the sole accrediting agency for social work education in the United States. Social work education focuses students on leadership and direct practice roles helping individuals, families, groups, and communities by creating new opportunities that empower people to be productive, contributing members of their communities. OUR VISION The reach of social work stretches across all sectors of society, from business, to the medical fields, to social services, and beyond. Social work education teaches students all students about the human dimensions and complexities of social interactions. It also helps nurture the development of thoughtful leaders in every sector. Our vision for the future is one in which every student, K-12 and onward, is taught to understand these interactions, is equipped with the skills needed to be successful within the larger society, and also gains an understanding of the importance of social work as it is integrated throughout their educational career. It s a vision that goes beyond addressing the needs of vulnerable populations and allows all persons to gain an understanding and appreciation for the complexities of human interaction across gender, generation, race, social status, culture, and belief. We believe the recommendations contained in this memorandum bring us closer to fulfilling this vision. CHALLENGES The next President of the United States faces domestic challenges at all levels of society. Middle class working people and their families are coping with difficult economic times. Vulnerable populations from all walks of life defined here as children and adults with physical or mental disabilities, those living in poverty, trauma victims, aging individuals, returning veterans, individuals under stress or facing coping challenges both temporary and permanent, and segments of society needing assistance to adjust to changing circumstances or overcome injustices are faced with hurdles which for some cannot be overcome alone. Social workers help vulnerable populations in society be as healthy and productive as possible by working with them to navigate societal and personal challenges. Social workers are employed in schools, hospitals, VA facilities, rehabilitation centers, social service locations, child welfare organizations, assisted living centers, nursing homes, and faith-based organizations. Given the breadth of the profession, there are simply too few social workers to keep pace with the demand. It is generally accepted throughout the profession among social work practitioners and educators alike that recruitment and retention poses the most significant challenge to the success of the profession. This is true across all sectors (public and private), at all levels (from BSW to the doctoral level), and in all fields of practice (child welfare, public health, mental health, geriatrics, veterans, etc.). Organizations like the National Association of Social Workers, a membership organization representing professional social workers, provide leadership in creating metrics for better understanding and articulating this deficiency. CSWE focuses its efforts on the educational needs associated with fostering a sustainable and competent social work workforce, such as recruitment and retention, diversity and accessibility, and maintaining integrity in higher education through sound accreditation standards for both the baccalaureate and master s level education. The recommendations made within this memorandum address these needs.

2 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE NEXT PRESIDENT RECRUITMENT & RETENTION Recommendation 1: Expand and fully fund training, tuition assistance, and loan forgiveness and repayment programs to increase both recruitment and retention at all levels and in all sectors. Programs must be created (or expanded to include social workers) at every federal agency that has a role to play in addressing the needs of vulnerable populations, including but not limited to: the Departments of Health and Human Services (including NIH and SAMHSA), Education, State, Homeland Security, Justice and Veterans Affairs. In addition, special efforts should be made to recruit military veterans into higher education, particularly schools of social work. Recommendation 2: Support and fully fund the newly created loan forgiveness program in the Higher Education Opportunity Act (P.L ), which allows for partial loan forgiveness for social workers in the areas of child welfare and school counseling. Recommendation 3: Enhance the Title IV E Child Welfare Training Program by: (1) removing requirements that cost allocation be contingent upon eligible caseload; (2) expanding reimbursement access to include private universities in addition to public universities; and (3) expanding the 75 percent reimbursement rate to include both direct and indirect costs associated with training in order to increase the number of institutions participating in the program. Recommendation 4: Support and fully fund programs that help to address workplace safety, including programs that provide for training in cultural competency, situation management, as well as self defense training. The Teri Zenner Social Work Safety Act (H.R. 2165) should be enacted into law and fully funded. Recommendation 5: Encourage partnerships with state agencies and departments of labor to improve salary and benefits to constitute a living wage for social workers and allow for continuing education. Federal incentives are needed for states to implement programs for training in stateof-the-art service models, evidence-based interventions, and management and leadership training. Recommendation 6: Support and fully fund the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act which would establish a commission to provide counsel to Congress on policy surrounding social work recruitment and retention, including debt load, fair market compensation, workforce trends, and social worker safety; and authorize grant programs to support demonstration projects related to research, workplace improvements, education, training, and programs of excellence. The nation needs a workforce that is skilled, diverse and able to keep pace with demand. In 2004, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that by 2012 a total of 209,000 social workers will be needed in the fields of child, family, and school social work; medical and public health social work; and mental health and substance abuse social work. In 2006, the Bureau estimated there would be a total of 258,000 job openings for social workers due to growth and net replacement between 2006 and 2016 in the same fields. While recruitment and retention can be a significant challenge for many professions, especially those dealing with public health and the delivery of social services, the problem is exceptionally widespread for social work. Recruitment into the social work profession faces many obstacles the most prevalent being low wages. Although teaching and nursing are also challenged by low wages, social work salaries often do not keep pace with these professions. Recruitment and retention of social workers is needed in every sector, from child welfare to veteran rehabilitation and work with the aging population. For example, a recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) report i states, In 1987 the National Institute on Aging predicted a need for 60,000 to 70,000 geriatric social workers by 2020, yet today only about 4 percent of social workers one-third of the needed number specialize in geriatrics. CSWE supports the Caring for an Aging America Act (S. 2708/H.R. 6337), 2

3 introduced in the 110 th Congress. This bill would address many of the concerns expressed in the IOM report by authorizing a loan repayment program for social workers and other health care professionals with specialty training in geriatrics or gerontology in exchange for a minimum of two years of service to older Americans. This legislation is an excellent example of ways to recruit and retain social workers in an area that is facing critical shortages. Similar models should be used to promote social work in all other sectors. In addition, while social workers in child welfare settings have been receiving training assistance for many years, barriers still exist, as noted in the above recommendation. The Title IV E training program was developed in 1980 to help prepare social workers for the rigors of practice in child welfare settings. However, the law needs to be expanded to ensure that enough social workers are prepared to work in this area. Similar arguments can be made for all other social work fields. Workplace safety is another issue that contributes to social work shortages. When students are recruited into social work programs, they must be equipped with the tools needed to ensure their safety in the workplace. In 2000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that social service workers in the public sector were approximately 7 times more likely to fall victim to violent attack in the workplace than workers in the private sector. CSWE supports the Teri Zenner Social Work Safety Act (H.R. 2165), introduced in the 110 th Congress, which would authorize the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to make grants to states to provide safety measures to social workers, including procurement of technology such as GPS tracking systems, training in self-defense as well as crisis and emergency management training. Enactment of this bill would help to mitigate significant workforce shortages. CSWE believes that the ability to recruit and retain social workers starts with education at all levels (BSW, MSW and doctoral degrees). While the current workforce benefited from generous federal training programs in certain disciplines in the past, federal investment is lacking for those being educated today. DIVERSITY & COLLEGE ACCESSIBILITY Recommendation 7: Adequately fund new programs included in the recently enacted Higher Education Opportunity Act (P.L ) that expand access and encourage minority students to complete masters and PhD programs in social work fields. These include a new loan forgiveness program for Service in Areas of National Need to forgive federal student loans for child welfare workers and mental health professionals, and funding for the new Patsy T. Mink fellowship program which will provide fellowship awards to highly qualified minorities and women to acquire the doctoral degree or highest degree available in academic areas where women and minorities are underrepresented. Similar opportunities should be made available to encourage minority students into baccalaureate programs as well. Recommendation 8: Support authorization of any new programs in the upcoming reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act (Elementary and Secondary Education Act), which enhance diversity in the social work field. Recommendation 9: Support the Increased Student Achievement Through Increased Student Support Act (H.R. 6654), which was introduced late in the 110 th Congress to increase the recruitment and retention of school social workers by low-income local educational agencies. Recommendation 10: Support the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) minority fellowship program, which focuses on achieving greater numbers of minority doctoral students preparing for leadership roles in the mental health and substance abuse field and contributes to a diverse social work workforce. The small annual federal investment (less than $4 million in FY 2008) has helped hundreds of minority health professionals complete their education and enter the social work workforce. Recommendation 11: Recognize the value of a diverse research enterprise supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and embrace training programs like those at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) which focus on increasing the number of minority doctoral students focusing their research on mental health. 3

4 Maintaining diversity in the workforce is a significant challenge for social work. Diversity which is not limited to only underrepresented populations, but also refers to intellectual, religious and all other forms of diversity is central to ensuring that we are able to provide culturally competent services to all populations. Social workers must be able to relate to the communities they serve. However, while social work has a history of respect and appreciation for diverse populations, the workforce does not fully reflect the cultural makeup of society. Studies show that like many other health care professions, social work is less diverse than the American population. For example, statistics indicate that social workers tend to be overwhelmingly White, non-hispanic women. Contrast this to the fact that clients served by social workers often belong to a non-white minority group. Using the example of mental illness, a report by the National Advisory Mental Health Council in 2001 ii states, the burden of mental illness falls disproportionately on minority groups. The report continues, Members of these groups remain underrepresented or unreported in most studies of mental illness, although they are overrepresented among the conditions thought to generate susceptibility to, or prolong the effects of, mental illness, such as poverty, racism, homelessness, incarceration, substance abuse, and poor access to health care. The advisory council concluded that given persistent constraints on resources and the urgent need to increase the number of racial/ethnic minority researchers, [NIMH] must place special emphasis on research training support at the doctoral and post-doctorial levels. Mental health isn t the only area where diversity is lacking. It is a problem that has challenged the profession since the beginning. CSWE is committed to promoting and enhancing diversity in higher education and nurturing a workforce that represents the cultural, intellectual, and social makeup of society. INTEGRITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION AND ACCREDITATION Recommendation 12: Support the existing voluntary, peer-based accreditation system. Work within the changes included in the recently enacted Higher Education Opportunity Act (P.L ) to improve the system, including accountability, and reject any proposals to federalize the current system of accreditation. Accreditation is the primary means of assuring and improving the quality of higher education institutions and programs in the United States. It is the reliable authority for federal, state, and private government funding of higher education, and therefore operates as a major source of protection against fraud and abuse for students and consumers. It also provides a key litmus test of threshold academic quality. For the past 100 years, this private, voluntary system of self examination and peer review has been central to the creation of a world class U.S. higher education enterprise. The Bush administration and the current Department of Education have pushed for unpopular regulatory and legislative changes to increase federal intrusion into the accreditation process. CSWE, as the recognized accreditor of social work programs at institutions of higher education, along with the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), will continue to work with the federal government to improve this important private/public partnership and seek to develop new accountability measures and increase transparency of the accreditation process, without unnecessary federal intrusion. 4

5 NEW ADMINISTRATION A FRESH START Recommendation 13: Support and enhance federal science budgets at U.S. research agencies, including NIH, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Justice, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Behavioral and social science research funded by these agencies and others contribute to the development of new knowledge that is central to the creation and employment of evidence-based practices and intervention models necessary for effective and efficient social work practice. Recommendation 14: Appoint individuals with sound credentials, extensive experience, and demonstrated leadership in social work, public health and/or social service who have direct understanding of the needs of vulnerable populations for the positions of secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the director of the National Institutes of Health and its individual institutes and centers. The next secretary of Education must support the current accreditation process and new programs which will increase the number of trained social workers. Recommendation 15: Support and promote the appointment of social workers (including social work educators and researchers) to federal advisory bodies and engage social workers in other decision-making activities to better guide policy development relating to the needs of vulnerable populations. Social work education helps develop and prepare the next generation of leaders in areas such as child welfare, public health, mental health, geriatrics, and veteran rehabilitation, among others. The federal government needs to improve its dialogue with the stakeholder community at every level and in every agency that has a role to play in addressing the needs of vulnerable populations. Engaging stakeholders like social work educators, practitioners, researchers and leaders in decision-making will help ensure the development of sound policies that make sense in the real world. Social workers employ interventions based on scientific evidence, helping vulnerable populations find their voice and achieve access to science and technology, as well as to the fundamental necessities of healthcare, employment, and education to ensure lives of dignity and well-being. They offer a unique perspective into the social service and healthcare needs of society and their expertise should be utilized whenever possible. It is time for the federal government to recognize and utilize the profession as a fundamental resource for addressing the needs of the nation s vulnerable. Further, social work research, education and practice are inextricably linked. The social work profession depends on culturally-competent and culturally-relevant research to assess the circumstances facing vulnerable populations and the needs of those populations to succeed in their circumstances; evaluate the accessibility to and effectiveness of existing social services; and determine best practices for social work educators and practitioners for serving the community. The value of social work research to the success and future direction of the profession is immeasurable and more social workers should be encouraged to engage in research activities. By investing in U.S. social and behavioral science agencies, the next President will be investing in the social work workforce by supporting an evidence-based approach to social work practice, in turn providing the very best service to vulnerable populations. 5

6 CONCLUSION The United States is about to experience a very important shift as decisions are made that will shape the domestic policies of the nation for the coming four years and beyond. The next President will be expected to establish, enhance, and otherwise alter policies to address the needs of the public, including vulnerable populations. No one can dispute the fact that the current social work workforce is reaching a breaking point and that this strain will only worsen as the Baby Boomers retire within the next decade and as our returning war veterans seek much deserved services. Action must be taken today to improve our current situation as well as to plan for future needs. The next President must be ready to respond to this call. We urge the next President to embrace our vision by making these recommendations a reality. FOR MORE INFORMATION: Dr. Julia M. Watkins Executive Director Council on Social Work Education 1725 Duke Street, Suite 500 Alexandria, VA Phone: Fax: jwatkins@cswe.org i Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce, Committee on the Future Health Care Workforce for Older Americans, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., ii An Investment in America s Future: Racial/Ethnic Diversity in Mental Health Research Careers, Report of the National Advisory Mental Health Council s Workgroup on Racial/Ethnic Diversity in Research Training and Health Disparities Research, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C.,