March spotlight shines on social workers

The nation’s almost 720,000 social workers entered the field because they have a strong desire to help people and to make our communities, our nation, and our world a better place to live.

Social workers don’t try to tell people how to do this. Instead, they empower people, giving them the skills, knowledge, resources, and encouragement to overcome life’s challenges.

Each day social workers touch millions of lives. In fact, you, a family member, or a friend have likely already been helped by a social worker. You will find social workers practically everywhere, working in schools, hospitals, mental health care facilities, veteran centers, child welfare agencies and in local, state, and federal government.

These social workers also include students studying at the Boise State University School of Social Work Master of Social Work program here in Coeur d’Alene on the North Idaho College campus.

Social work has been around for more than a century and social workers have been in the forefront of helping create this nation’s social safety net, advocating for equal rights for all, and improving delivery of health care and mental health care.

This year’s Social Work Month theme is “The Time is Right for Social Work.” We think this theme resonates because social workers are on the frontlines helping our nation overcome a variety of current challenges — the COVID-19 pandemic, economic inequality, natural disasters worsened by global warming to name a few.

The need for more social workers is reflected in data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which notes social work is one of the fastest growing professions in the United States. There are expected to be more than 800,000 social workers in the United States by 2030, up 12 percent from 2020.

Yet social workers need your support. They deserve higher salaries and more programs that make it easier for people to enter and work in the field, such as student loan forgiveness. Consider contacting your lawmakers and urging them to support the Improving Access to Mental Health Act and the Social Work Reinvestment Act, legislation that would support the profession.

And during Social Work Month and beyond we urge you to learn more about the profession and what you can do to help them do their positive, life-affirming work.

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Megan Dardis-Kunz is a professor for Boise State University.