Message from the President
So much is happening at NASW lately it’s hard to know where to begin! We are in the midst of the 2007 legislative session, and the emails are flying….it seems appropriate that NASW is at the forefront of a number of social justice and advocacy issues, and as the various bills move through their various stages, many changes occur along the way. Be sure to check out the NASW priority areas for this session that are posted on this site, along with our policy statements. These can be very helpful in educating others about a particular issue (or educating one’s self), and they tend to be written in a clear, concise manner that gets to the heart of the issue.
As you know, great position papers are only useful if we can get members and allies to contact legislators. Nancy Amidei, one of our Legislative Action Committee members and a policy professor at the UW School of Social Work, once told a group of social workers that we should commit to calling our legislators once per week for each week of the session. It’s an easy thing to do with the legislative hotline (1-800-562-6000), and you can leave a message for not only your legislators, but also the Governor-all in one easy call! And be sure to mention that we need title protection for social workers so that only those with a social work education can call themselves a social worker……
We also have some wonderful educational opportunities coming up this spring. In February Claudia Black will be here to talk about addiction and it’s impact on families, in May we have our annual conference for two days (lots of CEU’s), and in later that month Marshall Jung returns to Washington State to present a two day conference on supervision which will meet state requirements for supervisor training. Please check out the details on the website and sign up in order to ensure a space.
The board of NASW Washington has also been looking at ways to enhance what the organization is doing and to more actively promote our profession. The more NASW is visible, the more education the general public and legislators receive about the value of our profession. We will be launching a fundraising plan in the next few months to raise money for ads promoting social work throughout the state (the image campaign) and to enhance our continuing education programs.
We will be doing this through member solicitations, developing a sponsorship plan, exploring grants, and offering a fundraising event on an annual basis. We know social workers already have dues to pay (half of which go to the National office), and tend to be generous givers (relative to average social work salaries), but in order to increase our value, we need to become more visible and do more outreach throughout the state. It’s time we let the world know just how much we do for society, and as our value is recognized, we hope that is reflected in more social work positions, better pay for those positions, and a surge in those wanting to join the profession of social work.
And here’s a couple of closing “to do’s”: 1) Call your legislators to let them know how you feel, and if you support an NASW position, let them know that too, 2) Come to lobby day February 19th, 3) Consider signing up for one of our upcoming educational events, 4) Consider joining the board or a committee-the deadlines are looming for board elections, 5) Nominate someone for one of the annual social work awards-we know there are a lot of deserving folks out there, so help them to get recognized. 6) Enjoy our longer days…spring is coming faster each year!