A large, diffuse, diverse organization like the National Association of Social Workers has a real challenge in setting national direction while maintaining energized connection to members, in the field, who often feel disconnected from the workings of the umbrella organization. Achieving this unity of purpose, however, and being able to communicate it, is critically important in how the organization builds power and emerges as a force to be reckoned with in society.
And, you know, I like to be a force to be reckoned with.
That’s why I’m quite interested in the proceedings of the 2010 Social Work Congress and, in particular, in how few social workers (and students) with whom I’m in regular contact have any real idea about what the Social Work Congress is, or how its work setting a vision for the association could impact the profession’s trajectory.
In order to advance that unity of purpose that I view as so important to our profession’s stature, then, I want to share some of the outcomes of the Social Work Congress. I want to hear social workers’ responses both to the content/tone of the imperatives that flowed from the two days of deliberations as well as to the process–how can/should NASW disseminate this information, and how can social workers in the field best engage in discussion about where our profession is headed, together?
The participants in the 2010 Social Work Congress (of which I was not one) included representatives from state NASW chapters, the Council on Social Work Education, the country’s major social work organizations, and other leaders in the profession. The core of their work was to develop ten imperatives, which include integrating technology ethically and effectively into practice; improving recruitment and retention of social workers, especially by addressing debt relief and mentoring for students and young professionals; infusing models of business practice into social work; making the case for social work’s value to policymakers and the general public; and integrating leadership development into social work curricula.
For my tastes, the imperatives aren’t explicit enough on what I view as THE imperative for our profession moving forward: building the power we need to successfully assert a vision of a just society, the kind where social workers’ services would be nearly irrelevant.
The closest the imperatives come to talking about this kind of advocacy relates to strengthening the ability of social work organizations to speak with a unified voice on “issues of importance to the profession.” To me, though, that could mean those issues which more narrowly affect our own, individual, status, and not necessarily a collective demand for justice, the likes of which we know our clients deserve.
Still, I’ve been part of some of these group decision-making processes, and I know something about how laborious they can be, and how much easier it is to sit on the outside and critique. There’s no denying that these ten are, at least, essential questions facing our profession in the near future and, so, worthy of our common attention.
So, now, you know what the Social Work Congress is (although, just as an aside, weren’t you secretly hoping that now Congress was a Social Work Congress–what if Congress could be made up of nothing but social workers, at least for a day? That would be awesome.) I’m interested in your take–what would you see as the ten ‘imperatives’ facing the profession in the coming years? And how would you structure a process that makes this sort of deliberation resonate with all social workers, throughout this vast and disparate nation, and profession, of ours?
Regarding the imperatives, I like that they are interested in putting technology ethically into our work. But I am concerned about using a business model for social work orgs. I have seen it too many times that a business minded folks come into to a nonprofit and suddenly the services and accessibility is no longer the focus but administration is.
I agree that speaking with an “unified voice” would be advantageous. This could make us stronger and beneficial working with policymakers.
As for the group decision-making process, you’re exactly right. It is very difficult and often ends unsatisfying.
Oh, a congress made of up of just social workers! That would be something! Imagine insurance, coal, lawyer and banking industry trying to lobby a bunch of social workers. I imagine lobbying rules would change. And perhaps ethics of congress would really become ethics.
I think it depends on what one means by ‘business mindset’–if it means accountability and commitment to achieving value for dollars invested, then it’s a very positive step. We have to recognize that we do have nonprofits really not accomplishing what they set out to do. But, you’re right, if ‘business mindset’ equals narrow focus on reducing costs, then it’s a bad thing (really, in a for-profit business, too!). It would be something to see a whole Congress, with a capital C, of social workers, hunh?