Below is a list of selected accomplishments by the Special Commission—some of which are completed and some of which are in progress, continuing until fruition. Additional details, recommendations, and next steps are found in the reports of the Action Cluster and Work Groups that follow:
- Presented the Second Annual Rothman Award for Structural Change in Action: Awarded in 2023 to social worker Melissa Draughn and Tam Perry for Senior Housing Preservation- Detroit (SHP-D). Established through the generous donation from Jack and Judy Rothman to the Special Commission.
- Presented the First Annual Rothman Award for Structural Change in Action: Awarded in 2022 to social worker Bobbi Sackman for NY Fair Pay Campaign and lifetime of aging justice. Established through the generous donation from Jack and Judy Rothman to the Special Commission.
- Produced the inaugural Specialized Practice Curricular Guide for Macro Social Work Practice in 2018, in partnership with CSWE, and ACOSA, the Network of Social Work Management, and Influencing Social Policy with a National Task Force of more than 80 social work faculty from across the country. Available free on-line www.cswe.org
- Increasing macro theory, research, education and practice at professional conferences at CSWE, BPD, NASW, Policy 0, SSWR, and NSWM
- Promoting the SC macro agenda in political and policy venues at the “Social Work on Capitol Hill Day” since 2015 with Social Work Congressional Caucus sponsored by the Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy R.I.S.P (www.crispinc.org)
- Partnering with CSWE, NASW, NADD, and SSWR and continuing collaborations with ASWB and other major national social work organizations
- Forging connections with the US Department of Labor (Bureau of Labor Statistics) to revise the definition of Social Work Jobs with a more inclusive and expansive description of social work roles, functions, and settings that include the macro end of social work (www.dol/bls.gov).
- Showcasing the role and contributions of macro trained social workers at the community, system, and policy levels through various social media, You tube channel, socialworkhelper.com; the New Social Worker, See for example “Special Commission to Advance Macro Practice in Social Work – Overview” on YouTube
- Supporting the Macro Social Work Student Network (www.mswsn.org), a national student-initiated project with ACOSA and #MacroSW Chat
- Promoting the utilization of macro journals: Journal of Community Practice and Human Service Management (formerly Administration in Social Work), Journal of Policy Practice and Research
- Strengthen the CSWE Educational and Policy Accreditation Standards (EPAS 2022) as it did for EPAS 2015: to emphasize voting and social justice, civic engagement, a the macro practice more robustly.
- Successfully nominated macro educators for CSWE Lifetime Achievement and other Notable Awards: Michael Reisch, 2014; Jack Rothman, 2015; Mimi Abramovitz, 2018; and Tracy Soska, CSWE Leadership Award, 2018; Terry Mizrahi, Leadership Award 2019; Darlyne Bailey, CSWE Carl A. Scott Memorial Lecture, 2021.)
- EXCERPT FROM MEMO FROM SOCIETY OF SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH (SSWR) – MAY 2018
PRESIDENT RUTH DUNKLE
“The SSWR supports the Special Commission agenda and has been moving in a similar direction on many of the issues identified by the Special Commission… The entire Board is open to engaging in further dialogue, but we particularly encourage your group to reach out for an initial deeper, developmental conversation with those current members of the Board with identified macro-level interests and expertise.” - STATEMENT FROM THE NASW BOARD – FEBRUARY 2018
PRESIDENT KATHY WEHRMANN
“The NASW Board supports the Special Commission’s goals and objectives and will work to collaborate with the Special Commission.” - STATEMENT BY THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF DEANS AND DIRECTORS – OCTOBER 2017
PRESIDENT MARTELL TEASLEY
“The NADD Board of Directors wholeheartedly endorses the Special Commission to Advance Macro Practice in Social Work and supports its goal of ’20 by 2020′. We strongly feel that the Special Commission is an important endeavor and will work with these colleagues to achieve this goal that is central to the future of the social work profession.” - STATEMENT IN CSWE’S FULL CIRCLE ONLINE PUBLICATION – SEPTEMBER 2017
“CSWE Affirms the Need to Advance Macro Practice”
“At its June 2017 meeting, the CSWE Board of Directors affirmed the need to ensure that the preparation of social workers be rooted in the professions’ historic mission to promote social justice through social change. One of the goals of the Special Commission to Advance Macro Practice is to have 20% of MSW students concentrating their studies in macro practice by the year 2020. CSWE commends the focus and leadership of the Special Commission on advancing macro practice. CSWE and the Special Commission will continue to work together to identify activities and devote resources to furthering macro practice in social work education.”
- DATA AND OUTCOMES (2022)
Special Commission for the Advancement of Macro Practice in Social Work Deb Adams, and Sangeun (Isabel) Lee, Terry Mizrahi.
Survey Background
Special Commission for the Advancement of Macro Practice in Social Work conducts an annual survey of SC members concerning the attention to macro social work content in their school or program. The following data comes from the 2022 survey. The invitation for survey participation was sent out to SC Allies and Members (+1,000) in June 2022. A total of 103 responses have been received over the past five months.
Macro social work content in respondent’s program/institution:
If your program offered the MSW degree in AY 2021-2022 | |||
Total | Yes | No | |
Did it offer a macro social work area of specialization (aka concentration)? | 75 | 48% | 52% |
Did your program offer the Advanced Generalist area of specialization? | 71 | 32% | 68% |
In 2021-2022, did your program: | |||
Total | Yes | No | |
Increase macro content in existing classes or field education? | 65 | 40% | 60% |
Add new macro practice classes to your curriculum? | 65 | 22% | 78% |
Add micro/macro integrated classes or content to classes? | 62 | 42% | 58% |
Hire faculty members with macro practice experience? | 64 | 55% | 45% |
Have enough macro students for macro field placements? | 61 | 57% | 43% |
Have enough macro field placements for macro students? | 63 | 59% | 41% |
Themes Identified in Analysis of Qualitative Survey Data
Main Questions
a: What are the challenges your program is still facing in expanding macro specialization/content?
- Lack of macro social work-related resources and faculty who can teach Macro Social Work classes
- Unclear macro career path after graduation
- Buy-in from administrators and whole school body
- Locating adequate field practicum for macro social work students
b: What your social work program or agency/organization is doing to advance macro education, practice, and/or research in the classroom, in the field, or in the community?
- Redesigning our BSW and MSW curriculum to include more macro social work contents
- Building strong connections with local community engagement and Alumni
- Making intentional balance between macro and micro
Newly Introduced Questions in 2022:
a: Do you think the social and political realities in the US as a whole and/or in your state in the last five years have influenced changes in your program or your student body? Approximately 45% of respondents told us that they thought social and political realities in the US or in their state had influenced their degree programs or student bodies: Yes, seeing more structural racism in the country; Yes, receiving more requests to discuss racism, critical race theory, and anti-racism work; Yes, more students are not as interested in poverty as it used to be. They are more interested in racial justice and racial equity.