SACRAMENTO, Calif. — March is National Professional Social Work Month, and advocates are speaking out about a new campaign to "Elevate Social Work."

Social workers often are called in to help people who suffer from mental illness or drug addiction. In fact, statistics show one-third of social workers have been assaulted and 85 percent have been threatened or verbally abused.

Angelo McClain, CEO of the National Association of Social Workers, supports a bill in Congress to require agencies to have a workplace-violence prevention plan and train workers on how to stay safe.

"People don't realize it, but social work is one of the 10 most dangerous professions,” McLain said. “Ninety-eight percent of our clients, we have good relationships with; we engage well with them. But there's that percent of clients, given the right set of circumstances, can become violent. Some social workers have been murdered in the line of duty."

Groups also are fighting for higher salaries, because the average social worker with a degree makes just $47,000-$49,000 a year - about $12,000 less than nurses or teachers.

McClain said he supports a bill to be introduced in Congress that would raise the rate Medicare pays for social-worker visits. The measure is designed to attract more people to the profession and retain those already working.

In California alone, thousands of jobs in social work remain unfilled.

California's new governor, Gavin Newsom, has voiced his support for programs to lower housing costs, help seniors stay in their homes, and expand subsidized preschool and day care throughout the state. Janlee Wong, director of the California chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, said he supports those moves.

"This is something that social workers believe in because they see how it strengthens families and helps families with their income,” Wong said.

He said he also would like to see a state law require those who call themselves social workers to hold a degree in the field.


get more stories like this via email

AUGUSTA, Maine -- Advocates for access to mental-health services are holding a Behavioral Health Summit today at the Augusta Civic Center. They are hoping to raise awareness about the existing challenges in Maine's behavioral health system -- from staffing shortages to funding gaps -- as a historic amount of money is set to be infused into community mental-health and substance-use services.

John Hennessy, lobbyist for the Behavioral Health Community Collaborative and coordinator of the event, said it is the right time to discuss how best to use the funding to address the needs of Mainers.

"Given 20 months of dealing with COVID and even pre-COVID, the system was precarious in terms of how it was funded, and the sustainability of that funding," Hennessy explained. "We're just trying to bring everyday voices to the public and talk about the issues."

Maine recently upped the reimbursement rates for providers of mental-health and substance-use services, and funding is on the way from COVID relief bills and the American Rescue Plan. But some providers still are shut down, because they have not been able to retain staff to bill under the new rates.

Leaders of the summit say the consequences of staffing shortages and wait lists are severe. When services are not available to residents, it can lead to improper use of incarceration, overfilled emergency rooms and even death.

Hennessy noted a panel of lawmakers at the summit will discuss why some promising legislation does not always make it through at the State House.

"A lot of the problem around community mental-health services is there's still a stigma attached to talking about the services, and we're trying to eradicate that," Hennessy pointed out. "We're trying to bring the stories of real people in real time to the public's awareness."

In addition to being in-person, today's summit is live-streamed on Facebook.

Last month the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Children's Hospital Association and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry together wrote a declaration, saying there is a children's mental-health national emergency. They represent more than 77,000 doctors and more than 200 hospitals.

INDIANAPOLIS - More women and young people have faced behavioral-health challenges since before the pandemic, according to a new report. Nationwide, teen suicides have jumped 26% since 2014, according to the study from United Health Foundation, and anxiety among children also has been on the rise.

Dr. Jen Money-Brady, a Indiana School Counselors Association board member, said many counties in the Hoosier State don't have enough mental-health services for adults or children. In schools, she added, counselors do their best but often have so many students they need to make referrals, and wait times can range from six to 18 months.

"That's just really, really difficult," she said, "when you're thinking about a student who really needs help and can get help from their school counselor in little bits, but can't get really long-term support that they need."

The study compiled more than 100 measures of health, from physical to emotional, social and behavioral health determinants. It found only about one in five kids gets the recommended minimum physical activity of at least 60 minutes a day.

The report also noted that fewer children are getting developmental screenings and child well-visits. Indiana ranks 45th among states for developmental screenings and 33rd for wellness visits.

Dr. Ravi Johar, chief medical officer at UnitedHealthcare, said a nationwide shortage of doctors is contributing to the dip in the number of kids in waiting rooms.

"We know there's decreased access to pediatricians and to women's health-care professionals," he said, "so maybe telehealth will be able to help with some of those things."

Access to health insurance also can be a barrier to care; more than 7% of Indiana children are uninsured, and nearly 12% of women.

CARSON CITY, Nev. -- Nevada scored a D-plus for children's mental health, according to a new report from the Children's Advocacy Alliance.

Researchers evaluated the Silver State on a series of mental-health indicators including depression, substance abuse, developmental disorders, suicide and access to care.

Dr. Tara Raines, Kids Count Initiative director at the Children's Advocacy Alliance in Nevada, said the biggest problem is access: The state faces a huge shortage of pediatric mental-health providers, especially within the juvenile-justice system.

"We need more psychologists," Raines argued. "We need more treatment centers for kids with severe mental-health disorders. We need more psychiatric social workers. We need more child psychiatrists."

The report gave Nevada an F-plus grade for percentage of children receiving mental and behavioral care, noting in several counties, families have almost nowhere to turn when a child develops mental illness.

A 2020 report from Mental Health America ranked Nevada worst in the nation for prevalence of mental illness and low access to care. It found 71% of youths in Nevada who experienced major depressive episodes never got treatment.

The bottom line, she said: Nevada needs to aggressively recruit more providers, as soon as possible. Raines would like the state to fund more slots in nationally accredited child mental-health training programs, especially in southern Nevada.

"We know that people tend to stay where they get licensed," Raines observed. "If we can recruit trainees to come here for internships or for post-doctoral fellowships, the likelihood of them staying on afterwards to become licensed in the state of Nevada is incredibly high."

The report authors also call on the state to require mental health screenings for all kids, and reexamine school discipline to focus more on prevention.