The National Center for Social Work Research Act

Top 5 Questions and Answers

1. Why do we need a National Center for Social Work Research?
   A national center for social work research will be an interdisciplinary research structure to connect science with the issues of family and community. The Center will address family and community problems, which do not lend themselves to one particular disease. They are multi-issue, real-life problems that do not fit neatly into one category, including problems associated with aging, poverty, or family violence. A National Center for Social Work Research will provide applicable research, reaching beyond biological science and into the community and family structure.

2. How will this legislation benefit my district?
   Funds appropriated for a national center for social work research will be used for national grants open to universities and other nonprofit organizations, to support on-going research and national coordination and dissemination efforts. Universities, public agencies, and policymakers will be encouraged to work together to design research studies to address critical needs and problems in their states and communities. The findings from these studies will enable social workers in your district to provide services to your constituents using empirically-researched best practices.

3. Where will the center be located?
   The Senate bill states that the center will be housed in the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). While NIH supports social workers in various research efforts and recognizes the unique contributions that social workers make, it is in the process of consolidating centers and programs. In the past, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have also been considered as potential places to house the Center.

4. What are the benefits of this type of research?
   Social work research is beneficial because it addresses real problems, includes practitioners and policymakers in the design process, and translates technical findings into comprehensive recommendations. CDC and DHHS are committed to reducing the gap that exists between reporting research results and turning that information into material that service providers, practitioners, and policymakers can use. Research is not useful if it merely sits on the library shelf. The national center for social work research will conduct nation-wide research, taking the principles acquired through studies and turning them into evidence-based knowledge social workers can use when making important decisions in the community and with their clients.

5. Will the Center take resources away from other social work research development centers?
   The exact funding mechanism has not been determined yet. The goal, however, is that a National Center for Social Work Research would make additional monies available to build and further strengthen the social work research infrastructure. The Center would coordinate with existing federal social work research, leverage money from other federal institutes to broaden initiatives, and be interdisciplinary in research team development.