I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 795 

To establish the Social Work Reinvestment Commission to advise Congress 

and the Secretary of Health and Human Services on policy issues associated with the profession of social work, to authorize the Secretary to 

make grants to support recruitment, retention, research, and reinvestment in the profession, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 3, 2009 

Mr. TOWNS (for himself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. 

BORDALLO, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. DAVIS

of Tennessee, Mr. HARE, Mr. HINOJOSA, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. HOLT, Mr. 

KILDEE, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. 

CARNAHAN, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan, Ms. SHEAPORTER, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. SESTAK, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. ISRAEL, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, Mr. 

COURTNEY, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, and 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To establish the Social Work Reinvestment Commission to 

advise Congress and the Secretary of Health and Human 

Services on policy issues associated with the profession 

of social work, to authorize the Secretary to make grants 

to support recruitment, retention, research, and reinvestment in the profession, and for other purposes. 


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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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social 

6 Work Reinvestment Act’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

TITLE I—SOCIAL WORK REINVESTMENT COMMISSION 

Sec. 101. Establishment of Commission. 

Sec. 102. Purposes and duties of Commission. 

Sec. 103. Appointment of Commission members. 

Sec. 104. Powers of the Commission. 

Sec. 105. Compensation for Commission members. 

Sec. 106. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE II—REINVESTMENT GRANT PROGRAMS TO SUPPORT 

SOCIAL WORK PROFESSION 

Sec. 201. Workplace improvement grants. 

Sec. 202. Research grants. 

Sec. 203. Education and training grants. 

Sec. 204. Community-based programs of excellence grants. 

Sec. 205. National coordinating center. 

Sec. 206. Multi-media outreach campaign. 

9 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

10 Congress finds the following: 

11 (1) The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that 

12 employment of social workers is expected to increase 

13 faster than average (estimated to be 22 percent dur14 ing the 2006–2016 decade), demonstrating a sub15 stantial need for social workers. The need is even 


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1 greater for social workers in the area of aging. The 

2 National Association of Social Workers Center for 

3 Workforce Studies estimates that nine percent of, or 

4 30,000, licensed social workers specialize in geron5 tology. By 2010, as more people reach the age of 65, 

6 the National Institute on Aging projects that 60,000 

7 to 70,000 social workers will be needed. 

8 (2) Social work salaries are among the lowest 

9 for professionals in general and for those with Mas10 ter’s level educations in particular. A survey con11 ducted by the John A. Hartford Foundation found 

12 that between 1992 and 1999 the annual rate of 

13 wage growth for degree-holding social workers was 

14 0.8 percent. According to the National Association 

15 of Social Workers, Center for Workforce Studies, 60 

16 percent of full-time social workers earn between 

17 $35,000 and $59,999 per year, with 25 percent 

18 earning between $40,000 and $49,999 per year. So19 cial workers who earn lower salaries are more likely 

20 to work in challenging agency environments and to 

21 serve more vulnerable clients. They are also more 

22 likely to leave the profession. 

23 (3) According to one study by the Council on 

24 Social Work Education, 68 percent of individuals 

25 surveyed who held a Master’s Degree in Social Work 


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1 graduated with an average debt of $26,777. Addi2 tionally, the United States Public Interest Research 

3 Group states that 37 percent of public four-year 

4 graduates have too much debt to manage as a start5 ing social worker. While social workers may be in 

6 positions that are personally fulfilling, due to their 

7 high loan debt and low income, many struggle finan8 cially. 

9 (4) Social work can be a dangerous profession. 

10 According to the American Federation of State, 

11 County, and Municipal Employees, 70 percent of 

12 caseworkers report that front line staff in their 

13 agency have been victims of violence or have received 

14 threats of violence. Social workers are considerably 

15 safer when measures such as global positioning sys16 tems, self-defense training, and conflict prevention 

17 are implemented. 

18 (5) According to a study by the University of 

19 Michigan, approximately one in seven adults over the 

20 age of 70 have some form of dementia, and 9.7 per21 cent (or 2,400,000 Americans) of those found with 

22 dementia were also found to have Alzheimer’s dis23 ease. Social workers in gerontology settings work 

24 with older adults, including those with dementia to 

25 support their physiological, psychological, and social 


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1 needs through mental health therapy, caregiver and 

2 family counseling, health education, program coordi3 nation, and case management. These professionals 

4 also assist the hundreds of thousands of older per5 sons who are abused, neglected, frail, and vulner6 able. Between 2000 and 2004 there was a 19.7 per7 cent increase in the total number of reports of elder 

8 and vulnerable adult abuse and neglect. 

9 (6) The Children’s Defense Fund states that 

10 every 36 seconds a child is confirmed as abused or 

11 neglected. The Administration for Children and 

12 Families states that 510,000 children were in the 

13 United States foster care system in 2006. Most of 

14 the children in foster care are placed in foster care 

15 due to parental abuse or neglect. Research shows 

16 that professional social workers in child welfare 

17 agencies are more likely to find permanent homes 

18 for children who were in foster care for two or more 

19 years. Unfortunately, fewer than 40 percent of child 

20 welfare workers are professional social workers. 

21 (7) The Department of Health and Human 

22 Services estimates that 26.2 percent of Americans 

23 aged 18 and older (one in four adults) experiences 

24 a diagnosable mental disorder. Additionally, one in 

25 five children and adolescents experience a mental 


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1 health disorder. At least one in ten, or about 

2 6,000,000 young people, have a serious emotional 

3 disturbance. Social workers provide the majority of 

4 mental health counseling services in the United 

5 States, and are often the only providers of such serv6 ices in rural areas. 

7 (8) The Department of Veterans Affairs esti8 mates that there are 23,977,000 veterans in the 

9 United States. More than 1,100,000 members of the 

10 Armed Forces have been deployed to Iraq or Af11 ghanistan since 2001. A once declining veteran pop12 ulation is now surging and is in dire need of mental 

13 health treatment to address issues such as post trau14 matic stress disorder, depression, drug and alcohol 

15 addiction, and suicide. Veterans make up 25 percent 

16 of homeless people in the United States, even though 

17 they comprise only 11 percent of the general popu18 lation. Social workers working with veterans and 

19 their families provide case management, crisis inter20 vention, mental health interventions, housing and fi21 nancial counseling, high risk screening, and advo22 cacy among other services. The Department of Vet23 erans Affairs employs over 5,000 professional social 

24 workers and is the single largest employer of social 

25 workers in the country. Social workers in the DeVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:21 Feb 05, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H795.IH H795

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1 partment also coordinate the Community Residential 

2 Care Program, the oldest and most cost-effective of 

3 the Department’s extended care programs. 

4 (9) The American Cancer Society estimates 

5 that there were 1,437,180 new cases of cancer and 

6 565,650 cancer deaths in 2008 alone. The incidence 

7 of cancer will increase dramatically as the population 

8 grows older. The Centers for Disease Control and 

9 Prevention reports that at the end of 2003 there 

10 were 1,039,000 to 1,285,000 people living with HIV 

11 or AIDS in the United States. In 2006, 1,300,000 

12 people received care from hospice providers in the 

13 United States. Health care and medical social work14 ers practice in all of these areas and provide out15 reach for prevention, help individuals and their fami16 lies adapt to their circumstances, provide grief coun17 seling, and act as a liaison between individuals and 

18 their medical team, helping patients make informed 

19 decisions about their care. 

20 (10) The National Center for Education Statis21 tics states that in 2005 the national dropout rate for 

22 high school students totaled 9.3 percent. White stu23 dents dropped out at a rate of 5.8 percent. African24 American students dropped out at a rate of 10.7 

25 percent. Hispanic students dropped out at a rate of 


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1 22.1 percent. Some vulnerable communities have 

2 drop out rates of 50 percent or higher. Social work3 ers in school settings help these students through 

4 early identification, prevention, intervention, coun5 seling, and support services. 

6 (11) According to the Department of Justice, 

7 every year more than 650,000 ex-offenders are re8 leased from Federal and State prisons. Social work9 ers employed in the corrections system address dis10 proportionate minority incarceration rates, provide 

11 treatment for mental health problems and drug and 

12 alcohol addiction, and work within as well as outside 

13 of the prison to reduce recidivism and increase posi14 tive community reentry. 

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

18 means the Social Work Reinvestment Commission. 

19 (2) COMMUNITY-BASED PROGRAM.—The term 

20 ‘‘community-based program’’ means an agency, or21 ganization, or other entity carrying out a program 

22 that provides direct social work services, or commu23 nity development services, at a neighborhood, local24 ity, or regional level, to address human service, 

25 health care, or psycho-social needs. 


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1 (3) HIGH NEED AND HIGH DEMAND POPU2 LATION.—The term ‘‘high need and high demand 

3 population’’ means a group that lacks sufficient re4 sources and, as a result, has a greater probability of 

5 being harmed by specific social, environmental, or 

6 health problems than the population as a whole. The 

7 group at issue may be a group residing in an area 

8 defined by the Health Resources and Services Ad9 ministration as a ‘‘health professional shortage 

10 area,’’ which has a shortage of primary medical care, 

11 dental, or mental health providers. 

12 (4) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNI13 VERSITY.—The term ‘‘historically black college or 

14 university’’ means the institutions that are within 

15 the definition given the term ‘‘part B institution’’ in 

16 section 322(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

17 (20 U.S.C. 1061(2)). 

18 (5) MINORITY SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 

19 term ‘‘minority serving institution’’ means an edu20 cational institution that serves a large percentage of 

21 minority students, including Alaska/Native Hawaiian 

22 Institutions, Asian-Serving Institutions, Black-Serv23 ing Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and 

24 Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and 

25 Tribal Colleges and Universities. Minority serving 


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1 institutions are classified based on either legislation 

2 or the percentage of minority student enrollment. 

3 (6) RELATED PROFESSIONAL RESEARCHER.— 

4 The term ‘‘related professional researcher’’ means a 

5 person who is professionally engaged in research in 

6 a social, political, economic, health, or mental health 

7 field. The research referenced to in this paragraph 

8 is primarily conducted by doctoral level researchers 

9 under university, government, research institute, or 

10 community agency auspices. 

11 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

13 (8) SOCIAL WORK.—The term ‘‘social work’’ 

14 means— 

15 (A) the professional activity of helping in16 dividuals, groups, or communities enhance or 

17 restore capacity for social and psycho-social 

18 functioning and creating societal conditions fa19 vorable to that enhancement or restoration; 

20 (B) an activity, the practice of which con21 sists of the professional application of values, 

22 principles, and techniques related to the profes23 sional activity described in subparagraph (A), 

24 including— 


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1 (i) diagnosis and treatment of mental 

2 and emotional disorders with individuals, 

3 families, and groups; 

4 (ii) helping communities or groups 

5 provide or improve social and health serv6 ices and participating in relevant legislative 

7 processes; and 

8 (iii) helping people obtain tangible 

9 services; and 

10 (C) an activity, the practice of which re11 quires knowledge of— 

12 (i) human development; 

13 (ii) behavior of social, economic, and 

14 cultural institutions; and 

15 (iii) the interaction of the factors de16 scribed in clauses (i) and (ii). 

17 (9) SOCIAL WORK RESEARCHER.—The term 

18 ‘‘social work researcher’’ means a person who stud19 ies social work at the individual, family, group, com20 munity, policy, or organizational level, focusing 

21 across the human life span on prevention of, inter22 vention in, treatment of, aftercare of, and rehabilita23 tion from acute and chronic social and psycho-social 

24 conditions, and includes a person examining the ef25 fect of policies on social work practice. The study reVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:21 Feb 05, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H795.IH H795

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1 ferred to in this paragraph is primarily conducted by 

2 researchers with doctoral degrees who are social 

3 workers or faculty under university, government, re4 search institute, or community agency auspices. 

5 (10) SOCIAL WORKER.—The term ‘‘social work6 er’’ means a graduate of a school of social work with 

7 a baccalaureate, master’s, or doctoral degree, who 

8 uses knowledge and skills to provide social work 

9 services for clients who may be individuals, families, 

10 groups, communities, organizations, or society in 

11 general. 

12 TITLE I—SOCIAL WORK 

13 REINVESTMENT COMMISSION 

14 SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 

15 Not later than three months after the date of enact16 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human 

17 Services shall establish the Social Work Reinvestment 

18 Commission to provide independent counsel to Congress 

19 and the Secretary on policy issues associated with the re20 cruitment, retention, research, and reinvestment in the 

21 profession of social work. 

22 SEC. 102. PURPOSES AND DUTIES OF COMMISSION. 

23 (a) STUDY.—The Commission shall conduct a com24 prehensive study to examine and assess— 


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1 (1) the professional capacity of the social work 

2 workforce to successfully serve and respond to the 

3 increasing biopsychosocial needs of individuals, 

4 groups, and communities in the areas of— 

5 (A) aging; 

6 (B) child welfare; 

7 (C) military and veterans affairs; 

8 (D) mental and behavioral health and dis9 ability; 

10 (E) criminal justice and correctional sys11 tems; 

12 (F) health and issues affecting women and 

13 families; and 

14 (G) other areas as identified by the Com15 mission; 

16 (2) the workforce challenges facing the profes17 sion of social work, such as high social work edu18 cational debt, fair market compensation, social work 

19 workforce trends, translating social work research to 

20 practice, social work safety, State-level social work 

21 licensure policies and reciprocity agreements for pro22 viding services across State lines, the lack of diver23 sity in the social work profession, or any other area 

24 determined by the Secretary, and the effect that 


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1 such challenges have on the recruitment and reten2 tion of professional social workers; 

3 (3) current workforce challenges and shortages 

4 relevant to the needs of clients served by profes5 sional social workers; 

6 (4) the social work workforce challenges de7 scribed in paragraph (2) and the effects that they 

8 will have on the areas described in paragraph (1); 

9 and 

10 (5) the advisability of establishing a social work 

11 enhancement account intended to provide direct 

12 grant assistance to local governments to encourage 

13 the engagement of professional social workers in so14 cial service programs. 

15 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

16 date of its first meeting, the Commission shall submit a 

17 report to the Secretary and Congress containing specific 

18 findings and conclusions regarding the need for recruit19 ment, retention, research, and reinvestment in the profes20 sion of social work. The report shall include recommenda21 tions and strategies for corrective actions to ensure a ro22 bust social work workforce capable of keeping up with the 

23 demand for needed services. The Commission may provide 

24 to Congress any additional findings or recommendations 

25 considered by the Commission to be important. 


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1 SEC. 103. APPOINTMENT OF COMMISSION MEMBERS. 

2 (a) APPOINTMENT BY THE SECRETARY.—The Sec3 retary shall appoint members to the Commission. The 

4 members shall reflect representation by social workers and 

5 other members, including: 

6 (1) Two deans of schools of social work. 

7 (2) One social work researcher. 

8 (3) One related professional researcher. 

9 (4) One governor. 

10 (5) Two leaders of national social work organi11 zations. 

12 (6) One senior social work State official. 

13 (7) One senior related State official. 

14 (8) Two directors of community-based organiza15 tions or nonprofit organizations. 

16 (9) One labor economist. 

17 (10) One social work consumer. 

18 (11) One licensed clinical social worker. 

19 (b) APPOINTMENT BY OTHER OFFICIALS.—Four ad20 ditional members shall be appointed to the Commission, 

21 one member chosen by: 

22 (1) The Speaker of the House of Representa23 tives. 

24 (2) The minority leader of the House of Rep25 resentatives. 

26 (3) The majority leader of the Senate. 


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1 (4) The minority leader of the Senate. 

2 (c) APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRPERSON AND VICE3 CHAIRPERSON.—The Secretary shall select a chairperson 

4 and vice-chairperson for the Commission from among the 

5 members of the Commission. 

6 (d) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.—Mem7 bers shall be appointed for the life of the Commission, and 

8 any vacancy in the Commission shall not affect the powers 

9 of the Commission. Vacancies shall be filled in the same 

10 manner as the original appointment. 

11 (e) ORGANIZATIONAL REPRESENTATION.—Members 

12 of the Commission should be appointed so as to dem13 onstrate knowledge, understanding, and participation of 

14 individuals and groups from different racial, ethnic, cul15 tural, gender, geographic, religious, sexual orientation, lin16 guistic, and class backgrounds. 

17 (f) SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS.—The Commission 

18 shall hold its first meeting not later than six weeks after 

19 the date on which the final member of the Commission 

20 is appointed, and subsequent meetings at the call of the 

21 chair. 

22 SEC. 104. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION. 

23 (a) POWERS.—The Commission shall have the power 

24 to— 


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1 (1) hold hearings and sit and act at such times 

2 and places take testimony, receive evidence, and ad3 minister oaths; 

4 (2) delegate the Commission powers described 

5 in paragraph (1) to any Commission subcommittee 

6 or member thereof for the purpose of carrying out 

7 this Act; 

8 (3) enter into contracts to enable the Commis9 sion to perform its work under this Act; and 

10 (4) consult, to the extent that it determines 

11 necessary or useful, with other agencies and organi12 zations, including— 

13 (A) agencies within the Department of 

14 Health and Human Services, including the Ad15 ministration for Children and Families, the Ad16 ministration on Aging, the Agency for 

17 Healthcare Research and Quality, the Centers 

18 for Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers 

19 for Medicaid and Medicare Services, the Health 

20 Resources and Service Administration, the In21 dian Health Service, the National Institutes of 

22 Health, the Substance Abuse and Mental 

23 Health Services Administration; 

24 (B) the Social Security Administration; 


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1 (C) the Departments of Agriculture, De2 fense, Education, Homeland Security, Labor, 

3 Justice, State, and Veterans Affairs; and 

4 (D) any other agency as determined by the 

5 Commission. 

6 (b) COOPERATION WITH THE COMMISSION.—The en7 tities and agencies described in subsection (a)(3) shall co8 operate with and provide counsel to the Commission to 

9 the greatest extent practicable. 

10 SEC. 105. COMPENSATION FOR COMMISSION MEMBERS. 

11 (a) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the Com12 mission shall not receive compensation for the perform13 ance of services for the Commission, but shall be allowed 

14 travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, 

15 at rates authorized for employees of agencies under sub16 chapter 1 of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, 

17 while away from their homes or regular places of business 

18 in the performance of services for the Commission. Not19 withstanding section 1342 of title 31, United States Code, 

20 the Secretary may accept the voluntary and uncompen21 sated services of members of the Commission. 

22 (b) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Any 

23 Federal Government employee may be detailed to the 

24 Commission without reimbursement, and such detail shall 


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1 be without interruption or loss of civil service status or 

2 privilege. 

3 SEC. 106. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec5 retary such sums as may be necessary to carry out the 

6 activities of the Commission. 

7 TITLE II—REINVESTMENT 

8 GRANT PROGRAMS TO SUP9 PORT SOCIAL WORK PROFES10 SION 

11 SEC. 201. WORKPLACE IMPROVEMENT GRANTS. 

12 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may 

13 award grants to four eligible entities described in sub14 section (c) to address workplace concerns for the social 

15 work profession, including caseloads, compensation, social 

16 work safety, supervision, and working conditions. 

17 (b) LOCAL OR STATE GOVERNMENT ENTITIES RE18 QUIREMENT.—At least two of the grant recipients must 

19 be local or State government agencies. 

20 (c) GRANTEE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—To be 

21 eligible for a grant under this section, an entity must— 

22 (1) work in a social work capacity that dem23 onstrates a need in a workplace concern area de24 scribed in subsection (a); 


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1 (2) demonstrate knowledge, understanding, and 

2 participation in the entities’ programs of individuals 

3 and groups from different racial, ethnic, cultural, 

4 gender, geographic, religious, sexual orientation, lin5 guistic, and class backgrounds; 

6 (3) demonstrate a record of active participation 

7 of professionally trained social workers in the enti8 ties’ programs; and 

9 (4) provide services and represent the individ10 uals employed by the entities as competent only 

11 within the boundaries of their education, training, li12 censes, certification, consultation received, super13 vised experience, or other relevant professional expe14 rience. 

15 (d) EQUAL AMOUNTS.—The Secretary shall dis16 tribute the grant funds annually to the four grant recipi17 ents over a four-year period in equal amounts. 

18 (e) PRIORITY.—In selecting the grant recipients 

19 under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to eligi20 ble entities that— 

21 (1) are equipped with the capacity to oversee 

22 and monitor the grant-funded workplace improve23 ment program carried out under this section, includ24 ing proven fiscal responsibility and administrative 

25 capability; and 


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1 (2) are knowledgeable about relevant workforce 

2 trends and have at least two years of experience rel3 evant to the grant-funded workplace improvement 

4 program. 

5 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

6 authorized to be appropriated $16,000,000 to the Sec7 retary to provide grants under this section. 

8 SEC. 202. RESEARCH GRANTS. 

9 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may 

10 award grants to not less than 25 social workers who hold 

11 a doctoral degree in social work for post-doctoral research 

12 in social work— 

13 (1) to further the knowledge base about effec14 tive social work interventions; and 

15 (2) to promote usable strategies to translate re16 search into practice across diverse community set17 tings and service systems. 

18 (b) GRANTEE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—To be 

19 eligible for a grant under this section, a social worker 

20 must— 

21 (1) demonstrate knowledge and understanding 

22 of individuals and groups from different racial, eth23 nic, cultural, gender, geographic, religious, sexual 

24 orientation, linguistic, and class backgrounds; and 


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1 (2) provide services and represent themselves as 

2 competent only within the boundaries of their edu3 cation, training, licenses, certification, consultation 

4 received, supervised experience, or other relevant 

5 professional experience. 

6 (c) MINORITY REPRESENTATION.—At least 10 of the 

7 social workers awarded grants in subsection (a) must be 

8 employed by a historically black college or university or 

9 minority serving institution. 

10 (d) AMOUNTS.—The Secretary shall distribute the 

11 grant funds annually to the grant recipients over a four12 year period. 

13 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

14 authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 to the Secretary 

15 to provide grants under this section. 

16 SEC. 203. EDUCATION AND TRAINING GRANTS. 

17 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may 

18 award 20 grants to institutions of higher education that 

19 offer baccalaureate, master’s, or doctoral degrees in social 

20 work to support the recruitment of social work students 

21 for, and education of the students in, baccalaureate, mas22 ter’s, and doctoral degree programs, as well as the devel23 opment of faculty. 

24 (b) GRANTEE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—To be 

25 eligible for a grant under this section, an institution must 


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1 demonstrate knowledge, understanding, and participation 

2 in the institutions’ programs of individuals and groups 

3 from different racial, ethnic, cultural, gender, geographic, 

4 religious, sexual orientation, linguistic, and class back5 grounds. 

6 (c) INSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENT.—At least four of 

7 the grant recipients must be a historically black college 

8 or university or other minority serving institution. 

9 (d) EQUAL AMOUNTS.—The Secretary shall dis10 tribute the grant funds annually to the 20 grant recipients 

11 over a four-year period in equal amounts. A grant recipi12 ent may not receive more than $100,000 annually in grant 

13 money under this section. 

14 (e) PRIORITY.—In selecting the grant recipients 

15 under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to in16 stitutions of higher education that— 

17 (1) are accredited by the Council on Social 

18 Work Education; 

19 (2) have a graduation rate of not less than 80 

20 percent for social work students; and 

21 (3) exhibit an ability to recruit social workers 

22 from and place them in areas with a high need and 

23 high demand population. 


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1 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated $8,000,000 to the Secretary 

3 to provide grants under this section. 

4 SEC. 204. COMMUNITY-BASED PROGRAMS OF EXCELLENCE 

5 GRANTS. 

6 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may 

7 award grants to six public community-based programs or 

8 nonprofit organizations that are carrying out programs of 

9 excellence to further test and replicate effective social 

10 work interventions. 

11 (b) GRANTEE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—To be 

12 eligible for a grant under this section, a public community13 based program or nonprofit organization must— 

14 (1) carry out programs in the areas of aging, 

15 child welfare, military and veteran’s issues, mental 

16 and behavioral health and disability, criminal justice 

17 and correction systems, and health and issues affect18 ing women and families; 

19 (2) demonstrate knowledge, understanding, and 

20 participation in the public community-based pro21 grams or nonprofit organizations’ programs of indi22 viduals and groups from different racial, ethnic, cul23 tural, gender, geographic, religious, sexual orienta24 tion, linguistic, and class backgrounds; 


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1 (3) demonstrate a record of active participation 

2 of professionally trained social workers in the public 

3 community-based programs or nonprofit organiza4 tions’ programs; and 

5 (4) provide services and represent the individ6 uals employed by the public community-based pro7 grams or nonprofit organizations as competent only 

8 within the boundaries of their education, training, li9 censes, certification, consultation received, super10 vised experience, or other relevant professional expe11 rience. 

12 (c) EQUAL AMOUNTS.—The Secretary shall dis13 tribute the grant funds annually to the grant recipients 

14 over a three-year period in equal amounts. A grant recipi15 ent may not receive more than $500,000 annually in grant 

16 money under this section. 

17 (d) PRIORITY.—In selecting the grant recipients 

18 under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to pub19 lic community-based programs or nonprofit organizations 

20 that— 

21 (1) have demonstrated successful and measur22 able outcomes that are worthy of replication; 

23 (2) have been in operation for at least two 

24 years; and 


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1 (3) work with high need and high demand pop2 ulations. 

3 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated $9,000,000 to the Secretary 

5 to provide grants under this section. 

6 SEC. 205. NATIONAL COORDINATING CENTER. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall enter into 

8 a contract with a national social work research entity 

9 that— 

10 (1) has experience in coordinating the transfer 

11 of information and ideas among entities engaged in 

12 social work research, practice, education, and policy13 making; and 

14 (2) maintains relationships with Federal enti15 ties, social work degree-granting institutions of high16 er education and departments of social work within 

17 such institutions, and organizations and agencies 

18 that employ social workers. 

19 (b) GENERAL DUTIES.—The contract recipient (in 

20 this section referred to as the ‘‘coordinating center’’) shall 

21 serve as a coordinating center and shall organize informa22 tion and other data, collect and report data, serve as a 

23 clearinghouse, and coordinate activities with the entities, 

24 institutions, departments, organizations, and agencies de25 scribed in subsection (a)(2). 


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1 (c) COLLABORATION.—The coordinating center shall 

2 work with institutions of higher education, research enti3 ties, and entities with social work practice settings to iden4 tify key research areas to be pursued, select research fel5 lows, and organize appropriate mentorship and profes6 sional development efforts. 

7 (d) SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES OF THE COORDINATING

8 CENTER.—The coordinating center shall— 

9 (1) collect, coordinate, monitor, and distribute 

10 data, information on best practices and findings re11 garding the activities funded under grants made to 

12 eligible entities and individuals under the grant pro13 grams described in sections 201 though 204; 

14 (2) prepare and submit to the Secretary a re15 port that includes recommendations regarding the 

16 need to recruit new social workers, retain current so17 cial workers, conduct social work research, and rein18 vestment into the profession of social work; and 

19 (3) demonstrate cultural competency and pro20 mote the participation of diverse groups. 

21 (e) SELECTION.—The Secretary, in collaboration 

22 with the coordinating center, shall— 

23 (1) select topics to be researched under this sec24 tion; 


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1 (2) select candidates and finalists for research 

2 fellow positions; and 

3 (3) determine other activities to be carried out 

4 under this section. 

5 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

6 authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 to carry out this 

7 section for each of fiscal years 2010 to 2014. 

8 SEC. 206. MULTI-MEDIA OUTREACH CAMPAIGN. 

9 (a) DEVELOPMENT AND ISSUANCE OF PUBLIC SERV10 ICE ANNOUNCEMENTS.—The Secretary shall develop and 

11 issue public service announcements that advertise and pro12 mote the social work profession, highlight the advantages 

13 and rewards of social work, and encourage individuals to 

14 enter the social work profession. 

15 (b) METHOD.—The public service announcements de16 scribed in subsection (a) shall be broadcast through appro17 priate media outlets, including television or radio, in a 

18 manner intended to reach as wide and diverse an audience 

19 as possible. 

20 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

21 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec22 essary to carry out this section for each of fiscal years 

23 2010 through 2013. 

Æ 


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