From January 2002 NASW NEWS
Copyright ©2002, National Association of Social Workers, Inc.

Solemn Professional Meeting Held

650 Social Workers Discuss Post-Sept. 11 Roles

By John V. O'Neill, MSW, NEWS Staff

A New York City meeting of the social work community in October was designed to examine the changing roles and responsibilities of the profession after the terrorists attacks, according to one of the meeting's architects, NASW New York City Chapter Executive Director Robert Schachter.

"Members naturally wanted to know how to respond to the disaster from the clinical perspective, but we knew other perspectives were important too," said Schachter. Speakers at the meeting, which drew a standing-room-only crowd of 650 to the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, represented the clinical perspective, low-income people and immigrants, agencies and the Arab-American community.

Many different communities in the city were affected by the disaster, said Schachter. Much attention was paid to the police and fire fighters. "They were designated as heroes, and rightly so," he said.

"Of great concern to the social work profession are the people with the greatest needs who didn't get attention in the media and who could potentially be missed in terms of response," Schachter said. While many in the World Trade Center were very affluent, there were also restaurant workers, mailroom personnel and clerical staff who may have had little. The disaster had different effects on different communities.

Speaker Judy Rogers, a social work consultant who formerly worked at Harlem Hospital, gave an example of a young man she knew through teaching who lost an aunt and a brother at the World Trade Center. Neither he nor his mother had been to the city's family support center to put their relatives names on the list of the missing so they could become eligible for services. His mother couldn't get out of bed.

The man and his mother had once experienced the dehumanizing process of applying for welfare, and the last thing they wanted to do was deal with "the system" again. They were unaware that the relief center was drawing praise from many for centralizing services and cutting through bureaucratic red tape for victims of the World Trade Center disaster and their families.

Schachter said Rogers also spoke of immigrants and refugees from many countries who were already struggling with low-income jobs, lack of language skills and earlier trauma before the disaster robbed them of their jobs or their family members.

All social workers needed to be aware of how the disaster might affect different communities, said Schachter.

Sandy Bloom, a Philadelphia psychiatrist and trauma expert, said too much time spent on physical and emotional injuries can be paralyzing. "As a therapist, I learned that I had to be tough, that survivors didn't need my pity any more than they need my disdain; they needed my support, concern and prodding."

"Humans are incredibly resilient," said Bloom. "Never write anyone off. Challenge them to move on."

Amy Doran, senior vice president for behavioral health services at the organization F·E·G·S, spoke about what administrators and program directors needed to do to respond, and Emira Habiby Browne, executive director of the Arab-American Family Support Center, talked about how fearful people in the Arab-American community have been in an effort to sensitize social workers to people who are targets of hatred and bias.

Participants lit candles, and a choral group from the Children's Aid Society Chamber Ensemble opened the meeting. "We came together to experience the fact that we are the largest mental health-related community in the city of New York and to create a feeling of community in a climate appropriate to the circumstances," said Schachter.

The national NASW Foundation's 911 Fund agreed to contribute more than $3,200 to the New York City Chapter to help defray the costs associated with the meeting.

The chapter continues to work with the American Red Cross in putting together a family case-management program to address the needs of survivors, said Schachter.

The chapter is also handling requests from organizations needing training in how agencies and staff can respond to staff and clients after the disaster. "Our role is to put the people making requests with people needing trainers," Schachter said.

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