(May 1995)
A capacity crowd of over 300 social workers and social work students filled the auditorium of the Fordham University Law School on April 10 as the Chapter made official its challenge to the Contract With America (known in these circles as the Contract On America).
"Challenging the Contract With America: Asserting Our Strengths and Resurrecting a Compassionate Society" was the theme of the Chapter's Annual Meeting, which was dedicated to Mary Russak, an outstanding Chapter member who has devoted over 60 years to the struggle for peace and social justice and who was given the 1995 Chapter Service Award.
David Liederman, Executive Director of the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), and the leading social worker on the front lines of the social welfare policy debate, was the evening's keynoter. Mr. Liederman prefaced his speech by commenting that he "...hangs out in Washington, D.C. [where CWLA is headquartered], so it's good to be in New York among friends."
While his delivery was animated, Mr. Liederman's subject matter was grim: the full-scale attack on the poor and disenfranchised--particularly poor mothers and their children--by the Federal government:
"The Gingrich revolution is giving people not a 'New Deal', but a 'Bad Deal'," he noted, adding that the Republicans in Congress were "turning back the clock 60 years."
"We're demonizing 15 and 16 year old moms," Mr. Liederman stated, noting that the Republicans are blaming the deficit and "everything that's wrong with America" on them. He pointed out that in a $1.6 trillion budget, the entire AFDC budget is only $17 billion, or 1.1%, while 75% of the budget is spent on Social Security, defense, interest on the debt, Medicare, Medicaid, and federal pensions. Of the 14 million people served by AFDC, 10 million are children. He also noted that in no states do AFDC benefits bring recipients to above 75% of the poverty level, and most states provide benefits that add up to less than 50% of the poverty level.
"This is about America's disdain for the poor. This is about racism...and politicians riding the backs of the poor to victory...It's the worst kind of political garbage that I've seen in my life," Mr. Liederman emphasized, highlighting what most in the audience already knew: that the "reforms" put forth by the Contract and its Personal Responsibility Act are based on misinformation and distortion of statistics that result from not testing assumptions against experience.
Mr. Liederman told his audience that in a recent debate with Charles Murray, the author of The Bell Curve ( the book that posits that people of color have lower I.Q.s than white people and that, therefore, money spent on education and job training programs to lift people out of poverty is a waste), he told Mr. Murray that "the next poor person you meet will be your first."
The current push to turn entitlement programs over to states and localities is a reflection of the lack of understanding by politicians and policy makers that states and localities have always run these programs, with little or no Federal bureaucracy involved. The problem is that the programs are underfunded, he said, and that as programs are turned over to the states, the competition for funding from other state programs (police, highways, etc.) will increase, thus exacerbating social problems even further.
Maxwell Manning, CSW, ACSW, Director of Human Services at The Door, was the evening's second speaker. He shared his insights and experiences in working with young people and their families to guide his audience in developing a collective sense of what is needed to genuinely help people help themselves.
"These issues are affecting all of us," he said. "They may be affecting the poor right now, but we're not that far down the line....This is a moral issue, and if we don't understand that, then we're not looking the problem square in the face. Taking care of those who cannot take care of themselves is a moral issue. Taking care of those who cannot speak for themselves is a moral issue."
DIFFICULT ROAD AHEAD
"We need to create larger collaborations to deal with these problems. There's a difficult road ahead... The most important thing we can do is to be honest and open and begin to talk to each other and put away the barriers between us...Fragmentation will be our downfall...We need to work across ethnic and racial boundaries...bridge those agendas so people can't divide us," noted Mr. Manning.
He finished his talk with an exhortation to the profession: "The only way we [can forge a change] is if we begin to look within ourselves and look at the role of social work. We're going to be among the leadership, so let's step up and define our role, roll up our sleeves, put aside our differences and move forward."
Social worker and City Councilmember C. Virginia Fields, an honored guest at the gathering, was invited by Chapter President Dr. Barbara Brenner to offer the group "a word of encouragement."
Councilmember Fields commended the Chapter for its activism over the past year, noting that "...we've seen many of your members testifying at City Council hearings...we've seen more of your reports...we've witnessed your hearing showing the human dimension of the budget cuts...If social workers are not in the lead in trying to make changes, I don't know how we can expect that they will happen."
In presenting the New York City Chapter NASW Chapter Service Award to Mary Russak, Chapter member and long-time friend and colleague of Ms. Russak Bertram Weinert pointed out that "Mary inspires us all. She blends the essential qualities of true leadership: vision, wisdom, clarity of purpose, practical good sense...a commitment to people's well-being, and a focus on action."
"Mary believes that a meeting is worthwhile only if it concludes in action. And how right--I mean--how correct she is," he quipped, as the audience laughed and applauded his deliberate slip that referenced Ms. Russak's definitely left-leaning politics.
Mr. Weinert noted that Ms. Russak has consistently issued a "strong and steadfast call for social work as a profession to make its stand in public...Mary reminds us not that we should be 'ending welfare as we know it', but ending poverty as too many people know it."
The plaque which was presented to Ms. Russak reads "For leadership promoting peace, nuclear disarmament, social justice and the concept that activism is part of the social worker's responsibility to improve the policies that affect the people of New York City."
In accepting her award, Ms. Russak, who recently celebrated her 90th birthday, said that "...the values of our profession are rooted in the ethos of peace and justice. The 100 days [of the Republican controlled Congress] have been a massive sellout for special interest...The Contract is cruel and inhuman and hateful. It is intended to divide on the basis of race, class and gender...It is an assault on the people we serve, on our profession, and on our beliefs that people matter and government has the responsibility for people's welfare...Unless the Contract is reversed, our profession cannot survive as we know it."
MOVE MEMBERSHIP TO ACTION
"As social workers, we have our own contract with America: our contract is to assist the people in their struggle for a better life and for a just society. I'm confident we will keep our contract...So let's get organized and move our membership into action, " she urged, as the audience rose as one to give her a standing ovation.
Dr. Robert Schachter, the Chapter's Executive Director, opened his annual report by announcing that this year marked NASW's 40th anniversary, but that Chapter leadership, staff and members have not taken the time to acknowledge it: "We have all been too preoccupied with the tasks at hand [dealing with budget and regulatory cuts that have amounted to all out attacks on the profession and its clients] to notice it."
"Over the past 40 years, the Chapter has had the benefit of many of the best thinkers, practitioners and activists in the profession among its leaders. As the social work community in New York City has grown, NASW has provided a core around which this growth has occurred," he said, noting that "In the area of social and political action, politicians and the media are turning to us more than ever for specific information about the impact of the cuts." He reported that the Chapter's most recent activity, two days of hearings involving testimony from 60 social workers, colleagues and clients, documented the human face of the cuts [see Currents, April, 1995].
"This work exemplifies what NASW has to offer public discourse: authentic experience instead of political rhetoric," he added.
Dr. Schachter also reported on the Chapter's efforts to fight Governor Pataki's plan to remove many hospital regulations, including one that will drop the requirement for social work departments: "We are working quickly to mobilize social workers across the State to get to legislators as well as physicians, nurses and consumers to articulate the importance of social work and patients' rights to health care."