Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act

Madam Speaker, I rise today to give my remarks on the reintroduction of the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act, which I first introduced in the 110th Congress. Once again, I am immensely honored and privileged to recognize the historic efforts and legacies of two of my personal heroes in supporting a profession that each of us has been proud to call our own. Moreover, I rise in support of the millions of Americans served daily by the nation's social workers. As a professional social worker, I am acutely aware of the significant contributions that social workers have made to the socio-economic fabric of our nation. Sadly, I am equally aware of the troubling challenges that prevent my professional colleagues from continuing to deliver essential social services and interventions to Americans most in need of such support.

This measure could not be introduced at a more critical moment. Our nation is experiencing challenges of a magnitude we have not faced in decades. Unemployment rates are rising, banks across the country are failing, millions of houses are in foreclosure, and a middle-class lifestyle is no longer within reach for the average American. This is placing extreme pressure on families and creating an ever-increasing need for a workforce adept at tackling issues of poverty and inequality, particularly during moments of crisis. The workforce that has historically led this charge in times of turmoil is social work.

My social work colleagues provide essential services to individuals across the lifespan and have long been the workforce to guide people to critical resources, counsel them on important life decisions, and help them reach their full potential. Social workers are society's safety net, and with our current economic challenges, the need for this safety net has grown to include and protect a diverse group of people from all walks of life.

Yet, as I stand before you today, our nation's social workers face daunting challenges, challenges that compromise the ability of these dedicated professionals to provide their clients with unparalleled service and care. These challenges are preventing students from choosing a degree in social work and causing experienced social workers to leave the field. Competing policy priorities, fiscal constraints, safety concerns, significant educational debt, comparatively insufficient salaries, increased administrative burdens, and unsupportive work environments are just a few of the common obstacles encountered by our nation's social workers. Yet, our nation's social workers do not suffer alone. Indeed, just as America's social workers struggle daily to confront mounting barriers impeding the delivery of essential services, so must millions of Americans absorb the direct impact of this compromised access to necessary care. There are already documented social work shortages in the fields of aging and child welfare.

The Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act is designed to address these challenges to the social work profession, thereby helping to ensure that millions of individuals and families throughout the nation can continue to receive necessary social work services. This legislation creates the foundation for a professional workforce to meet the ever-increasing demand for the essential services that social workers provide. Professional social workers have the unique expertise and experience to help solve the social and economic challenges that our nation is facing.

I rise today with grave concern, yet resolute optimism. On one hand, I am convinced that workforce challenges, if left unaddressed, will result in a social work corps ill-equipped to provide comprehensive service to underserved communities throughout the country. Nonetheless, I recognize that we have a unique opportunity to outline, develop, and implement strategies that help the people of America. Like Dr. Dorothy I. Height, I believe that ``we hold in our hands the power . . . to shape not only our own but the nation's future,'' a future that is founded upon the dissolution of imaginary distinctions within our growing society and a renewed commitment to those struggling to keep pace.

Thus, in the words of Whitney M. Young, Jr., I stand today to ``Support the strong, give courage to the timid, remind the indifferent, and warn the opposed.'' In the name and spirit of Dorothy I. Height and the late Whitney M. Young, Jr., then, I come before you to propose a dramatic reinvestment in our nation's social work community.

I invite my colleagues in the House and Senate to consider the far- reaching effects of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, to say nothing of the persistent echoes of years of conflict in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. More than any other group of professionals, America's social workers provide our armed services and combat veterans with mental health interventions, housing and financial counseling, case management, and advocacy, among other services. Yet, across America, social workers with unmanageable, excessive caseloads cannot properly serve the millions of veterans who will return from the Iraq War experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, suicide, and drug and alcohol addiction. Indeed, despite our best wishes, America will continue to see war-weary soldiers whose otherwise thankful homecoming may be marred by post traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, or substance abuse.

Much the same, social workers with intractable educational debt must balance the burden of repaying student loans with ever-expanding and complex caseloads, leaving young social workers struggling to assist the one in seven adults with dementia, and the hundreds of thousands of older Americans who rely upon their invaluable skills and service. With a full quarter of the American population suffering from a diagnosable mental illness, important caregiver, family, and health counseling, as well as mental health therapy will continue to suffer as professional social workers struggle to repay student loans and are forced into better paying careers.

In addition to these and other invaluable services provided to our nation's veterans and senior citizens, however, the efforts of America's social workers have a direct and measurable impact upon communities throughout the nation. A brief sampling of these efforts includes:

Child Welfare: The Children's Defense Fund has found that an American child is confirmed as abused or neglected every 36 seconds. Similarly, a recent estimate by U.S. Administration for Children and Families indicates that 510,000 children are currently living within the U.S. foster care system, with most children placed under the care of foster parents due to parental abuse or neglect. Research shows that professional social workers in child welfare agencies are more likely to find permanent homes for children who were in foster care for 2 or more years. Unfortunately, fewer than 40 percent of child welfare workers are professional social workers.

Health: The American Cancer Society estimates that there were 1,437,180 new cases of cancer and 565,650 cancer deaths in 2008 alone, while the incidence of cancer will increase dramatically as the population grows older. Similarly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that as many as 1,285,000 Americans are living with HIV or AIDS. In 2006, 1.3 million people received

care from one of the nation's hospice providers. Health care and medical social workers practice in all of these areas and provide outreach for prevention, help individuals and their families adapt to their circumstances, provide grief counseling, and act as a liaison between individuals and their medical team, helping patients make informed decisions about their care.

Education: The National Center for Education Statistics states that, in 2005, the national dropout rate for high school students totaled 9.3 percent. White students dropped out at a rate of 5.8 percent, while African American students dropped out at a rate of 10.7 percent, and Hispanic students dropped out at a rate of 22.1 percent. Some vulnerable communities have drop out rates of 50 percent or higher. Social workers in school settings help at-risk students through early identification, prevention, intervention, counseling and support.

Criminal Justice: According to the United States Department of Justice, every year more than 650,000 ex-offenders are released from Federal and State prisons. Social workers employed in the corrections system address disproportionate minority incarceration rates, provide treatment for mental health problems and drug and alcohol addiction, and work within as well as outside the prison environment to reduce recidivism and increase positive community reentry.

For these reasons, and innumerable others, America will increasingly demand the services of a highly skilled professional social work community. Unfortunately, this community is not currently equipped to keep pace with this increasing demand for vital services throughout the country. The Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act will provide the necessary insight and perspective to guide current and future investment in this indispensable profession and the individuals and families they serve, while providing immediate support for demonstration programs throughout the country.

I am proud to introduce the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act and must acknowledge the passionate advocacy of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), Action Network for Social Work Education and Research (ANSWER), Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors (BPD), Association of Oncology Social Work (AOSW), Clinical Social Work Association (CSWA), Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work (GADE), Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research (IASWR), National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW), National Association of Deans and Directors of Schools of Social Work (NADD), Social Welfare Action Alliance (SWAA), and the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) on behalf of this legislation. As drafted, this bill will create a Social Work Reinvestment Commission to provide a comprehensive analysis of current trends within the professional and academic social work communities. Specifically, the Commission will develop recommendations and strategies to maximize the ability of America's social workers to serve individuals, families, and communities with expertise and care. The recommendations will be delivered to Congress and the Executive Branch.

This Commission will investigate in greater detail the numerous areas where social workers have a profound impact upon their client population, including aging, child welfare, military and veterans affairs, mental and behavioral health and disability, criminal justice and correctional systems, health and issues affecting women and children. More significantly, the Commission established within this legislation will provide needed guidance to protect the profession that has historically protected the most vulnerable in society. These concerns are also directly related to national discussions affecting entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, to name only a few.

While the Social Work Reinvestment Commission included within the proposed legislation will work to ensure that America's underserved families and individuals receive professional care and social services in the years to come, I urge my colleagues to recognize the urgency of the pervasive challenges confronting our nation's 600,000 professional social workers at this very moment. The Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act will also create demonstration programs to address relevant ``on the ground'' realities experienced by our nation's professional social workers. The competitive grant programs will prioritize activities in the areas of workplace improvements, research, education and training, and community based programs of excellence. These grants programs will provide Congress guidance on the establishment of best practices and the replication of successful programs nationally and as such, this initial investment will be returned many times over both in supporting ongoing efforts to establish efficacious social service solutions and in direct service to affected client communities.

While the singular goal of this legislation is the delivery of vital services to our nation's underserved communities by means of a reenergized and emergent academic and professional social work corps, it is essential to undertake preliminary efforts to assess the best means by which to confront ongoing challenges cutting across diverse communities.

Finally, in bringing this measure before my esteemed House colleagues, I would be remiss to neglect the heroes in whose name this vital reinvestment in our nation's social workers is made--Dr. Dorothy I. Height and Mr. Whitney M. Young, Jr. The exemplary efforts undertaken by model social work programs throughout the country and the forward-thinking initiative instilled within the Social Work Reinvestment Commission serve as a reflection of the common strengths of Dr. Height and Mr. Young, while the legislation I propose in their names will enable our most talented social workers to continue and broaden their collective efforts.

A lifelong advocate for racial and gender equality, Dorothy I. Height has applied the professional training she received at the New York School of Social Work to challenges dauntingly large and deceptively small. A confidant and protege of renowned activist and educator Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, Dr. Height began her long and esteemed relationship with the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) when then- Council President Dr. Bethune noticed a young African-American woman escorting First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt into a Council meeting. From that moment forward, Dr. Height served as a stalwart champion for the rights of African American women and the families they love and support. Leading both as NCNW President, and a crusader within the American Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Height's efforts obliged the nation to recognize the disturbing lack of basic social services within America's low-income and minority communities in her time and still today.

Bound by an undying commitment to women and families left unsupported by prevailing social services, Dr. Height's commitment to the study and practice of social work and faith in the power of direct care and intervention have remained indelible throughout her decades of service on behalf of both the NCNW and the YWCA. In fact, in many instances, such support for social work could be found at the forefront of these efforts, with Dr. Height serving as an advocate and professor of social work in developing countries throughout the world.

Much the same, Civil Rights leader, educator, and long-time President of the National Urban League, Whitney Young leveraged the skills and values strengthened within his advanced study and practice as a social worker to lead the Urban League to unprecedented successes in its ongoing commitment to provide economic opportunity for America's most disadvantaged. A close advisor to three Presidents--Democrats John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, as well as Republican Richard Nixon--Mr. Young brought a unique ability to work for change from within the often-contentious political paradigm of mid-century America. Expanding the size and influence of the National Urban League exponentially during his time as president, Mr. Young guided a once-fledgling, guarded organization to the vanguard of the American Civil Rights Movement.

In fact, his personal efforts and bold vision contributed significantly to the creation of President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty and similarly historic and transformative policy initiatives.

Yet, throughout and within each of his great accomplishments, Mr. Young brought with him a profound appreciation for the power of social services within communities historically neglected and underserved. In fact, in a formative moment during his tenure as Dean of Social Work at Atlanta University, Young stood as a vocal advocate for his alumni in their boycott of the Georgia Conference of Social Work. Aware of the great responsibilities of his colleagues and students, Mr. Young fought for a responsive and dedicated social work corps, the services of whom must be directed to those most in need. As President of both the National Conference on Social Welfare and the National Association of Social Workers, Young led efforts within the social work community to expand and more assiduously target services to low-income and minority communities neglected throughout our nation's history.

In this emboldened spirit, the legislation that today bears the names of Whitney M. Young, Jr. and Dorothy I. Height will enable an already active American social work workforce to overcome lingering barriers to the delivery of essential services to underserved client populations throughout the country. This investment in our nation's social workers is both a commitment to the continued support of their

critical role within American society, and an anticipation of the great advances still achievable within the field. I urge my colleagues in both Chambers to support this measure both in honor of Dr. Dorothy I. Height and the late Whitney M. Young, Jr. and in resolute defense of the ideals and the people to whom Dr. Height and Mr. Young have dedicated their lives.