Social Work Month 2020: Knowledge and Participation Are Powerful Tools for Our Profession
A Message From NASW President Kathryn Conley Wehrmann
by Kathryn Conley Wehrmann, PhD, LCSW
As for this year’s NASW social work month theme, “Social Workers: Generations Strong,” my observation is that we are in for some significant developments in our efforts to integrate social care into health care, in our continuing advocacy for racial and economic inequality, and in our efforts to support human rights issues - both in the United States and internationally. Why am I so hopeful? I can point to several initiatives and events that are helping set our profession on a course that will tap into its full potential to respond to human need and build more resilient communities.
The Society for Social Work and Research held its conference, entitled Reducing Racial and Economic Inequality, on January 15-19, 2020, in Washington, DC. It was a real meeting of the minds with two particularly compelling plenary presenters. One was Feminista Jones, a social worker, author, and expert on intersectionality. Her presentation provided a critical perspective on race and whiteness. I have added her book, Reclaiming Our Space: How Black Women are Changing the World from the Tweets to the Streets, to my reading list and hope you will, too. On the policy front, Stacey Abrams focused our attention on the criticality of addressing voter suppression (see http://fairfight2020.org/) and the need to support participation in the U.S. Census (http://faircount.org/). I encourage you to get involved in whatever way you can in making sure people are able to vote, to have their votes counted, and to make sure they are part of the census count.
I encourage you in this month of celebrating social work to have a look at the recent report by the National Academies for Science, Engineering, and Medicine Consensus Study Report entitled Integrating Social Care into the Delivery of Health Care: Moving Upstream to Improve the Nation’s Health. Efforts are already under way to promote research initiatives to evaluate social work endeavors in this area, as well as work to operationalize the recommendations in the report. I am pleased to have participated in an exciting meeting in the Chicago area that was focused on taking first steps toward identifying efforts already going on to integrate social care, barriers that need to be addressed, and opportunities and action steps. Stay tuned to announcements from NASW for additional opportunities to learn about this important study and what it means for us as social workers and the communities we live in.
We have many learning opportunities to look forward to in 2020. Make sure to mark your calendar for the NASW national conference coming up on June 14-17, 2020. This year’s conference theme is “Social Workers Make a Difference." There are excellent plenary sessions and workshops planned that will enrich your professional development. In addition, you will have the opportunity to connect with more than 2,000 of your colleagues. I hope to see you there to learn, contribute, network, and celebrate our profession.
Calgary, Canada, will offer another opportunity for you to come together with your colleagues, as it was chosen by the International Federation of Social Workers as the venue for the 2020 World Social Work Conference coming up July 15-18, 2020. The theme of the conference is The Global Social Work Agenda: The Next Ten Years. The University of Calgary will be hosting the conference at the city’s convention center. It is expected that more than 2,500 social workers, people who use social work services, and other interested people from throughout the world will attend and contribute to shaping the future of the profession. If you are unable to attend, you can still participate in shaping the agenda by visiting the IFSW website at https://www.ifsw.org/social-work-action/the-global-agenda/ and joining the conversation.The theme has been developed to follow on from the 10-year Global Agenda that began in 2010 in Hong Kong, when conference participants started a process that has led to a massive expansion and development of the social work profession.
Knowledge and participation are truly powerful tools in successfully creating a career in 21st century social work. Good luck!
Kathryn Conley Wehrmann, PhD, LCSW, is the NASW national board president. She is an emeritus faculty member from the Illinois State School of Social Work. She is also the Vice President of the International Federation of Social Workers North American Region.