The auditorium was filled to capacity by social workers that came to celebrate their profession, to share with one another, and to participate in the Chapter's Annual Meeting. Keynoter Dr. Peter Vaughan, Dean, Fordham Graduate School of Social Service, spoke to the theme " Social Work in a Different World: Confusion and Worry."
Dr. Vaughan presented a comprehensive analysis of the political context that shapes our world, our City, the social service delivery system, and the environment for social work practice. In his remarks, Dr. Vaughan reminded the audience that the United States was in a state of "confusion and worry" prior to September 11th.

" There seems to be some common agreement among people with whom I have spoken that pre September 11, 2001, governments of our Nation and City were coming under a fair amount of scrutiny because the leaders appeared to be operating out of confusion…The economy had gone south and Americans were worried."
Dr. Vaughan noted that "in New York City following 9-11, with efforts to bury our dead, clean up the site of the WTC, and get the City back on its feet, little attention was paid to the budget deficit that existed prior to September 11. But the poor economy that has plagued and is plaguing the nation continues to undermine the best efforts of Mayor Bloomberg. Even with his best efforts the Mayor sometimes seems confused."

"As the nation's economy goes, so goes our City, " said Dr. Vaughan. We witnessed the passage of a Tax Bill that President Bush says represents a political victory for him and the nation. He believes that it revitalize our economy." "How can this be?" asked Dr. Vaughan, "when we already have a sizeable deficit."
With respect to New York City, Dr. Vaughan noted recent and numerous lay offs and reductions in services this year. He called attention to the impact of the budget cuts on children. "Of the 316 babies born to parents who are residents of New York City every day, 166 of them will be born into poverty and will join the ranks of the more than 571, 000 children living in poverty in the City…We know those layoffs will leave already vulnerable children more at risk for physical and emotional harm and for growing up apart from their families in various institutional forms in what is known as "the system."

The impact of the fiscal crisis on the social work profession is considerable, said Dr. Vaughan. "Social Workers are witnessing things that we never considered to be a part of our social reality and are now a part of both our social and professional realities. For example, today we have to be concerned about the safety of staff and clients in the course of normal agency business. In recent years there has been a greater frequency of reports of social workers being placed at risk of being harmed by clients who become irate for one reason or another. Years ago we spoke of having full plates as professionals, now we have full platters. This is a situation that Dr. Vaughan does not see likely to improve in the foreseeable future and he added, "We cannot depend on government alone to help keep our constituents safe."

"Years ago we spoke of having full plates as professionals, now we have full platters". As a profession in which the majority of the professionals are women, one would hope that we would have by now been well beyond having to define and refine our levels of expertise, having to justify roles we play, and having to articulate our scope of professional responsibility, but that is not the reality for most social workers. We must seek higher salaries, and make sure that we demand salaries for women that are equal to those of men. We must ensure whenever and wherever we can that men and women will compete equally for the same job.

Despite the daunting reality in which social workers, along with the majority of people, find ourselves, there are ways that social workers can maintain a positive and healthy outlook. He offered a few helpful suggestions from a recent issue of Men's Health that are quite applicable to all social workers:
1. Exercise.
2. Be optimistic.
3. Collect friends.
4. Check in with yourself for 5 minutes at the end of the day.
5. Lend a hand.
6. Challenge yourself to stay happy.
7. Take a nap to relieve stress.
8. Find your ideal bedtime-get an extra hour of sleep.
9. Eat right.
10. Take your vacation.
11. Spend time off not working.
12. Laugh a lot, at yourself, with your co-workers, and clients.
13. Treat yourself.
14. Give a hug, get a hug.

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