National Association of Social Workers

Reinvestment Promoted to Educators

NASW speakers presented the Social Work Reinvestment Initiative during the CSWE conference.

By Lyn Stoesen, News Staff

National Social Work Public Education Campaign Co-Chair Gary Bailey thanks social work schools that have contributed funds. Photo: Jennifer Watt

NASW leadership and staff attended the annual meeting of the Council on Social Work Education held in San Francisco in October to promote the Social Work Reinvestment Initiative (SWRI), participate in sessions and present the national Public Citizen of the Year award.

NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark and Jeane Anastas, convener of the Action Network for Social Work Education and Research (ANSWER) coalition, presented a session on SWRI, addressing the timing and priorities of the initiative. ANSWER serves as an advisory committee for the initiative.

The Social Work Reinvestment Initiative is an effort to recruit, retain and retrain social workers in order to enhance societal well-being. With the assistance of legislators, policymakers, employers and other stakeholders, the initiative seeks to secure federal and state investments in professional social work.

Also during the CSWE conference, NASW Chief Communications Officer Gail Woods Waller and Assistant Director of Development Jennifer Watt debuted "On Any Given Day," a new video recently released as part of NASW's National Social Work Public Education Campaign [November News] and addressed leveraging the campaign to promote schools of social work.

During a reception hosted by NASW President Elvira Craig de Silva, the association's annual Public Citizen of the Year award was presented to Rhonda Meister, who has been executive director of St. Joseph Center in Venice, Calif., since 1986. The center provides housing and support services for people living in poverty. She also chairs the executive committee of the Westside Shelter and Hunger Coalition, which works to end hunger and homelessness through service coordination, public education and advocacy.

Several other receptions honored authors who work with the NASW Press and public education campaign donors.

The Unification Transition Team also met in San Francisco. The team grew out of last June's Wingspread meeting to address unification of the social work profession. The team met to review the "fact finding" information collected thus far. The group agreed that completing an analysis of barriers to unification would be beneficial. A full report will be given back to the Wingspread group by May 2008.

At this time, the Wingspread group will decide next steps in moving forward. The team also held a Q&A open session. Participants were informed that the fact-finding phase to determine the feasibility of unification has begun. Colleagues were given the opportunity to ask questions.

NASW members and staff offered a number of presentations during the conference, including sessions on licensing laws and regulations, social work as a force for change in diplomacy and development, the role of social work education and practice in HIV treatment adherence, the potential impact of diversity on the social work workforce and the NASW Standards for Cultural Competence.

For NASW cultural competence standards and indicators: www.socialworkers.org/practice/

From January 2008 NASW News. © 2008 National Association of Social Workers. All Rights Reserved. NASW News articles may be copied for personal use, but proper notice of copyright and credit to the NASW News must appear on all copies made. This permission does not apply to reproduction for advertising, promotion, resale, or other commercial purposes.