2010 Social Work Congress Will Explore Ways to Develop New Generation of Social Workers

For Immediate Release
April 21, 2010

Greg Wright
(202) 336-8324
gwright@naswdc.org

Gail Woods Waller
202.336.8236 or
gwaller@naswdc.org

2010 Social Work Congress Will Explore Ways to Develop New Generation of Social Workers

Congress Will Engage Social Work Students and Up-and-Coming Social Work Leaders

WASHINGTON— The 2010 Social Work Congress will bring together 350 leaders in the social work profession to create a plan to develop the next generation of social workers and address issues that challenge the fast-growing social work profession.

The Congress, which is convened and supported by 12 social work organizations, will be held April 22-23 at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill. The event will also feature a briefing by members of the U.S. Congress who are social workers, a speech from Jared Bernstein, chief economist and economic policy advisor to Vice President Biden, and appearances by noted authors Daniel Brook and Kirstin Downey.

Co-conveners are the National Association of Social Workers, Council on Social Work Education, National Association of Deans and Directors of the Schools of Social Work, and the Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors.

“The social work profession is expected to grow faster than average over the next eight years and we must prepare a new generation of social workers to step into the roles and shoes of those of us who are retiring in the next decade,” said Elizabeth Clark, PhD, ACSW, MPH, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers.

“We are also facing huge social and economic upheaval so we will use the Congress to encourage leaders in our profession to step up and be heard,” Clark said. “That is why this year’s theme – ‘Reaffirm, Revisit and Reimagine the Profession – is so fitting.”

The Congress will begin with participants looking at a “diagnostic statement” drafted by the co-convening organizations. They will then vote by group on a set of 10 imperatives to advance the profession.

A 2010 Student Social Work Congress will be held virtually in conjunction with the live Social Work Congress. The Student Social Work Congress will connect 400 social work students in classrooms around the nation. The colleges will be geographically dispersed and include classes from historically black colleges and universities and other minority serving universities. Students can view the general sessions and the final voting process. They will also chat with one another live, participate in polls, and vote on final imperatives.

NASW Assurance Services is the presenting sponsor. Event supporters include the Association of Oncology Social Work, the Association of Social Work Boards, Clinical Social Work Association, Association of Black Social Workers, National Network of Social Work Managers, Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care, Society for Social Work and Research, and the Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work.

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW), in Washington, DC, is the largest membership organization of professional social workers with 145,000 members. It promotes, develops, and protects the practice of social work and social workers. NASW also seeks to enhance the well being of individuals, families, and communities through its advocacy.

Latest Postings from NASW

{title}

http://www.socialworkers.org/pressroom/2010/042110Congress.asp

4/9/2013