|
|||||||||||||||
Home
|
May/June 2006
The latest study on the social work workforce provides revealing information about you and your colleagues and important data to plan for the future. What is a social worker? The answer depends on whom you ask or the state in which you live. In many states, anyone doing work that is in any way associated with social services can be and is identified as a “social worker,” often regardless of his or her education or qualifications. The lack of a standard definition of “social worker” is the driving factor behind a new study from the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Center for Workforce Studies. The report, “Assuring the Sufficiency of a Frontline Workforce: A National Study of Licensed Social Workers,” seeks not only to define the status and needs of the profession, but to establish a standard definition of the professional social worker. Tracy Whitaker, ACSW, director of the NASW Center for Workforce Studies, describes the shortcomings of previous studies: “We looked at a couple of resources and we found that the way social worker was defined was so variable that we weren’t always able to compare apples to apples.” Whitaker found that when she and her colleagues looked at census data, approximately 800,000 people consider themselves social workers. But when they compared that number with people who had college degrees, the number dropped significantly. “There’s this large number of people who regard themselves as social workers but who don’t have any real credentials,” says Whitaker. Next, Whitaker and her coinvestigators turned to the Bureau of Labor Statistics for data on the number of jobs classified as social work positions. “But we knew that didn’t necessarily mean that social workers held those positions,” Whitaker says. To establish a solid base of respondents for their study, Whitaker and her colleagues drew a random sample of 10,000 social workers from social work licensure lists of 48 states and the District of Columbia. “We were really trying to wrap our arms around a number that would help us get a handle on the definition of the profession as people with a degree,” says Whitaker. “We wanted to count them and look at the supply, particularly of front-line service providers, in that way.” Setting Goals But an equally important goal for the NASW was to clarify the kind of work social workers do, the role they play in agencies, and the kinds of contributions they make. “We especially wanted to explain social work as a profession where people are bringing specific skills and knowledge,” says Whitaker. But lacking a standard definition of a social worker makes data gathering difficult, and according to Whitaker, also carries much more destructive consequences. “When people are not bringing the knowledge base, the practice skills, and values into their work with clients, the outcomes are less predictable and not as good,” says Whitaker. She also believes the lack of clarity on who is a social worker has allowed the public to make assumptions about who is actually doing the work. “And that doesn’t serve the profession well,” Whitaker says. “In fact, I’m willing to bet that many of the horror stories we hear are in cases where there were not, in fact, licensed social workers providing services.” Whitaker also found that there was a significant correlation between social workers who worked in agencies that hire non-social workers and those who were planning to leave the profession. “Not only do clients have worse outcomes, but the social workers themselves don’t feel valued, supported, and respected in these agencies, and that can drive them away,” says Whitaker. “So you end up really lowering the bar across the board.” The report (which can be viewed on the NASW Center for Workforce Studies Web site at http://workforce.socialworkers.org) includes information on the characteristics of licensed social workers, their employment settings, roles and tasks, client populations, and workplace issues. Key Findings While social workers reported experiencing increased barriers to effective practice and a decrease in support systems for effective practice, most also expressed satisfaction with their efficacy as practitioners. A small but significant percentage (12%) of social workers reported that they plan to leave the profession within the next two years; those planning to leave were more likely to have a BSW as their highest degree; more likely to work in a nursing home, social service agency, or hospital; and more likely to report that their employers recruit non-social workers to fill social work positions. Many studies tend to confirm ideas that investigators already hold. But according to Whitaker, the Center for Workforce Studies report contained a few surprises. “I was surprised by a couple of things,” says Whitaker. “First, even though the respondents were pretty consistent in identifying more obstacles to practice and said that their jobs were getting harder, I was really surprised by the high level of commitment, and that overall, people planned to continue working in the field and to even stay in their current positions. However, it’s equally surprising that given the changing demographics of the general population and of the profession itself, social work could face a shortage in terms of the supply of social workers available to meet the new demands for services.” Whitaker also found herself surprised by the percentage
of social workers who identified safety issues. “There are some areas
where we expect social workers to encounter more danger than in other areas,”
says Whitaker. “But I was surprised at how there was a perception of danger
across many settings. Still, it was reassuring that most of the respondents
thought that their employers adequately addressed those issues.” “In the children and family services area, what struck me is that the average age is younger and the average tenure is shorter,” says Schagrin. “What didn’t surprise me, at least in the child welfare area, was that on the one hand, while these are some of the most challenging, professional jobs in social work, the folks we attract are the young, inexperienced, enthusiastic, fresh-out-of-school social workers. It’s like a training ground for social work—but we so badly need a seasoned work force.” Still, Schagrin believes some of the findings in the study, especially those in her field of child services, were positive, even hopeful. “The longevity of people who provide children’s services was over a decade,” says Schagrin. “And I thought that the intent to leave was pretty low. In an area like child welfare, turnover is so damaging, because this work is all about relationships. Looking at this report and knowing that the tenure is fairly substantial, that workers feel prepared for their work and that they want to remain in their jobs is a pretty positive thing. As an employer, I’d be looking at those findings and saying, ‘That’s good—that’s a benefit of hiring a social worker.’” Getting more employers to hire MSWs is one of Whitaker’s ideal goals in presenting the study, but she admits that getting employers to hire more qualified social workers is easier said than done. “We would definitely like to persuade employers of social workers,” says Whitaker. “One of the things that’s a little bit tricky for social workers is that we work in so many settings in so many sectors, private, nonprofit, and public, and we often work in organizations like hospitals where social work is not the primary profession. So when we’re working in those settings, it’s very important that the employers of social workers understand what social work staff are doing and that the profession is treated with the same regard as other professions.” Hiring More MSWs In the field of aging, where there is perhaps the greatest opportunity for the employment of social workers, very few MSWs are hired. “There are very few long-term care facilities that have MSWs working for them, because they will not pay an MSW salary,” says Susan W. Graefe, ACSW, LICSW, a social worker in private practice in Warwick, RI. “When I began focusing on the field of aging in 1978, there were many MSWs practicing in hospital settings and in visiting nurse settings. The visiting nurse setting I used to consult with that had six MSWs now has one.” In the long-term care setting, nursing has taken over many of the roles social workers played—helping the patient and family deal with the emotional issues that accompany adjusting to the physical limitations that may result from a stroke, for instance. “The social worker would be part of the team along with the nurse, the physical therapist, the occupational therapist,” says Graefe. “Now the nurse works on that emotional adjustment aspect.” Schagrin agrees that the bottom line plays a big role in employers’ decision to recruit non-social workers. “We’re still ambivalent as a society about whether or not we should be paying for helping people. This also ties into the failure to establish our identity and establish our numbers. If you can’t establish our identity and measure our numbers, it’s hard to measure our effectiveness and show what kind of bang you get for your buck by hiring MSWs.” Schagrin cites some ongoing research in the child welfare area that may provide proof of the cost effectiveness of hiring qualified social workers. As the Center for Workforce Studies report indicates, social workers with MSW degrees tend to stay in their jobs longer. “Turnover is very damaging to outcomes, so if you hire MSWs and have greater retention, you have better outcomes—but that research is still in its early stages,” Schagrin says. “Unfortunately, as long as we can’t demonstrate the cost benefits of hiring qualified social workers, we’re at a disadvantage.” Planning Ahead For social workers like Graefe, the study may serve as a tool to help recruit young social workers into the field of aging. “I think we each can be advocates and crusaders to promote working in aging. In fact, I’m giving a workshop next week and I’m going to bring in information from that study and say, ‘Look folks, we really need more of you.’” Schagrin also sees the study as an important recruitment tool. “It does establish a baseline for future years,” says Schagrin. “It tells us, as a profession, where we need to focus.” So far, Whitaker is pleased with the initial response the report has received from the social work profession. “Social workers seem very pleased that we’ve begun this effort,” says Whitaker. “That’s been very exciting and gratifying. We’re looking forward to expanding our studies to look at different groups of social workers in different settings.” The information on the report is currently available on the NASW Web site. NASW also plans to do some targeted outreach to employers and workforce planners. “We would love for workforce planners in governors’ offices to look at this report and be concerned about whether there’s an adequate supply of social workers,” says Whitaker. “I believe that people who choose to do this particular kind of work truly are committed,” says Graefe. “They have made a choice to work with older people and are passionate about it.” Schagrin emphasizes that social workers need to play a more active and positive role in promoting their own profession. “Social workers tend to complain about how much worse things are getting, how poorly we’re treated, that we aren’t paid enough money,” says Schagrin. “I think we sometimes take on the persona of our clients, which may be that of a victim. We can be our own worst enemy in selling our profession, when in fact there are many of us who love this work and would not choose any other—although we hate to admit it! As a profession, we can be cynical, when some of us feel very lucky to have work of the heart that is so enormously satisfying.” Graefe agrees that while charts and statistics can be important tools, they are nothing without the personal energy and commitment of the individual. “You can have all the advertising and recruitment materials in the world,” says Graefe, “but what’s really important is the inspiration that one person can provide to his or her fellow social workers. If there’s excitement and enthusiasm about what you’re doing and what you’re seeing happen—and I’ve seen some pretty miraculous things happen—then you can draw people into the profession. It’s that spirit and inspiration that we need.” — David Surface is a freelance writer and editor based in Brooklyn, NY. Working at the VA — The Benefits of Professionalism Establishing one standard professional definition of a social worker is a problem throughout most of the settings in which social workers find themselves employed—but not in the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA). According to Jill Manske, ACSW, LISW, MSW, director of social work services, the VA has a very specific definition for what qualifies a person to be a social worker. To be employed by the VA, a person must have a master’s degree in social work from a school that’s accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. “One of the reasons we require a master’s degree is that we have very complex patients with very complex healthcare problems,” says Manske. “And we really need social workers who have master’s level training to do psychosocial assessment and to provide the full range of psychosocial services for our patients.” Thirty-two percent of all social workers employed by the VA will be eligible to retire in 2009. So while it may look as though the VA is facing the same problem of their social workers “aging out” that’s faced by other employers, Manske is concerned but not particularly worried. With more than 4,400 social workers on staff, the VA is the largest employer of social workers in the country. As for the future, Manske sounds confident that the VA will continue to attract new social workers looking for a good place to work. Part of what attracts new social workers to the VA, according to Manske is the large degree of independence they enjoy. “There’s a federal law that requires our social workers to be licensed to practice independently in a healthcare setting,” she says. “That means they don’t need physicians or anyone else signing off on their progress notes or their treatment plans.” Social workers provide one quarter of all the outpatient mental health services that the VA provides. The agency hires many clinical social workers who provide psychotherapy and counseling services at 154 hospitals and more than 1,400 satellite community-based outpatient clinics. “We have strong practice standards and I think we’ve been a good place to work,” says Manske. “We’ve never had a shortage of social workers.” As for the practice of some long-term and elder care employers shying away from hiring MSWs because of their salaries, Manske has this to offer: “The cost of a social worker’s salary is more than offset by the savings to the facility in terms of patient care. I would argue that the nursing homes who say that they can’t afford to pay social workers are being short-sighted because social workers can do a lot in the way of addressing psychosocial problems and mental health problems. And the social worker is a very cost effective person to do this.” — DS
|
|
Raising
the Bar Again — The NASW Center for Workforce Studies Report |
3801 Schuylkill Rd • Spring City, PA 19475
Publishers of Social Work Today
All rights reserved.