**Hearing before the Committee on Education and Labor**

**Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities**

**United States House of Representatives**

**July 29, 2008**

**Testimony of Michael Bird, MSW, MPH**

Chairwoman McCarthy, Ranking member Platts, and honorable members of the
Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities, I am honored to be
here today to discuss the state of the profession of social work. My
name is Michael Bird and I feel fortunate to have worked in this
profession for over 25 years in many capacities including medical social
work, substance abuse prevention, health promotion, disease prevention,
and health care administration. In addition to my professional training
as a social worker, I also have a master's degree in public health and
have found this combination of careers and professional experience to be
extremely valuable in my practice. I was the first American Indian and
the first social worker to serve as President of the American Public
Health Association and have been an active member of APHA for over 18
years. I've also served as president of the New Mexico Public Health
Association and was a fellow in the U.S. Public Health Service Primary
Care Fellowship Program.  

**Background**

I'm here today to not only discuss the important role that social work
plays in our society but also the unique value placed on diversity in
the social work profession. Social workers provide critical services to
clients across the nation everyday. They work with a broad spectrum of
clients including the homeless, the elderly, students at risk of
dropping out of school, and the incarcerated from all racial, ethnic,
and linguistic backgrounds. Social workers have an ethical
responsibility to pursue social change, particularly with and on behalf
of vulnerable and oppressed individuals and group of people. They also
seek to promote sensitivity to and knowledge about oppression and
cultural and ethnic diversity. Social workers strive to ensure access to
needed information, services, and resources; equality of opportunity;
and meaningful participation in decision making for all people.

The profession is unique in that social workers are expected to
understand different cultures and the functions that those varying
cultures play in everyday life situations. They believe that strengths
can be found in every culture, and that building on those strengths is
the best way to help clients reach their full potential. Specialized
knowledge and understanding about the history, traditions, values,
family systems, and artistic expressions of major client groups is a key
component to the practice of social work as well as the use of
appropriate methodological approaches, skills, and techniques that
reflect the workers' understanding of the role of culture in the helping
process. Through education, experience, and training, social workers
strive to understand the nature of social diversity and oppression. The
profession of social work values an understanding of differing
political, religious, and ideological beliefs and social workers are
expected to respect the dignity and worth of each individual they work
with.

Social workers are not only expected to understand the role that social
diversity plays on society but to also actively work to end any form of
discrimination. Again, the clients that social workers work with are
often vulnerable and oppressed and face prejudice and discrimination. In
order to promote the welfare of each client, social workers recognize
the importance that the environment plays in each situation. The
profession utilizes a "person in environment" approaches that
acknowledges the role that all social influences play on a person's
biopsychosocial needs.

Professional social workers support and advocate for recruitment,
admissions and hiring, and retention efforts in social work programs and
agencies to ensure diversity within the profession. They also seek to
provide or advocate for the provision of information, referrals, and
services in the language appropriate to the client.

My career as a social worker and my background in public health has led
me to have a deep understanding of the diversity issues in this country.
Having worked to address health disparities with American Indian, Alaska
Native and Native Hawaiian Communities as well as all ethnic minority
communities for over twenty five years has been a major area of my
personal and professional body of work.  This is a moral and spiritual
issue and cries out to be addressed. It is also a wasting our most
important natural resource, our human capital and nation\'s potential.

As early as the first U.S. Census in 1790, federal reports chronicled
major differences in socioeconomic, political, and health conditions in
the population. (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1975). Today we feel the
effects of these disparities. For instance, in 2001 Native Americans
were the group most likely to be uninsured (35% lacked health insurance)
(Census Bureau/National Center for Health Statistics, 2001). This has
far reaching effects, particularly for the children of Native Americans.
In fact, the Indian Health Service spends \$1,914.00 per person for
medical care which is lower than Medicare at \$5,915.00 and less than
the United States spends on federal prisoners at \$3,803.00 (U.S.
Commission on Civil Rights Report titled \"A Quiet Crisis\" Federal
Funding and Unmet Needs in Indian Country.  July 2003).

Federal reports also identify Latino and African American populations as
having the lowest per capita income in the United States (U.S. Census
Bureau, 2007). However, Taylor and Kalt (2005) argue that Native
Americans on reservations have lower per capita incomes but are not
included in many federal income studies.

These statistics are realistic, yet unacceptable and social workers are
the professionals equipped with the tools and understanding to make a
real difference in the lives of their clients.

**Challenges**

Although the profession of social work has a rich history of respecting
and appreciating social diversity, it also has a historical tendency to
attract Caucasian women to the field. According to one study by the
National Association of Social Workers Center for Workforce Studies,
"social work, like most health care professions, is less ethnically
diverse than the U.S. population." Licensed social workers who responded
to the survey were overwhelmingly White, non-Hispanic (86%) and are
disproportionately likely to be women (81%). While white women have long
led the profession of social work, the clients social workers serve
often belong to a non-White minority group (51% or more). According to
this study of licensed social workers, ten percent of social workers
have caseloads that are predominantly Black/African American, and five
percent handle caseloads that are predominantly Hispanic/Latino.
Additionally, only 14 percent of social workers work in settings in
which their caseloads are 75 percent or more female. Efforts have begun
to recruit more men into the profession to ensure that the needs of all
our clients are successfully being met.

Another concern is the aging of the profession. Not only do social
workers serve the aging baby boomers, but there will be a significant
need to recruit new social workers once experienced professionals begin
to retire. Licensed social workers are significantly more likely to be
in older age groups than the U.S. civilian labor force. A higher
percentage of social workers are ages 45 to 54 (33% compared with 23%),
ages 55 to 64 (24% compared with 11%) and 65 and older (5% compared with
3%).

While women have done an exceptional job of forming the important tenets
of the profession, building a strong foundation of social service, and
strengthening individuals, families, and communities, we must look to
the future and that involves reevaluating our recruitment and retention
techniques. While a deep understanding of culture is intrinsic to every
social worker, there is great value in reflecting the populations we
serve. When every voice is present at the table, more informed decisions
can be made and the community can be more fully served. Not only does
everyone deserve the right to service, but they also deserve the right
to be served by a social worker that makes them comfortable and can best
understand and work to address their various social needs. More social
workers of color must be recruited into the profession to ensure that
clients can continue to have exceptional, culturally competent service.

**Conclusion**

When I reflect upon my career in social work and public health I believe
that what attracted me to this area was the simple desire to help others
who might be confronted by something bigger than themselves. As a child,
I felt that I had no control over my situation at home in growing up
with an alcoholic father. This experience instilled in me a desire to
help people gain some control in their lives. I also wanted to give them
hope and a sense of direction. I also thought that only Indians had
these types of problems. As I grew wiser, I came to understand that we
all have problems, just different kinds of problems, and that we all
need help now and again. Social workers made a critical difference in my
life as they do in the lives of people every day.\
 \
Social work and public health have always been guided by values of
equity, diversity and social justice and these values should be guiding
values for us all.