The Priorities
The nation’s 700,00 social workers are an essential workforce and have been since the founding of the profession over a century ago. We are among the most racially diverse mental and behavioral health and healthcare professions and provide critically needed services to millions of Americans every day in a broad range of settings including healthcare facilities, schools, child welfare, community agencies, correctional institutions, and private practice.
NASW looks to the Biden-Harris administration and Congress to galvanize the country around fighting the country's most devastating public health crisis since 1918, and its many impacts. The rapid deployment of the COVID-19 vaccines is crucial in our recovery, and the relief packages to date continue to be instrumental in mitigating the devastation. But more action is needed to save lives and livelihoods.
Mental and behavioral health are crucial components of overall health. Social workers play a crucial role in promoting mental and behavioral health and do so in a broad range of settings and communities and with a wide array of populations.
NASW supports the enactment of a national health care policy that ensures access to a full, coordinated continuum of physical, mental health and social care services for all people. A single-payer system that ensures universal access to these services is the best means to achieve this goal, and the Affordable Care Act moves the nation in the right direction.
Interpersonal violence has a traumatizing impact across the lifespan on individuals, families, communities, and society. Developing and broadly implementing interventions to promote healthy relationships and reduce violence should be a high priority for policy action.
By working together, the social work profession, NASW, and the federal government can create a society in which older adults and people of all ages thrive.
Social isolation is a silent killer—as dangerous to health as smoking. Our challenge is to educate the public on this dual health hazard, support health and human service professionals in addressing loneliness and social isolation and promote policies that deepen social connections and community for people of all ages.
Our nation may be facing the most severe housing crisis in its history. In the absence of robust and swift intervention, an estimated 30 to 40 million people in America could be at risk of eviction in the next several months.
Climate change is one of the greatest threats to human health, mental health and societal well-being that the world has ever faced. The health and mental health impacts of climate change and climate pollution also damage our economy. The toll on our health and economy continues to rise as we delay action.
New technologies can be deployed in order to more strategically target social spending, speed up the development of effective programs and interventions and bring a wider array of help to more individuals and communities.
Corrective action is essential to abate long standing inequities associated with systemic discriminatory practices. Our leaders (with support of the general public) must transform their understanding of the system of oppression and the factors that keep it in place and take actions that make our society more equitable and inclusive for all people.
A persistent cycle of economic insecurity has ensnared working Americans
for decades as they encounter the unpredictable events of social life
and the economic risk inherent in our economy. NASW calls on national leaders to implement a multifaceted approach to tackling poverty and creating economic stability.
Addressing racial and social injustices, deconstructing stereotypes, dismantling inequality, exposing unfair practices and accepting the super diversity of the population will advance this challenge. All of these actions are critical to fostering a successful society.
The current lower federal court judges are young, highly ideological and do not reflect the modern United States.
Nearly 1,000 policies attacking immigrants were issued by the prior administration. These xenophobic policies are antithetical to the principles of our Constitution and must be rescinded.
It is essential that children who experience trauma as a result of child abuse, neglect, and other acts of violence receive proper support and services.
A once declining veteran population is now increasing again and is in additional need of mental health treatment to address issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, depression, substance use disorder, domestic violence, and suicide.
LGBTQ people do not have full civil and statutory protection under the law as defined in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Discrimination remains a widespread threat to LGBTQ people’s well-being, health and economic security.
Although there has been tremendous progress over the past few decades to address issues of disability rights violations, due in large part to enactment of the ADA, this community still experiences barriers, discrimination, and a lack of access to the full benefits of society.