II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 41 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the establishment 

of a National Office for Social Work Research. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 25 (legislative day, JANUARY 5), 2011 

Mr. INOUYE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for 

the establishment of a National Office for Social Work 

Research. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Office for 

5 Social Work Research Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Social workers help people overcome some 

9 of life’s most difficult challenges: poverty, discrimi10 nation, abuse, addiction, physical illness, divorce, 


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1 loss, unemployment, educational problems, disability, 

2 and mental illness. They help prevent crises and 

3 counsel individuals, families, and communities to 

4 cope more effectively with the stresses of everyday 

5 life. Professional social workers are found in every 

6 facet of community life—in schools, hospitals, men7 tal health clinics, senior centers, elected office, pri8 vate practices, prisons, the military, corporations, 

9 and in numerous public and private agencies that 

10 serve individuals and families in need. 

11 (2) Social workers focus on the improvement of 

12 individual and family functioning and the creation of 

13 effective health and mental health prevention and 

14 treatment interventions in order for individuals to 

15 become more productive members of society. 

16 (3) Social workers provide front line prevention 

17 and treatment services in the areas of school vio18 lence, aging, teen pregnancy, child abuse, domestic 

19 violence, juvenile crime, and substance abuse, par20 ticularly in rural and underserved communities. 

21 (4) Social workers are in a unique position to 

22 provide valuable research information on these com23 plex social concerns, taking into account a wide 

24 range of social, medical, economic, and community 


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1 influences from an interdisciplinary, family-centered 

2 and community-based approach. 

3 (5) Social work research as it relates to the 

4 health of individuals sheds light on the behavioral 

5 and social determinants of wellness and disease and 

6 helps to develop effective interventions for improving 

7 health outcomes. 

8 SEC. 3. NATIONAL OFFICE OF SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH. 

9 Part A of title IV of the Public Health Service Act 

10 (42 U.S.C. 281 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 404I. NATIONAL OFFICE OF SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH. 

13 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

14 the Office of the Director of NIH an office to be known 

15 as the Office of Social Work Research (in this section re16 ferred to as the ‘Office’), which shall be headed by a Direc17 tor (in this section referred to as the ‘Director’) to be ap18 pointed by the Director of NIH. 

19 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE OF OFFICE.—The general purpose of 

20 the Office is the conduct and support of, and dissemina21 tion of, targeted research concerning social work methods 

22 and outcomes related to problems of significant social con23 cern. The Office shall— 

24 ‘‘(1) promote research and training that is de25 signed to inform social work practices, and otherwise 


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1 increase the knowledge base which promotes a 

2 healthier America; and 

3 ‘‘(2) provide policymakers with empirically 

4 based research information to enable such policy5 makers to better understand complex social issues 

6 and make informed funding decisions about service 

7 effectiveness and cost efficiency. 

8 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office 

10 shall carry out the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) Recommend an agenda for con12 ducting and supporting social work research 

13 through the national research institutes and 

14 centers. The agenda shall provide for a broad 

15 range of research, training and education activi16 ties, including scientific workshops and 

17 symposia to identify social work research oppor18 tunities. 

19 ‘‘(B) With respect to social work, promote 

20 coordination and cooperation among the na21 tional research institutes and centers and enti22 ties whose research is supported by such insti23 tutes. 

24 ‘‘(C) If determined appropriate, and in col25 laboration with the directors of the other relVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:37 Jan 28, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S41.IS S41

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1 evant institutes and centers of the National In2 stitutes of Health, enter into cooperative agree3 ments with and make grants for centers of ex4 cellence on social work in accordance with sec5 tion 404G. 

6 ‘‘(D) Promote the sufficient allocation of 

7 the resources of the National Institutes of 

8 Health for conducting and supporting social 

9 work research. 

10 ‘‘(E) Promote and encourage the establish11 ment of a centralized clearinghouse for social 

12 work research that will provide understandable 

13 information about this research to the public, 

14 social service professionals, medical profes15 sionals, patients and families. 

16 ‘‘(F) Biennially prepare a report that de17 scribes the social work research and education 

18 activities being conducted or supported through 

19 the national research institutes and centers, 

20 and that identifies particular projects or types 

21 of projects that should in the future be con22 ducted or supported by the national research in23 stitutes and centers or other entities in the field 

24 of social work research. 


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1 ‘‘(G) Prepare the annual report of the Di2 rector of NIH to Congress concerning social 

3 work research conducted by or supported 

4 through the national research institutes and 

5 centers. 

6 ‘‘(2) PRINCIPAL ADVISOR REGARDING SOCIAL

7 WORK RESEARCH.—With respect to social work re8 search, the Director shall serve as the principal advi9 sor to the Director of NIH and shall provide advice 

10 to other relevant agencies. The Director shall pro11 vide liaison with national and international patient, 

12 health and behavioral health and social service orga13 nizations concerned with social work research. 

14 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

15 term ‘social work research’ means the study of preventive 

16 interventions, treatment of acute psychosocial problems, 

17 care and rehabilitation of individuals with severe, chronic 

18 difficulties, community development interventions, organi19 zational administration, and the effects of social policy ac20 tions on the practice of social work (TFSWR, 1991, p.1). 

21 Social work research may cover the entire lifespan, and 

22 may be focused at clinical and services and policy issues, 

23 focusing on individual, family, group, community or orga24 nizational levels of intervention and analysis. 


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1 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

2 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 

3 to be appropriated such sums as may have been appro4 priated for fiscal year 2011 for such purpose, and 

5 $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2015.’’. 

6 SEC. 4. SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH CENTERS OF EXCEL7 LENCE. 

8 Title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

9 281 et seq.), as amended by section 3, is further amended 

10 by inserting after section 404I the following: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 404J. SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH CENTERS OF EXCEL12 LENCE. 

13 ‘‘(a) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS AND GRANTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office 

15 of Social Work Research (in this section referred to 

16 as the ‘Director’), in collaboration with the directors 

17 of the other relevant institutes and centers of the 

18 National Institutes of Health, may enter into coop19 erative agreements with, and make grants to, public 

20 or private nonprofit entities to pay all or part of the 

21 cost of planning, establishing, or strengthening, and 

22 providing basic operating support for, centers of ex23 cellence for clinical and psychosocial research, train24 ing in, and demonstration of social work research. 


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1 ‘‘(2) POLICIES.—A cooperative agreement or 

2 grant under paragraph (1) shall be entered into in 

3 accordance with policies established by the Director 

4 of NIH. 

5 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION WITH OTHER INSTITUTES.— 

6 The Director shall coordinate the activities under this sec7 tion with similar activities conducted by other national re8 search institutes, centers and agencies of the National In9 stitutes of Health, and the Department of Veterans Af10 fairs, the Department of Defense, the Administration for 

11 Children and Families, the Department of Justice, the De12 partment of Education, the Department of Housing and 

13 Urban Development, to the extent that such institutes, 

14 centers and agencies have responsibilities that are related 

15 to social work research. 

16 ‘‘(c) USES FOR FEDERAL PAYMENTS UNDER COOP17 ERATIVE AGREEMENTS OR GRANTS.—Federal payments 

18 made under a cooperative agreement or grant under sub19 section (a) may be used for— 

20 ‘‘(1) staffing, administrative, and other basic 

21 operating costs, including such patient care costs as 

22 are required for research; 

23 ‘‘(2) interdisciplinary training for health and 

24 social service professionals on research and the use 

25 of evidence, with respect to social work research; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) social work research and demonstration 

2 programs. 

3 ‘‘(d) PERIOD OF SUPPORT; ADDITIONAL PERIODS.— 

4 Support of a center under subsection (a) may be for a 

5 period of not to exceed 5 years. Such period may be ex6 tended by the Director for additional periods of not to ex7 ceed 5 years if the operations of such center have been 

8 reviewed by an appropriate technical and scientific peer 

9 review group established by the Director and if such group 

10 has recommended to the Director that such period should 

11 be extended. 

12 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

13 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 

14 to be appropriated such sums as may have been appro15 priated for fiscal year 2011 for such purpose, and 

16 $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2015.’’. 

Æ 


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