Social Work Month 2022 - Thank You for All You Do Now and Every Day

Social Work Month 2022 Message From Linda May Grobman, Publisher/Editor of The New Social Worker

by Linda May Grobman, MSW, ACSW, LSW

    Social Work Month is here! The New Social Worker invites you to join us as we celebrate throughout the month of March 2022. First and foremost, I want to THANK YOU for all you do, now and every day.

     This year, the National Association of Social Workers has designated “The Time Is Right for Social Work” as the theme for Social Work Month. When I heard this theme, I thought, “Yes, the time is right for social work. And when has the time not been right for social work?” This is a timely theme, always.

     But at this time of year in 2020, as Social Work Month began, our lives were about to change in ways we had not yet imagined. As I write this in 2022, we are just starting to re-imagine what is “normal” following two years of the COVID-19 pandemic (which has not ended). Last week, three white men were convicted of federal hate crimes for murdering a Black man, Ahmaud Arbery, for jogging while Black in their Georgia neighborhood. At the same time that hate crimes are at historic high levels, books and teachings that tell the truth about the history of racism and the Holocaust are being banned. Violence against LGBTQ+ people is on the rise, and at the same time, anti-LGBTQ+ legislation has been enacted, passed, or considered in Florida, Texas, and other states. About 1 in every 4 adults in the U.S. lives with a diagnosable mental health disorder. Job burnout is increasing.

     So, yes. The time is right for social work. Last year, I wrote, “Health care crises, racial inequity, anti-Black violence, and intersections among these issues are not new issues. And they are not ‘extras’ for social workers. These are all part of the social environment within which social workers and their clients work and live. Social work does not have the option to ignore them. Social workers have essential roles.”

     This is all still true. The time has been right and continues to be right.

The New Social Worker Social Work Month Project 2022

     For The New Social Worker’s Social Work Month Project 2022, I asked leaders in the profession—including our columnists—to address the theme. You will see their messages in our 2022 Social Work Month series.

     Also, in keeping with the theme of TIME, we have a downloadable Social Work Month calendar this year that spotlights some of the highlights of our Social Work Month series through time over the past several years.

     Please join us! Download the calendar below and follow along throughout the TIME of March 2022.

    DOWNLOAD THE CALENDAR HERE. You can also follow along with the links below. Please note, articles with an asterisk (*) will be live on the date noted. Those without links will be filled in when the links are available.

Social Work Month 2022—Day by Day

  1. The State of Self-Care: The Need Is Great, The Time Is Right
  2. A Love Letter to Social Work
  3. Social Workers as Emergent Leaders in Research, Tech, & Practice
  4. Social Work Is… (poetry)
  5. Choose your own celebration
  6. Celebrating School Social Work Professionals: Uniquely You
  7. Is This Truly the Right Time for Social Work, and Who Decides?
  8. Conversations on Social Work Careers: The Time Is Right for Social Work, the Time Is Right for You
  9. Always Question Canned Social Work Practice Advice
  10. How To Start Your Social Work Career During the Great Resignation
  11. Book Review: Home Made
  12. Choose your own celebration
  13. Choose your own celebration
  14. World Social Work Day is soon! Global Social Work Internship
  15. Self-Care A-Z: Celebrating World Social Work Day
  16. The Time Is Right for the Social Work Perspective, Values, & Leadership
  17. Letter to Social Work Students in Their Last Semester
  18. Integrated Approaches to Clinical Supervision
  19. Essential: The Rising Role of Palliative Social Work
  20. Choose your own celebration
  21. The Time Is Right for Licensed Social Work
  22. Vision Intention Strategy: Your Social Work Mentor: The Time Is Right for Social Work—Thank You for Your Time
  23. Works of Faith: A Hospital Social Work Story
  24. Book Review: Latinx in Social Work*
  25. Back to Basics: 5 Simple Skills for Social Worker
  26. Choose your own celebration
  27. Choose your own celebration
  28. Self-Care Is Not Always Instagrammable
  29. The Aura of Social Work
  30. Maintaining Dignity in Hospice and Health Care
  31. Social Workers: 3 Key “Powers” We Develop

Social Work Month Through the Years

     To explore Social Work Month through the years, click on a year below to see our Social Work Month Project series for that year. There are so many gems in these—I hope you will take some TIME this month to read and be inspired by them.

Linda’s Social Work T-Shirt Project: Take 3

     You know that I love my social work t-shirts! My personal commitment is to “wear my heart (social work) on my sleeve” during Social Work Month. Wearing these shirts is a way to advocate and educate about social work in my community.

     I hope you'll join me in the third year of this project. Take Linda’s Social Work T-Shirt Challenge! If you have a social work or social justice t-shirt, wear it during Social Work Month. Take a selfie in your social work t-shirt and post it on social media, tagging @newsocialworker on Twitter and Instagram, so I can amplify the message with retweets, posts, and stories. If you want to send me a t-shirt, I'll wear it, too. Just let me know!

Get Ready!

     Social Work Month is a time to recognize the commitment social workers make to serving others while respecting the dignity and worth of the person, with competence, with integrity, with a recognition of the importance of human relationships, and with a dedication to social justice. These core values are always timely for us as social work professionals.

     Please watch The New Social Worker’s website throughout March, as we post new items. Follow us on Facebook (click “Like” and then “Following” and “See first”) and Twitter, or subscribe to our publications, to make sure you don't miss anything! We'll also be celebrating on Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

     So, let’s go! HAPPY SOCIAL WORK MONTH from me to you. Thank you. Please join me.

In harmony, Linda

Linda May Grobman, MSW, ACSW, LSW, is the publisher, editor, and founder of The New Social Worker® magazine.