Social workers representing the major social work organizations in New York State have held two historic meetings to inaugurate the Coalition on the Future of Social Work in Health and Mental Health Care. Leaders of the New York  City and State Chapters of NASW, the deans Association of New York Schools of Social Work and other social work organizations have approved a Statement of Principles to set forth the goals of the Coalition:

The organizations listed below have formed the Coalition on the Future of Social Work in Health and Mental Health Care. Its purpose is to assure the preservation and expansion of Social Work services in a managed health and mental health system increasingly shaped by market forces.

As the health care delivery systems evolves, social work must be an essential component. We support the development of integrated health and mental health care delivery systems with a role for social work in primary care, acute care, long term care, home care, hospice and psychiatric settings.

To that end the Coalition will work to:
 

• foster new models for the provision of professional social work services in the emerging health and mental health care systems and combat any attempts to further erode the professional social work role in those systems;
• assure comprehensive, quality social services to enrollees in the Partnership Plane (New York State's mandatory Medicaid managed care plan);
• assure provision for supervised social work student internships in settings providing health and mental health care under managed care constraints.

The Coalition on the Future of Social Work in Health and Mental Health Care will work with other health care professions and with public, voluntary, union and employer organizations which seek to promote the full continuum of services in integrated health care systems and which utilize appropriately prepared social workers and other professional health care workers.

The Coalition is developing strategic approaches to improving the status of social work in managed care and will meet with State and City Officials, Managed Care Organizations leaders, providers of care, trade associations, union leaders and patient care advocates to help implement proposals. Recently, for example, members met with Peter Presiosi, Director, Mayor's Office of Medicaid Managed Care to discuss the city's plan for implementation of the Partnership Plan and the need for social work services in managed care. An ongoing relationship was established.

The organizations representing professional social work in New York State are now positioned to work together to accomplish the goals stated in the Statement of Principles.