Social Work Month

Social Work Month Awareness

Social Work Month in March is a time to celebrate the great profession of social work. To learn more, check out socialworkers.org. During Social Work Month, efforts raise public awareness about how social workers continue to break barriers in all communities. And, in addition, how the contributions of this essential profession improve our nation. To celebrate Social Work Awareness Month, wear a blue enamel awareness ribbon pin, fabric ribbon, or blue silicone wristband bracelet.

Breaking Barriers That Prevent People and Communities from Thriving

Many cities send a team of mental health professionals, including social workers, to manage the hundreds of mental health emergency calls cities receive each year. Instead of being arrested by police, social workers try a different approach. Rather than put people at risk of injury or even death, those experiencing a mental health crisis meet with social workers. Wear a green awareness ribbon pin to recognize mental health.

Social Work Month Recognition

Social workers also provide clothing and other services to people they contact. This is an example of how one city is using social workers to break through barriers. This allows for compassionate mental health care. Social workers, in many other settings, help break barriers that keep people from living life to the fullest. Social workers strengthen families by helping them break through economic, psychological, and other barriers. This provides better care for their children. And social workers help remove obstacles that keep individuals from exercising their voting rights.

History

Social work has existed for more than a century. The profession can trace a large part of its origin to Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Star, who in 1889, opened Hull House in Chicago to provide social services to the area. This area had a large immigrant population. Other social work pioneers include anti-lynching advocate and women’s rights activist Ida B. Wells. Another is George Edmund Haynes, a social worker who was co-founder of the National Urban League. These and other social workers in history also were barrier breakers. Frances Perkins, the first female Labor Secretary during the Great Depression and others helped secure benefits we continue to use today. This includes the 40-hour workweek, minimum wage, and Social Security benefits.

Other social workers, like past National Association of Social Workers President Whitney M. Young Jr., worked in collaboration with President Lyndon B. Johnson and other leaders during the turbulent Civil Rights era to break down the barrier of employment discrimination so Black people could gain access to better paying jobs.

Thanks to the paths paved by such pioneers, social work is now one of the fastest-growing professions in the United States, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. There were 715,000 social workers in the nation in 2020. That number is expected to grow to more than 800,000 by the end of this decade.

What is Social Work?

Social work can be difficult to understand because the profession is so diverse. Social workers work in many different places. This includes schools, hospitals, mental health practices, veteran centers, child welfare agencies, the criminal justice system, corporations, and state, federal and local governments. Although there are many kinds of social work, members of the profession all share common principles. In other words, they are people dedicated to seeking complete equality and social justice for all communities. They also help people achieve their own potential.

Each day social workers help break down barriers that prevent people from living more fulfilling, enriched lives. They work on the individual level, helping people overcome personal crises like food insecurity, lack of affordable housing, or limited access to good health care. They also advocate on a systems level to ensure laws and policies are adopted so everyone can access such services.