From June 2001 NASW NEWS
Copyright ©2001, National Association of Social Workers, Inc.

Practice, Bias Bills Passed in Maryland

One act passes without a dissenting vote in the legislature.

Through its social work coalitions, NASW was successful in securing passage of two bills in the Maryland legislature this year — one expanding the scope of social work practice and another banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The scope-of-practice bill expanded a law to include social workers among those who can sign petitions for emergency mental health evaluations without court endorsement.

The bill was introduced by Sen. Melony Griffith, a social worker from Prince George's County, and passed in both houses of the legislature without a dissenting vote. Psychiatrists and public defenders withdrew their objections to the bill after they better understood what was involved, said Steve Buckingham, lobbyist for the Maryland Legislative Council of Social Workers, a coalition of five social work groups, of which NASW's Maryland Chapter and Metro Washington Chapter are the largest.

Before the act was passed, social workers were at a disadvantage in providing timely, quality care, said Buckingham. While physicians, psychologists, police and health officers could present a petition for emergency evaluation, social workers — often in a good position to know if people were a danger to themselves or others — had to get court approval. Courts wouldn't even accept petitions from social workers in some counties, he said.

Social workers were also prominent in passage of an act to ban discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations based on sexual orientation, a bill that for years failed to get sufficient support in the legislature.

Social workers from the entire area, including the District of Columbia, were energetic in working for passage, said Moya Atkinson, Maryland Chapter executive director. They testified in favor of the legislation; Geoffrey Greif, associate dean of social work at the University of Maryland, chaired a commission that held hearings around the state and wrote a report favorable to passage; students from the University of Maryland did grass-roots work to encourage members of the key Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee to support the bill.

"We knew we had the votes on the floor. We just had to get it out of committee," said Buckingham. The bill cleared the committee on a 6-5 vote.

Maryland becomes the 12th state to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination.

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