Maine State Rep. Lydia Crafts is 2024 Social Worker of the Year
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Maine State Rep. Lydia Crafts, MSW, LCSW, is recipient of the 2024 National Social Worker of the Year Award for her comprehensive and sustained efforts in improving social conditions for people across Maine and advocating for social workers in her state.
Rep. Crafts not only improved the lives of children in her role as a school social worker, but is using her position as a state legislator to bring positive changes to the entire state. She has helped sponsor and co-sponsor more than 100 pieces of legislation - most recently spearheading passage of the Social Work Interstate Licensing Compact.
She has also supported bills that would support school-based behavioral health services and reverse limits on social workers’ power to diagnose certain ailments and pushed the Social Work Education Loan Repayment program.
Rep. Crafts grew up in Midcoast Maine. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College and later earned her master’s degree in social work from the University of Maine. She lived in the Pacific Northwest for several years, but then returned to Maine and pursued a career in behavioral health.
As a school social worker, she has focused on supporting key mental health needs of children and their families. Rep. Craft’s legislative work focuses on enhancing Maine’s behavioral health infrastructure, improving access to services, supporting a strong workforce, and championing social work.
The NASW Maine Chapter in April also named Rep. Crafts the 2023 Social Worker of the Year for her widespread and continued commitment to social justice, legislative actions, and her advocacy efforts in the health and welfare of people in her state.
Crafts co-sponsored a new bill that would remove barriers for entry into the social work profession for both bachelor’s and master’s degree graduates, an action that would benefit the public by getting more mental health services professions into the field.
NASW is proud to bestow Rep. Crafts with the honor of Social Worker of the Year. Her work is an example of how social workers can work at the individual, community, and government level to improve living conditions for all.
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW), in Washington, DC, is the largest membership organization of professional social workers. It promotes, develops, and protects the practice of social work and social workers. NASW also seeks to enhance the well-being of individuals, families, and communities through its advocacy.
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