CONGRESSMAN ED TOWNS
10TH DISTRICT, NEW YORK
Opinion Eitorial
10TH DISTRICT, NEW YORK
Opinion Eitorial
| February 13, 2009 | |||
fighting for Social workers, a community’s lifeline
Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young Social Work Reinvestment Act |
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New Yorkers are struggling against the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression. According to the New York City Department of Labor, the unemployment rate reached 7.2% in December of 2008, and there is no bright light in sight. The resultant after effects are that many hardworking New Yorkers have become homeless and experience difficulty feeding their families. Many New Yorkers are looking for a way out – real answers to real problems. Families are in search of ways to regain a solid footing.
During times of economic despair, citizens often look to local social service agencies for help. However, with resources drying up and social service agencies dealing with shortages of their own, communities everywhere are grappling with an insufficient number of social workers. Social workers, in most cases, make up a small percentage of the trained staff that stands ready to address the many needs people face. Social workers are often a community’s life line, dealing with issues from child welfare and crisis intervention to assistance with housing. That is why on last week, I introduced the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young Social Work Reinvestment Act.
Named after Dorothy I. Height, a social worker, who started her career as a case worker in the New York City Welfare Department over seventy years ago, and Whitney M. Young – a social worker and advocate during the 1960’s until his death in 1971 – this bill seeks to address issues like recruitment, retention and the lack of resources that undermine the social work profession.
It is my hope that through this bill, a Social Work Commission will be developed to analyze and oversee the authorization of grants for education, training, and community based programs that support the work of social workers.
This long misunderstood profession faces many challenges that if ignored could seriously impact the quality of social services. Primarily, the lack of resources poses the biggest challenge to effective service delivery. Due to low salaries and safety concerns, it is also very difficult to encourage students to pursue a career in social work. The profession has endured much public scrutiny in the wake of challenges in the child welfare system due to lack of resources and properly trained staff.
Cultural competency is another challenge that undercuts the progress of social services. This is addressed by Peter Vaughan, PhD., dean at Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service, in an article where he stresses the importance of having well educated, culturally competent, professional social workers. Vaughan wrote in 2007, “The 2000 United States Census reported that New York City has the largest number of persons who define themselves as African American or Black living here than in any city in the United States. Also existing in New York City is one of the nation’s largest populations of Black immigrants and descendents of immigrants from the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa.” In Brooklyn, according to Vaughan’s article, we have the largest concentration of African Americans and other Blacks at 36.44%.
Vaughan further states, “Social work service providers and educators must keep in mind that Black New Yorkers come from many different places and have different histories. In order to bridge the chasm between culturally competent professionals and the Black communities requiring services is the need to have more professionally educated African American and Black social workers working in these communities, and they should be provided with opportunities in their undergraduate and graduate education to learn well and fully embrace culturally sensitive social work practice so that they can be culturally competent practitioners.”
My bill, the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young Social Work Reinvestment Act, will assist in providing the education and resources necessary to recruit and retain social workers to address the needs of millions of New Yorkers who are in need of social work services.
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U.S. Rep. Edolphus “Ed” Towns (NY-10), former social worker and community activist, received his master’s degree in social work from Adelphi University. Towns is a 14-term veteran in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he serves as chair of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
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