However, because society sees social work from one side, to strengthen my degree, I have to do a certification program in Non-profit management/ Policy/Public Administration….sad i know- but I want to make a nice salary-Īlso- I think it’s in the best interest of all social workers and the profession to take some business/ management classes. I am more interested in policy development, quality assurance, health care, international services, and program evaluation- these are things you can do with a social work degree (Laura Chick- look her up)- and with these skills you can actually receive a nice salary. Social work does not start and stop at ‘taking children away’ or ‘sitting in circles running groups’- I do not have a strong interest in DCFS, Mental Health ,and I have absolutely no interest in clinical work/ private practice- but I will be a social worker. Just because I work in a medical office, I’ve worked with people in the medical field, does not- DOES NOT make me a doctor- and if I tried to work under that title, without the proper education, I would have some consequences- and the same should happen for people who call themselves social workers, but lack the education.Īnother thing that has to happen is educating people on what you can do with an MSW. The clerk at the human services office isn’t a social worker- the intake counselor who hasn’t been trained nor educated should not be called a social worker- this threatens our reputation- the role/title ‘social worker’ has become a universal name like ‘band-aid’ or ‘Kleenex’. I am currently working on my MSW in macro work, and as a student, it is such a slap in the face to see people who haven’t been trained or educated as social workers given the title ‘social worker’- this is where title protection comes in…it protects our profession, our livelihood and could raise the pay for ALL the work we do. When I see these social workers, I pray that isn’t the future I’m headed for- but I also remember there are stressed out burned out people in other professions with higher pay- the only difference is- they have a higher pay… I see a lot of stressed out/ burned out social workers, and if anyone says otherwise then they are kidding themselves. As a famous man once said, “Houston, we have a problem.” I have friends and acquaintances who are changing career directions and leaving the field altogether. It might be easy to say that what I’ve written is a sign of burnout but what I’ve written is truthful and painfully accurate for many of us.

mounds of documentation/group prep/workshops). no threats bodily injury), have no CEU/licensure/malpractice insurance expenses and never have occasion to take their work home with them (eg.

I have a great deal of difficulty with the fact that some high school graduates have higher incomes, better benefits, less stress on the job (eg. While I applaud the efforts to offer loan forgiveness and have fought for it–those of doing mental health, chemical dependency, forensic and aging social work/AoD seem ignored in the process. I’ve worked in many settings in my career and virtually without fail, administrators are out of touch or simply not qualified to supervise/manage social workers (particularly in hospital settings). I would love to have Mary Lee’s optimism, but the social workers and chemical dependency counselors I know are as frustrated and weary as I.

Assume that for the last worker hired