NASW Social Work Talks - EP11: Social Work Speaks & NASW Policy Statements

Episode Date: August 7, 2018

NASW Senior Practice Associate Roxana Torrico Meruvia, MSW, talks about Social Work Speaks, NASW policy statements and how members can get involved in the process. See Episode 11 show notes for resources

Welcome to NASW Social Work Talks. The National Association of Social Workers is one of the largest membership organizations of professional social workers in the world. NASW works to enhance the professional growth and development of its members, to create and maintain professional standards, and to advance sound social policies. With our mission in mind, the purpose of NASW Social Work Talks is to inform, educate, and inspire. We encourage you to learn more about NASW by visiting www.socialworkers.org. And we thank you for joining us for this episode of NASW Social Work Talks. I'm Kim Simpson with NASW.

In this episode, we explore the 11th edition of Social Work Speaks, National Association of Social Workers Policy Statements. We'll also talk about how NASW members can engage in the process. Social Work Speaks can be purchased from the NASW Press in both book and e-book formats. But first, some context from the forward of the latest edition. The policy statements in this book set the parameters for the National Association of Social Workers' positions on a broad range of critical public policy and professional issues, ranging from human trafficking and transgender and gender nonconforming people to immigrants and refugees. Social Work Speaks is a comprehensive collection of policies adopted and revised by NASW's key policymaking body, the Delegate Assembly, comprised of 277 professional social workers who represent NASW's diverse membership. The Delegate Assembly sets broad organizational policy, establishes program priorities, and develops a collective stance on public and professional issues. Since NASW's inception in 1955, policy statement adoption has been part of its governance process.

Our guest to enlighten us on Social Work Speaks is Roxana Maruvia, Senior Practice Associate at NASW and the lead in revising NASW's policy statements. Welcome, Roxana. We're so pleased you could join us. Thank you, Kim. I'm happy to be here. So let's start out by talking about your background and your role at NASW. Okay, great. I am a social worker and a certified project manager. I serve as a senior practice associate here at NASW's national office, and part of my role is to lead the development and revision process for NASW policy statements. So what does that mean in terms of what you do? as the lead in revising NASW's policy statements, walk us through your role in the process.

Okay. So as a lead of the project, I essentially manage the process from the initiation to closing of each policy revision cycle. And this includes working with NASW's policy statement steering committee, as well as NASW staff in developing and revising the policy statements. So I facilitate the recruitment of expert panelists. I work with the communications department to reach out to members via social media. I've done the training of experts and staff of the overall process. I also collaborate and work very closely with NASW Press to ensure that the product is ready for final print. There is a lot of work that goes into the development of the revision and of the policy statements across the department. We work, I think it's about six

departments that work on this, in this process. And so it's about at least 30 staff members across NASW that touch the process at some point. And I'm essentially the point of contact. So it's a many months long process. Many months long. It varies, but I would say on average about nine months. So NASW has a long history with its policy statements. Can you guide us through a deeper dive into the history of Social Work Speaks? Yes, absolutely. The policy statement adoption has been part of the governance process since NASW's inception in 1955.

Every three years, Social Work Speaks has continually provided a comprehensive collection of NASW policy statements. The first edition, actually, of Social Work Speaks, which I found really interesting, was adopted by NISW or the Delegate Assembly in May 1958, and it was actually sold for a dollar, and it contained 12 policy statements. If you look at today, we're in our 11th edition, and we have 65 policy statements in the full volume. However, we did print our first e-book update, addendum to the Social Work Speaks, in spring of 2017, and that actually included nine policy statements that were reviewed. And what's the actual process for choosing and formulating each policy statement? So the NASW Policy Statement Steering Committee, which is essentially the internal organizing body, meets periodically and we review current member suggestions while also considering policy statements based on when they were last revised and what current trends are in the field. And so with that information, we meet, we discuss, and then decide which are going to be the future policy statements that will be reviewed. I've been reading through. It's a thick volume.

In the latest edition of Social Work Speaks, it looks like there's 65 public and professional policy statements, and the range of topics is broad, from adolescent and young adult health to aging, homelessness, mental health, racism, and reproductive health. That's just to name a few. So walk us through the breadth and depth, because I'm sure this appeals to social workers across the board in many different practice areas. Yes, there are a range of policy statements. And I think that Every social worker that goes through the policy, the Social Work Speaks, would see that there are policies that would resonate with their work. But in general, just to let you know, so there are 65 policy statements in the latest edition of Social Work Speaks. It is important to note, because it's on a continuous review, that in the most recent volume, the 11th volume, we have 23 statements that were revised.

And then one policy statement that is actually new, and that's the licensing and regulation of social work practice. And out of those 24 statements, again, nine of those were printed in the e-book update in spring 2017. But again, they're all included in Social Work Speaks. But I think everybody that would go through the book would find something that would be appealing to their practice area. And what's the range of actual uses? It sounds like it's as broad as the actual policy statements. Yes. Well, let me, I guess I want to back up a little bit just in terms of what each policy statement looks like.

They're about, I would say, an average of 12 to 15 pages. And each policy statement is essentially a declaration of NASW's position on a particular issue. They include the reason for believing that it's an important issue, the background material on the history of the particular issue, as well as the relevance to the social work profession, which is critical. And then at the end of each statement, there's a section that really describes where NASW sits on the position. In terms of the range of uses related to or for the policy statements, once they're adopted by NASW's Delegate Assembly, the policy statements can be used in a range of ways. They can be used to guide NASW's advocacy positions on legislative issues, and that's on the chapter and the national level. For instance, NASW staff can use the various positions in Social Work Speaks to justify either opposing legislation or supporting legislation. It can also, the policies can also be used to develop language for testimony as well

as sign-on letters. Other ways that the policies are used is as a teaching tool in schools of social work. And that's a very popular way that they are used. For instance, professors can use the policy statements to spark discussions in their classrooms, but also to create assignments for social work students. Another way that policy statements are also used is to educate other organizations on social work stance on particular issues. But overall, it's really the backbone of NASW's larger advocacy work. And equally important, Social Work Speaks also plays a role in NASW legal action and the Legal Defense Fund.

Can you walk us through that process and its importance? Yes. So NASW staff working in our legal department use the policy statements regularly in their work. For example, they use the statements to determine if NASW is going to participate or support an issue in an amicus brief. And for those who aren't familiar, amicus briefs or friends of the court briefs are meant to help educate the court on specific issues. So they find Social Work Speaks a very useful tool because it provides the clear guidelines as to what the profession supports. And if I'm an NASW member, how can I, in addition to purchasing the volume, how can I get involved in the process? There are a few ways that you could, and I encourage everybody to explore it. members can participate by submitting their resumes and bios to be considered for upcoming

expert panels. In fact, we are currently recruiting for expert panels for some upcoming policy statements through September 28th. And the next policy statements that are going to be reviewed is school violence, foster care and adoption, juvenile justice and delinquency prevention, mental health sovereignty rights and the well-being of indigenous people so um and at the end i will um at the end of the section i can i can share how people can access the information to submit their information another way that members can participate is by commenting on policies during the public comment period we post our policies for about 30 days after they've been reviewed to get feedback from members and so that's a really

important time for members to provide feedback because they will see the original statement as well as a revised statement and they're able to provide feedback during that time and lastly members can provide suggestions for new policy statements at any time or provide suggestions to revise any upcoming policy statements as well as eliminate some statements. We have eliminated statements in the past, but I would invite people to refer to the show notes because that's where we'll be posting the links where you can become or submit your material to become an expert panelist as well as submit suggestions for future policies.

So it sounds like there is truly value in our NASW members getting involved in this process. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. The last round of revisions, we had 100 NASW members participate on the expert panels. And members are out in the field, so they're doing the work. And it's valuable information for us to have, but it also provides a wonderful opportunity for NASW staff and members to collaborate. Sounds like a wonderful opportunity. I hope folks will get involved. Anything else come to mind that we haven't talked about that's important? I think I would encourage members to use Social Work Speaks for your own work, but also to engage as much as you can, whether it be through submitting public comments or participating on an expert panel. And if you have any questions about what that looks like, feel free to reach out to us and we're happy to do that.

There's also in the resources, we've posted a roll of expert panels so folks know what the expectations would be since it is a lengthy, well, it's a time commitment during that process. And again, Social Work Speaks can be purchased on the NASW Press website in both book and e-book formats. Yes. Thank you so much for joining us today, Ruxanna. Thank you for having me today. Until next time. You have been listening to NASW Social Work Talks, a production of the National Association of Social Workers.

We encourage you to visit NASW's website for more information about our efforts to enhance the professional growth and development of our members, to create and maintain professional standards, and to advance sound social policies. You can learn more at www.socialworkers.org. Don't forget to subscribe to NASW Social Work Talks wherever you get your podcasts.

Thanks again for joining us. We look forward to seeing you next episode.