Dear Colleague,

Over the years, NASW has asked you to speak out on behalf of many causes and issues. You have always risen to the occasion. Significant strides have been made in areas such as children’s health care, employment nondiscrimination, and fair pay legislation. Your advocacy has resulted in the enhanced mental health, social and psychosocial functioning of clients across the country.

I am calling on you today, however, to ask each of you to take a small action, that when combined, can ensure the future of the profession.

On February 14, 2008 the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act (H.R. 5447) was introduced in the United States House of Representatives by Congressman and fellow social worker Edolphus Towns (D-NY) along with original cosponsors Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT), Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA), Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), and Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH).

This groundbreaking legislation bears the names of two of the United States’ greatest social justice advocates and social workers and serves as an investment in the professionals that will care for the millions of aging baby boomers, wounded veterans, the ever-increasing numbers of people diagnosed with cancer, over six million youth with a serious mental illness, and the millions of people living with HIV/AIDS among others. Yet, insurmountable education debt, insufficient salaries, and serious safety concerns are threatening the profession. The Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act (H.R. 5447)will explore the many successful efforts already undertaken by our nation’s social workers, while examining the persistent challenges to these efforts.Â

Social work has always been at the forefront of ensuring that the most vulnerable in society have a safety net of protection. Our communities are in need, more than ever for vital services provided by over 600,000 social workers across the nation. Passage of this legislation is crucial to ensure an adequate social work workforce. The future of this profession depends on the steps that we take to reinvest in it today. We cannot make this happen without the assistance of every one of our members across the country.Â

Please help us ensure that the profession of social work will grow and thrive in the coming decades. I am asking you as a leader in the profession, to encourage your Representative to cosponsor H.R. 5447 today by clicking here http://capwiz.com/socialworkers/issues/bills/?bill=11013991.

For more information, contact Elizabeth Franklin at (202) 408-8600 ext. 537 or efranklin@naswdc.org.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth J. Clark, PhD, ACSW, MPH
NASW Executive Director

Leaders of the House Education and Labor Committee announced that they expect the House to vote on the College Opportunity and Affordability Act (H.R. 4137) on Thursday, Feb. 7. The legislation reauthorizes the Higher Education Act (HEA), which sets financial aid policy for students for the next five years. The bill provides loan forgiveness for national need occupations, clarifies appropriate financial aid professional/lender relationships, simplifies the financial aid application process, attempts to slow rising college costs, and creates a host of reporting requirements for higher education institutions. The loan forgiveness provisions would directly benefit social workers by allowing a person with a degree in social work or a related field, and who is employed by a public or private child welfare agency, to have part of his or her college loans forgiven. For each year of work, $2,000 would be forgiven, up to a maximum of $10,000 over five years.

The loan forgiveness covers 13 areas of national need, including qualified Head Start, child care and preschool teachers; some teachers in high-need fields; and some mental health professionals. The loan provisions would apply only after the law is passed, not for previous years worked, and would be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. If approved by the House, negotiators from the House and Senate would then reconcile the differences between the two chambers’ versions of the bill. The House and Senate must then approve the negotiated version of the bill and send it to the president to be signed into law. Currently the House version includes the loan forgiveness language while the Senate version (S. 1642) does not.

Important note: We want to emphasize that the College Opportunity and Affordability Act is not the same as the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007 (H.R. 2669) which provides loan forgiveness for social workers in public child or family service agencies, nonprofit, military, and other areas for eligible 120 loan payments made after Oct 1, 2007 http://www.socialworkers.org/advocacy/updates/2007/092107.asp The legislation was signed into law by the President in September. While similar in focus, H.R. 4137 is broader in scope and we need your help in getting this important legislation passed.

Action Needed

H.R. 4137 is slated for a House floor vote tomorrow. Two important actions by you can make the difference in moving things forward. First, please call your House Representative at (202) 224-3121 and urge them to support H.R. 4137 with the loan forgiveness provisions. Second, contact your Senator at the same number and encourage them to include the House loan forgiveness provision in S.1642, the Senate’s current version of HEA. In both cases let your member know that you are a constituent and social worker requesting their support for passage of these important bills with the loan forgiveness provisions for social workers. Thanks for your advocacy.

Nancy McFall Jean, NASW Lobbyist, Government Relations Department

The burden of student loan debt has been growing more unmanageable for social workers and students over the last several years. A recent survey by the Council on Social Work Education found that the average loan debt of social work students graduating in 2004 with a master’s degree in social work was $26,777. Those with bachelor’s degrees in social work faced repayment of $18,609 in loans and those with doctoral degrees in social work were $32,841 in debt. Repayment is particularly challenging for social workers, whose salaries continue to be among the lowest for professionals in general and for those with master’s level educations in particular. In 2001, 22 percent of social workers earned under $30,000 and 20 percent earned between $30,000 and $39,999. The median salary for social workers with two to four years experience was $35,600.

The National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) and the Project on Student Debt have developed the Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project that can help loan saddled social workers and other borrowers to find out more information about the recently passed College Cost Reduction and Access Act, among other student loan related issues. This multi-featured website was created for people who already have student loans and want to know more about their options and rights. The site enables the borrowers to browse a wide range of issues, such as loan basics, default and delinquency, bankruptcy, loan cancellation, repayment, and collections.

The College Cost Reduction and Access Act forgives outstanding education debt for those persons that meet the eligibility requirements. Those that would benefit are employees that have made 120 monthly payments on their loans while serving full-time in social work in public child or family service agencies, government, nonprofit, military, education, and others areas. The loan forgiveness provisions became effective on October 1, 2007.

Preventing problems by providing up-front information about the intricacies of student loans is critical in preventing default. Although the site falls short of providing legal advice about individual cases, it does give a comprehensive overview of the issues and complexities that borrowers face in trying to manage their student loan debt.