Social Work Month shines a spotlight on the essential work of social workers. The theme for 2019 is “Elevate social work.” The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) will use this month to educate the public about the important contributions social workers make to society and why the profession is so vital to the health and success of the nation. The NASW also wants this campaign to begin a conversation to help social workers get better compensation for what they do.
Here are NASW’s three key messages of Social Work Month 2019:
- Social workers are trained to examine and address life’s problems in a holistic way. They elevate and empower people, giving them the ability to solve problems, cope with personal roadblocks and get the resources they need to succeed.
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Social workers bring together individuals with other people, their communities, local and state government and agencies to address wider problems in our society, including lack of affordable housing, hunger and equal rights for all.
- Social workers are literally everywhere – including in schools and colleges, hospitals, veteran centers, mental health facilities, local and federal government, the corporate world and in agencies that help children find new families through adoption and protect children from abuse and neglect.
There are approximately 680,000 social workers nationwide. Right now a Lund social worker might be meeting with a child in foster care to talk about his dreams for his forever family, or helping an incarcerated mom call in to an IEP meeting for her child, or helping a dad fill out paperwork to get his driver’s license reinstated, or meeting with a family at Lund’s early childhood program to brainstorm possible solutions to a behavioral challenge their child is facing. All of this is social work and all of this helps build strong children, strong families, and strong communities.
Thank you to all of Lund’s hard working, compassionate, persistent social workers. We appreciate you and the amazing work you do this, and every, month.
To see more information on NASW’s 2019 Social Work Month, click here.
