In the face of a budget crisis  

Commitment and the Will to Overcome Powerlessness  

Back in early April it seemed that it would be appropriate to use the May issue of Currents to focus on the budget cuts that have already happened or have been proposed.  It is a core responsibility of NASW to understand and track the state of social work practice and the services available to the communities that we serve.  So, this issue does just this, taking a snap shot of selected areas at a moment in time.  

But the question has gnawed at me from the beginning of compiling the information of what we can say to social workers about what they can do.  

In effect, the purpose of the Annual Meeting on May 28 at Fordham is to address just this.  Dr. Peter Vaughan, Dean of Fordham University School of Social Service, will be addressing the theme "Social Work in a Different World".  No question, building on the recession, the aftermath of the World Trade Center disaster, the downturn in the stock market, historic budget cuts expected over the next several years will make social work seem as if we are in a different environment.  

The Chapter's leadership has asked Dean Vaughan to help the members of the profession think through how we approach the changes already occurring and what is to come.   

Finding A Reservoir of Strength

One thought that keeps coming to mind for me has to do with the nature of commitment.  

It is very tough being a social worker, and as times get more difficult, a key ingredient for keeping on is the depth and firmness of the commitment to the people we serve, to our communities, to the social work profession, as well as to ourselves.  I found recently while a colleague was speaking at a memorial service for a social worker, Mary Russack, who died at the age of 94, that the nature of commitment is nothing to take for granted.   

As this person spoke of Mary's lifetime of activism, of her unwavering ability to take positions even when they were unpopular and to stay the course when others were not able to, I realized something new about commitment.  Perhaps it had something to do with her having faced down the threats of the McCarthy era in the 1950’s.  My admiration for Mary deepened.  I also realize now that the deeper one's connection to what social work is about, the more able we are to be social workers.  

When the World Trade Center towers were hit, firemen were recognized for rushing into the buildings to save people.  They did the opposite of what most people instinctively do, flee the scene.  So it is with social workers in the face of the everyday crises of people's lives.  They move into a burning problem while others move away.  

As we move into tougher times with no immediate relief in sight, we will do well to reexamine our commitment to the work we have chosen to do.  I will not offer any simplistic way in which to examine this.  Perhaps for some, our commitment may feel shaken, or there may be too little energy in the face of frustration.  No doubt there are painful elements in being a social worker.  For many it will take all of our insight, foresight, and support to keep on.  And a great many will find reservoirs of strength and become more effective than ever.  

On Holding Millionaires Harmless

On another note, I want to share a recent experience relating to the potential for resisting the cuts.  Of course, it makes no sense to expend energy when a situation is inevitable and beyond our control.  Why struggle when there is little that can be done?   

I found a meeting I attended recently to provide an antidote for the powerlessness that resides in situations such as we are facing with the budget crisis.  

On Friday, April 25 I attended a breakfast meeting called by Lillian Roberts, executive directors of District Council 37 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO.  David Jones, the President and CEO of the Community Service Society, gave perspective to what is going on in the city right now.   

David said that there is a dangerous "in your face" attitude among city leaders that we have to recognize.  He said, for example, that the Rent Guidelines Board has proposed the highest rent increase in City history despite massive job losses, a recession and budget cutbacks.  At the same time, the MTA "fudged" its books in order to raise the transit fares by 33%.   

In the next breath he said that Mayor Bloomberg is refusing to impose a one time surcharge of .7% on the income of New Yorkers earning over $100,000.  This refusal, he said, comes at a time when there has been a tripling of the number of millionaires in the City in recent years.  The revenue from such a surcharge would go a long way toward avoiding layoffs at a time when the unemployment rate in the city is 9% and nearing 17% in some communities.  The surcharge would also go a long way to avoiding cuts to the Health and Hospitals Corporation, home care and children's services.  

The point was that the Mayor is making decisions about how to handle a crisis in the city and about where the burden for the problem will be placed.  

David said, given that the budget crisis is projected through 2006, we need a long term strategy that brings together communities with labor.  He said that communities simply cannot get what they hope for without coming together in coalition with labor unions and working people.  And by communities he includes not-for-profit service organizations that depend on government for most of their funding.  

David went onto say that we need to redevelop a "toughness" to take on these realities.  

The immediate purpose of the breakfast was to rally community organizations to join with DC-37 at a demonstration at City Hall on April 29.  

Earlier in the month, 1199/SEIU, together with the Greater New York Hospital Association and other organizations, including NASW, rallied in Albany to avoid cuts to health care through increasing revenues.  35,000 people were there for the largest demonstration of its kind in history.  And the United Federation of Teachers will soon hold another rally with a showing of at least as many people (as of this writing).   

All of these actions can have an effect.  Ideally, however, we need all of these groups merging into one massive, on-going protest movement.  At that point, the dynamics in the political arena will change.  

There are things social workers can do in this process.   

One is to draw out the impact on people's lives of the decisions that policy makers are making.  Another is to connect with efforts that go beyond our own organizations and communities that can give greater voice than we could possibly have alone.  This could include helping to develop the community-labor coalition essential for moving beyond powerlessness.    

PULLOUT:  "…the is a dangerous, 'in your face' attitude among city leaders…we need to redevelop a 'toughness' to take on these realities." David Jones, CSS