Consider this: a top notch social worker with an MSW is placed in a position to oversee child abuse investigations. She has the insight to recognize whether an inquiry into abuse has been conducted appropriately. She knows how to question staff about what they are learning from interviews with family members. And she has the judgement to send staff back out to the field when doubts persist about the recommendation to leave the child at home or to make a placement.

The Chapter's Image Project is intended to bring the work of such social workers to light. In an interview a few weeks ago, we learned how the City was about to place the siblings of a child who had died of abuse with a close relative. It was only through the savvy work of the MSW senior supervisor that a history of abusive behavior on the part of the relative came to light. It took self-confidence, courage, and insight to get the original recommendation changed and to save these kids from further tragedy.

Through this Project we will be sharing such stories of professional social workers. Attempts to deal with serious social problems are being reported everyday, too often in terms of the failure to accomplish anything. Yet social workers are making a difference in people's lives all of the time.

In the December issue of Good Housekeeping magazine there was a feature article on the social worker who discovered that the homeless man she was interviewing was, years ago, the first African American dancer with a famous ballet company. While there had been plenty of news coverage of the man, Arthur Bell, the magazine thought enough of the situation to highlight the social worker, Maria Mackin There was even a recognition on the part of the journalist that one worker's discovery about a former dancer was actually typical of the everyday work of thousands of social workers throughout the City.

Another social worker reported to us that she and her co-workers are successfully helping men who have been homeless and substance abusers become sober, obtain employment and hold down jobs, and get their own apartments. She shared how one man would beg on the subway with a cup in his hand, all the time thinking how he would love to be like the people who were on their way to work. Today he is one of those people. Know how in running groups that create a community of mutual support and a keen appreciation of the strengths homeless people bring to the service encounter are key to this area of social work practice.

The stories go on and on. A social worker helps a mother dying of AIDS overcome her difficulty in talking to her six year daughter about what will happen after she dies, and then helps the daughter make the transition to living with a new family after the mother's death. A group worker in a junior high school creates an opportunity for boys to meet each week to discuss "feelings", with their recognizing how violence can often erupt when things are not discussed.

A girl finds that the only one who can tolerate her offensive behavior is her social worker, eventually giving her enough comfort to reveal that she was living with a secret of having done something horrible when she was younger. She can now get on with her life. A high school senior, a quiet and shy girl, eventually feels that she can tell her social worker that her father was having sex with her. Six years after graduating she returns to the school to tell the worker that she completed college, is employed in a major corporation and supporting her mother and younger brother.

A professional in a hospital consults with a social worker about a director who is abusing alcohol to the detriment of herself, her department and the lives around her. The worker meets with a group of concerned friends and colleagues of the director, leading to some of them individually confronting the situation for the first time. The director is now in recovery.

Dr. Carol Meyer used to say that the problem with social work being understood and respected is that everyone thinks that they can do it. Anyone can give advice. So why do you need professional education in this field?

In my opinion, we face failure in the profession unless we answer this question in a way that is understandable to the general public, those whose support is needed for services to be funded and those who determine who should be hired. To my way of thinking, nothing answers the question better than the stories of social workers in their practice.

In the months ahead the Chapter will be circulating these and other stories to the media with the objective of helping the public develop a better appreciation of what social work is about and how it accomplishes what it does.