Social Work History Month 2021: Social Workers are Essential

March is National Social Work History Month. The 2021 theme is " Social Workers are Essential.”  

From the NASW website:

Social workers are essential to community well-being.

As practitioners, social workers are trained to help people address personal and systemic barriers to optimal living. They are employed to effect positive change with individuals, families, groups and entire communities.

As a profession, social workers frequently use their collective power to pass laws and establish policies that give more people access to community services and benefits, improving the quality of life for everyone.

Social work is the only helping profession which requires social justice advocacy as part of its professional code of ethics, and is therefore a large workforce mandated to advance the rights of the most vulnerable in society.

For more than 120 years, the social work profession in the United States has helped bend the arc of justice, making our nation a more equitable and inclusive place. 

Read the proclamation here. 

Social workers aim to improve the lives of children, the elderly, minority groups, disadvantaged populations. The social work profession accomplished major milestones throughout American history.  Social workers and allied professionals (from human services to social policy) have:

• Achieved the minimum wage and safer workplaces for poor people (Progressive Era)
• Fought for civil rights and voting rights (Civil Rights Movement)
• Expanded employment and reproductive rights for women 
• Supported marriage and employment protections for LGBT people

Social workers can be found in many different specializations, industries and fields requiring different levels of training, education and licensing to fulfill the various roles of advocate, therapist, mediator, researcher, educator, manager, evaluator, facilitator, case manager, administrator, and community change agent. Social workers play a vital role in helping to create programs and policies that make society a better and more equitable place for all. 

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has revealed major racial, gender and socioeconomic disparities in access to health care, employment, and critical supplies. This is a crucial time for social workers, especially macro social workers, to enhance the lives of the disadvantaged through advocacy, research, education and support. 

For more information about National Social Work History, browse the websites below:

• National Association of Social Workers: Social Work History
• National Today: National Social Work History Month
• National Association of Black Social Workers: NABSW Celebrates Social Work Month
• Rutgers University: Influential Women in the History of Social Work
• MSW Careers: A Short History of Social Work

For more information about the social work profession's response to COVID-19, check out these websites:

• Council on Social Work Education: Responses Addressing Coronavirus (COVID-19)
• National Association of Social Workers: Coronavirus Disease 
• National Association of Social Workers: COVID-19 Resource Center
• Responding to COVID-19: New Trends in Social Workers’ Use of Information and Communication Technology
• Social Work Guide: The Role of Social Workers During COVID-19