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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Passion for the Profession: Celebrating Indiana Social Workers

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Friday, March 8, 2019   

INDIANAPOLIS – Those who provide comfort and protection for Hoosiers in crisis say they need more support in their efforts.

March is National Professional Social Work Month, and in Indiana, about 8,000 licensed social workers provide assistance in schools, hospitals, mental-health facilities and social-service agencies. Executive Director of the National Association of Social Workers in Indiana Beryl Cohen says it's a high-stress job that comes with inadequate pay.

"We're not seeing the salaries that we should be seeing based on our education and our licensing,” says Cohen. “We step into this because we really believe in what we do. And that passion is good, but believing doesn't put a meal on your table. And one of the biggest challenges is having people seeing us as well-trained professionals."

Cohen says social-worker pay lags behind other professions that perform similar duties. The average annual salary for social workers in Indiana is $42,000, compared with about $57,000 for a teacher and $70,000 for a registered nurse.

The CEO of the National Association of Social Workers, Angelo McClain, notes that social workers are the largest providers of mental-health services and also on the front lines of the opioid crisis.

"Social workers are providing the mental-health and substance-abuse services and also child protective services for those families as well,” says McClain. “This one social problem has a ripple effect, and social workers are front and center on helping address those issues."

Congress is considering measures to better support the profession, including HR 1289 that would offer resources to recruit more social workers and HR 1309, which calls for workplace violence prevention plans at social service agencies.



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