Students and Social workers: Mobilize the vote!
The elimination of the federal guarantee of cash assistance to poor children is reason enough for all social workers to guarantee a voter mobilization on November 5. The power of a mobilized voting block cannot be understated: Take the examples of the Christian Coalition and the National Rifle Association. Unfortunately, human service professionals have not similarly mobilized our own constituents. There is no reason that we cannot begin doing so now.
At the initiative of the New York City Chapter, NYC-PACE, and in cooperation with Human SERVE, students from New York City's five graduate schools of social work-Hunter, Columbia, Wurzweiler, NYU and Fordham-are engaged in three mobilization projects.
First, students will continue to advocate in their agencies for the implementation of permanent, nonpartisan voter registration services at intake/reception desks. Second, students have declared October 10 a day of voter registration action. Students plan to mobilize at least 200 volunteers to blanket the city and register thousands of people. Third, a presentation about the importance of doing agency based voter registration will be made at each school's orientation for first year students.
In addition, HumanSERVE has initiated a Register 10 Campaign where human service workers are encouraged to register at least 10 people in their agencies, at school or in their communities, call and remind them to vote in advance of the elections, and send a count of the number registered to: Mobilize the Vote Campaign, PO Box 2024, New York, NY 10025. (To obtain mail in voter registration forms call Maria Warhola at the NYC Board of Elections 212-487-5320.)
There are still nearly two million eligible yet unregistered voters in New York City--most of whom are poor people. Tens of thousands of them will visit our agencies between now and October 11, the deadline for registering.
The NASW Code of Ethics explicitly calls upon social workers to "encourage informed participation by the public in shaping social policies and institutions." We must act now and influence others to engage in agency based voter registration.
The '96 elections are almost upon us and social services are under assault. It is up to every one of us to empower our clients politically and encourage them to vote. New York City's social work students have taken very important steps over the summer. NASW members can now join in and increase their reach exponentially. For information or to get involved with the campaign, call Jim Conley at Human SERVE (212) 854-4053.