(January 1999)
As President, I am very aware of social work's dual focus on client and professional issues. Our concern about clients stems from our very origins as a profession. The deleterious effects of industrialization, child labor, poor housing, poverty, and inadequate health care at the end of the 19th century led to the development of settlement houses to service the increasing numbers of new immigrants. Our focus on professional issues also began with the birth of the profession. As "friendly visitors" who were originally unpaid volunteers moved into paid positions in the first Charity Organization Societies, education and training for work with the poor became a primary concern. As volunteers were replaced by paid employees, concern about salaries and professional status increased.
The Chapter activities are reflective of these two perspectives - client and professional issues. Three client issues which have received much attention recently are the needs of clients with health problems, welfare recipients, and abused children. The Critical Incident Report Project recently undertaken by the Health Care Policy and Practice Network reports on how our clients have fared under the managed care system. This document will be used to fight for better health care treatment for our clients in a managed care environment. The Welfare Reform Task Force continues to advocate for the restoration of entitlements to clients under the current Workfare programs. Our Committee on Families and Children's Services looks to improving protective and prevention services to children in the child welfare system. The New York City and New York State Chapters have collaborated in hiring two lobbyists, one for licensing and one to help us advocate for other state legislation to benefit clients and social workers.
Other Chapter activities focus specifically on professional concerns, especially in terms of licensing and employment. Licensing continues to be a major goal. Our Licensing Coalition is active and we anticipate the licensing bill we developed last year will be introduced soon in the State Legislature. We look to both lobbyists to keep us informed about the latest legislative developments. We will need your support and advocacy this year to make licensing a reality.
A major Chapter priority is that of employment and much of our activities past and present have been in this area. We maintain a comprehensive current Job Bank and all members are invited to make use of this service. Our very successful continuing education program includes seminars on career development and our student initiatives also stress career and employment opportunities. We have published salary standards for beginning social workers which reflect realistically the cost of living in New York City. Future plans include a think tank which will bring together experts in the field to dialogue with us about future trends. This information will be useful in advising members in terms of new and expanding job markets.
There often develops a challenging dichotomy in our profession between those who believe that our primary attention should be on client issues and those who favor professional issues. At times the discussion becomes heated, as those who focus on client issues contend that others abandon our social justice value base and commitment to the poor, while those who stress professional issues maintain that social workers as professionals must survive if clients are to be helped at all.
My position is that both perspectives are inextricably connected and this is evident in all of our Chapter activities. I will give three examples.
While our recent study about managed care may seem to relate specifically to client issues, we also have an ongoing focus on including social services in Medicaid managed care. This inclusion will not only help clients access needed services, but also insure employment for social workers in the health field, a professional issue of much current concern.
In the area of child welfare, while we are concerned about improving protective services to neglected and abused children through community based service delivery programs, we also have been very active in promoting the education and training of caseworkers, which is certainly a professional activity.
Licensing also demonstrates our dual perspective of client and professional issues. While some may see licensing as a professional issue which serves to protect agency and private practice social workers in an increasingly credential focused managed care environment, licensing is also a client issue. I shudder to think about the number of clients who have been hurt by contact with unprofessional, untrained people who call themselves social workers.
Those who are poor, uneducated, and/or in great stress (which includes most of our clients) are at particular risk. Licensing will help protect our clients in particular and the public in general and insure that social work services are only provided by professionally trained licensed social workers. In social work we are masters in understanding and integrating many dualities such as person in the environment, family and the community, individual and group treatment, casework and research, confidentiality and protection of society. Our skill in applying our dual perspective of client and professional issues is evident in our many Chapter activities. I hope that you will all become involved with your Chapter which continually works to promote client and professional issues within a social justice framework.