Airing live on CSPAN, Dr. Steve Perry gave a searing speech on the “The Role of Social Workers”
at the Clark Atlanta University Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. He is
the founder and principal of a Connecticut school which only accepts
first generation, low income, and minority students.
Dr. Perry received his Masters of Social Work degree from the
University of Pennsylvania and has since become a leading expert in
education, a motivational speaker, accomplished author, and a reality TV host.
Dr. Perry was adamant that social workers are the key to
solving societal problems because we are the first responders for social
issues.
However, he also pointed out that social workers are not
unionized, tend to be politically inactive, and do not engage in social
conversations in the public sphere.
Dr. Perry asserts that our
jobs are the first to be cut because we are silent, and taxpayer dollars
are being diverted to education budgets for programs social workers
should be implementing.
I have listened to Dr. Perry’s speech
twice already, and there were many pearls of wisdom that he dropped on
the ears of those in attendance and viewing the broadcast. For the most
part, I agreed with 95 percent of what Dr. Perry said which is a very
high percentage for me.
Now, I am going to share with you my top 5 reasons why I believe social work is failing:
1. Title Protection
First,
it made me beam with joy when Dr. Perry referred to himself as a social
worker despite his celebrity status. Most individuals with social work
degrees who work in social work settings often refer to themselves as
researchers, professors, therapists, or psychoanalysts. The people most
vocal about title protection and licensure don’t actually call
themselves social workers as if the title is relegated only to
frontline staff.
I feel that over time title protection has been
convoluted to mean licensed social worker and not a worker with a social
work degree. I go in more detail on my thoughts regarding licensure in a
prior article entitled, “
Licensed Social Workers Don’t Mean More Qualified“.
In my opinion, current policies and advocacy by professional
associations and social work organizations have fractured the social
work community into its current state.
We hail Jane Adams as the
founder and pioneer of social work when in fact a story like Jane Adams’
would not be possible today. Jane Adams did not have a social work
degree nor did she need a license to advocate and help people organize.
As a matter of fact, in today’s society Jane Adams would probably be a
women’s study major, political science, MBA or JD.
Social work
degree programs have begun dissociating themselves with “casework”, and
they actually steer students away from these types of jobs. If we are
going to pursue title protection, we also need to create second degree
and accelerated programs to pull experienced professionals and other
degree holders into the social work profession instead of excluding
them.
2. Macro vs Micro
For the past couple
of decades, social work has slowly moved towards and is now currently
skewed toward being a clinical degree while social work has marketed
itself as a mental health profession. Over time, the profession has done
a poor job in recruiting and connecting with individuals who are
interested in working with the poor, politics, grassroots organizing,
and other social justice issues.
Individuals who once flocked to
social work to do community and social justice work are now seeking out
other disciplines instead. Many social workers who want to be
politically active and social justice focused are forced to do so under
the banner of a women’s organization or other social justice nonprofit
due to lack of our own. Students who decided to seek a
macro social work degree often feel alienated and unsupported both in school and later with lack of employment opportunities.
3. Professionals Associations Represent Themselves and Not Us
Social
Work organizations and associations have been pushing licensing for the
past couple of decades which happens to also correlate with the same
time frame they tripled the amount of unpaid internship hours required
to complete your social work degree.
Recently, the Australian Association of Social Workers conducted a
study which found university social work students were skipping meals
and could not pay for basic necessities in order to pay for educational
materials. American social work students who receive no stipends or any
type of assistance are being
forced to quit paying jobs in order to work unpaid internships,
and they have no one fighting for them. In fact, most social work
leaders argue that if you can’t shoulder the hardship this is not the
profession for you.
You can’t talk to a social worker about
anything without hearing the word “licensing”. From the time you start
orientation, licensing is being forced feed to you as the solution that
will solve all of social work’s problems. You are told licensing is
going lead to better pay, better professionalism, better outcomes for
clients, and better recognition to name a few. Here are a few things
that licensing actually does:
- Who can pass
the licensure exam without having to pay for test prep materials or a
workshop in which your professional association happens to sell to you
at a “discount”?
- People are taking the licensure exam sometimes at $500 each time for four to five times. Were is this money going?
- Once you pass the licensure exam, you are going to need liability insurance in which also they happen to sell.
- To
keep your social work license, you are going to have to maintain a
certain amount of CEU credits hours yearly. They just happen to own and
provide the majority of these CEU online companies and workshops for you
as well.
- Then, you have to pay renewal fees yearly and fines to your state board of licensure which goes to sustain their jobs.
Licensing
is currently in all 50 states and US territories, and it seems to
benefit the people who created the policies more than it does the social
worker and the communities we serve. Licensure makes money, and social
justice issues just aren’t income generators. For social workers who are
already struggling, how does all the above fees and costs affect their
career mobility in one of the lowest paid professions with one of the
highest student loan income/debt ratios? Without a union for social
workers, who will advocate on our behalf and for our clients to get the
resources we need to serve them?
4. Lack of Diversity in Social Work Leadership and Academia
Through
Social Work Helper, I have had the opportunity to be a part of
conversations with various fractions of social work leadership over the
past couple of years. Often times, I was the only person a part of the
conversation that didn't have a doctorate or at least in the process of
earning one. Additionally, I also noticed that very few were minority
voices if any other than me were a part of these discussions. At first, I
was intimated because they had more education and higher positions
than me.
However, the more I listened and paid attention, I
realized they are not better than me rather they had more access to
opportunities than me. The ignorance and insensitivity displayed towards
communities of color and the plight of social workers who are
struggling in this profession is unbelievable.
Diversity in
leadership brings different perspectives and point of views to be added
to the conversation. Why didn't more social work organizations and
schools of social work support last night’s speech by Dr. Perry hosted
at a Historically Black College? How often is the topic of social work
front and center in a televised public forum?
According Social Work Synergy,
“At
times this will mean sharing power and leadership in deeper ways, and
taking proactive steps to undo oppression and racism. The use of
community organizing principles and skills are essential” (p.19) to this
effort. Read Full Article
5. Lack of Support and Silence
Social
work organizations and associations are forever holding conferences that
the majority of social workers can’t afford to attend. Many social
workers don’t have the luxury of having their university foot the bill
for them to attend every social work conference each year. This very
dynamic adds to the failures listed in 1 thru 4. In addition, it
highlights another point made by Dr. Perry when he stated, “Social
Workers will talk to each other, but they won’t engage in the public
sphere”.
I have contacted both the Council for Social Work
Education (CSWE) and the National Association of Social Worker (NASW)
asking them to waive certain expenses, so I can cover their conferences
in order to engage social workers via social media who can’t afford to
attend. I can get press access to a White House event, but not to a
social work conference. It’s like a country club that you can’t be apart
of unless you can afford it.
You can view the Role of Social Workers by visiting CSPAN at
http://www.c-span.org/video/?320179-1/discussion-role-social-workers
