I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5447 

To establish the Social Work Reinvestment Commission to provide independent counsel to Congress on policy issues associated with the recruitment, retention, research, and reinvestment in the profession of social 

work. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2008 

Mr. TOWNS (for himself, Mr. SHAYS, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. 

RODRIGUEZ, Ms. LEE, Mr. GUTIERREZ, and Mrs. JONES of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To establish the Social Work Reinvestment Commission to 

provide independent counsel to Congress on policy issues 

associated with the recruitment, retention, research, and 

reinvestment in the profession of social work. 

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 ‘‘Dorothy I. Height and 

5 Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that 

2 employment of social workers is expected to increase 

3 faster than the average (18 to 26 percent) for all oc4 cupations through 2014. The need is even greater 

5 for social workers in the area of aging. The National 

6 Association of Social Workers Center for Workforce 

7 Studies estimates that 9 percent or 30,000 licensed 

8 social workers specialize in gerontology. By 2010, as 

9 more Baby Boomers reach the age of 65, the Na10 tional Institute on Aging projects that 60,000 to 

11 70,000 social workers will be needed. 

12 (2) Social work salaries are among the lowest 

13 for professionals in general and for those with Mas14 ter’s level educations in particular. A survey con15 ducted by the John A. Hartford Foundation Inc. 

16 found that between 1992 and 1999 the annual rate 

17 of wage growth for degree-holding social workers 

18 was 0.8 percent. According to the National Associa19 tion of Social Workers, Center for Workforce Stud20 ies, 60 percent of full-time social workers earn be21 tween $35,000 and $59,999 per year with 25 per22 cent earning between $40,000 and $49,999 per year. 

23 Social workers who earn lower salaries are more 

24 likely to work in challenging agency environments 


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1 and to serve more vulnerable clients. They are also 

2 more likely to leave the profession. 

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

4 Social Work Education, 68 percent of individuals 

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

6 (MSW) graduated with an average debt of $26,777. 

7 Additionally, the U.S. Public Interest Research 

8 Group states that 37 percent of public 4-year grad9 uates have too much debt to manage as a starting 

10 social worker. While social workers may be in posi11 tions that are personally fulfilling, due to their high 

12 loan debt and low income, many struggle financially. 

13 (4) Social work is unquestionably a dangerous 

14 profession for many. According to the American 

15 Federation of State, County and Municipal Employ16 ees, 70 percent of case workers report that front line 

17 staff in their agency had been victims of violence or 

18 had received threats of violence. Social workers are 

19 considerably safer when measures such as global po20 sitioning systems, self-defense training, and conflict 

21 prevention are implemented. 

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

23 Michigan, approximately 1 in 7 adults over the age 

24 of 70 have some form of dementia and 9.7 percent 

25 (or 2,400,000 Americans) of those found with deVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:03 Feb 16, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5447.IH H5447

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1 mentia, were also found to have Alzheimer’s disease. 

2 Social workers in gerontology settings work with 

3 older adults, including those with dementia to sup4 port their physiological, psychological and social 

5 needs through mental health therapy, caregiver and 

6 family counseling, health education, program coordi7 nation, and case management. These professionals 

8 also assist the hundreds of thousands of older per9 sons who are abused, neglected, frail, and vulner10 able. Between 2000 and 2004 there was a 19.7 per11 cent increase in the total number of reports of elder 

12 and vulnerable adult abuse and neglect. 

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

14 every 35 seconds a child is confirmed as abused or 

15 neglected. The U.S. Administration for Children and 

16 Families states that 513,000 children were in the 

17 U.S. foster care system in 2005. Most children in 

18 foster care are placed due to parental abuse or ne19 glect. Research shows that professional social work20 ers in child welfare agencies are more likely to find 

21 permanent homes for children who were in foster 

22 care for 2 or more years. Unfortunately, fewer than 

23 40 percent of child welfare workers are professional 

24 social workers. 


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1 (7) The United States Department of Health 

2 and Human Services (HHS) estimates that 26.2 

3 percent of Americans aged 18 and older (1 in 4 

4 adults) experiences a diagnosable mental disorder. 

5 Additionally, 1 in 5 children and adolescents experi6 ence a mental health disorder. At least 1 in 10, or 

7 about 6,000,0000 young people, have a serious emo8 tional disturbance. Social workers provide the major9 ity of mental health counseling services in the 

10 United States, and are often the only providers in 

11 rural areas. 

12 (8) The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 

13 (VA) estimates that there are 23,977,000 veterans 

14 in the United States. Approximately 1,100,000 ac15 tive duty soldiers have been deployed to Iraq since 

16 2001. A once declining veteran population is now 

17 surging and is in dire need of mental health treat18 ment to address issues such as post traumatic stress 

19 disorder, depression, drug and alcohol addiction, and 

20 suicide. Veterans make up 25 percent of homeless 

21 people in the United States, even though they com22 prise only 11 percent of the general population. So23 cial workers working with veterans and their families 

24 provide case management, crisis intervention, mental 

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1 seling, high risk screening, and advocacy among 

2 other services. The VA employs over 5,000 profes3 sional social workers and is the single largest em4 ployer of social workers in the country. VA social 

5 workers also coordinate the Community Residential 

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

7 VA’s extended care programs. 

8 (9) The American Cancer Society estimates 

9 that there were 1,399,790 new cases of cancer and 

10 564,830 cancer deaths in 2006 alone. The incidence 

11 of cancer will increase dramatically as the population 

12 grows older. The Center for Disease Control and 

13 Prevention reports that at the end of 2003 there 

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

15 or AIDS in the United States. In 2006, 1.3 million 

16 people received care from one of the Nation’s hos17 pice providers. Health care and medical social work18 ers practice in all of these areas and provide out19 reach for prevention, help individuals and their fami20 lies adapt to their circumstances, provide grief coun21 seling and act as a liaison between individuals and 

22 their medical team, helping patients make informed 

23 decisions about their care. 

24 (10) The National Center for Education Statis25 tics states that in 2005 the national dropout rate for 


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1 high school students totaled 9.4 percent. White stu2 dents dropped out at a rate of 6 percent. African 

3 American students dropped out at a rate of 10.4 

4 percent. Hispanic students dropped out at a rate of 

5 22.4 percent. Some vulnerable communities have 

6 drop out rates of 50 percent or higher. Social work7 ers in school settings help these students through 

8 early identification, prevention, intervention, coun9 seling and support. 

10 (11) According to the United States Depart11 ment of Justice, every year more than 650,000 ex12 offenders are released from Federal and State pris13 ons. Social workers employed in the corrections sys14 tem address disproportionate minority incarceration 

15 rates, provide treatment for mental health problems 

16 and drug and alcohol addiction, and work within as 

17 well as outside of the prison to reduce recidivism 

18 and increase positive community reentry. 

19 SEC. 3. SOCIAL WORK REINVESTMENT COMMISSION. 

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 3 months after 

21 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es22 tablish the Social Work Reinvestment Commission (in this 

23 Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) to provide inde24 pendent counsel to Congress on policy issues associated 


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1 with the recruitment, retention, research, and reinvest2 ment in the profession of social work. 

3 (b) APPOINTMENT.—The Commission, including a 

4 chair and vice-chair shall be appointed by the Secretary, 

5 and shall reflect representation by educated social work6 ers, as follows: 

7 (1) 2 deans of schools of social work. 

8 (2) 1 social work researcher. 

9 (3) 1 related professional researcher. 

10 (4) 1 governor. 

11 (5) 2 leaders of national social work organiza12 tions. 

13 (6) 1 senior social work State official. 

14 (7) 1 senior related State official. 

15 (8) 2 directors of community-based organiza16 tions or non-profits. 

17 (c) CONSULTATION.—The Commission shall consult 

18 with the following agencies and organizations to the extent 

19 that it determines necessary or useful: 

20 (1) agencies within the Department of Health 

21 and Human Services, including the Administration 

22 for Children and Families, the Administration on 

23 Aging, the Agency for Healthcare Research and 

24 Quality, the Centers for Disease Control and Pre25 vention, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare 


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1 Services, the Health Resources and Service Adminis2 tration, the Indian Health Service, the National In3 stitutes of Health, the Substance Abuse and Mental 

4 Health Services Administration; 

5 (2) the Social Security Administration; 

6 (3) the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, 

7 Education, Homeland Security, Labor, Justice, 

8 State, and Veterans Affairs; and 

9 (4) any other agency as determined by the 

10 Commission. 

11 Such agencies shall cooperate with and provide counsel to 

12 the Commission to the greatest extent practicable. 

13 (d) STUDY.—The Commission shall study— 

14 (1) social work practice in the areas of aging, 

15 child welfare, military and veterans affairs, mental 

16 and behavioral health and disability, criminal justice, 

17 and health; 

18 (2) issues facing the social work profession, in19 cluding fair market compensation, high social work 

20 educational debt, social work workforce trends, 

21 knowledge development, and social work safety, as 

22 well as any other area determined by the Secretary; 

23 and 


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1 (3) State-level social work licensure and reci2 procity agreements for providing services across 

3 State lines. 

4 (e) MEETINGS OF THE COMMISSION.—The Commis5 sion shall hold its first meeting not later than 6 weeks 

6 after the date on which the final member of the Commis7 sion is appointed, and subsequent meetings at the call of 

8 the chair. 

9 (f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 

10 months after the date of the first meeting, the Commission 

11 shall report to Congress on the results of the study to de12 termine and address the immediate and future needs of 

13 the social work profession. 

14 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

15 authorized to be appropriated $500,000 for use by the 

16 Commission. 

17 SEC. 4. REINVESTMENT GRANT PROGRAMS TO ADDRESS 

18 THE CURRENT STATE OF THE PROFESSION 

19 OF SOCIAL WORK. 

20 (a) AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT DEMONSTRATION PRO21 GRAMS.—The Secretary is authorized to award grants to 

22 eligible entities for each fiscal year to support demonstra23 tion programs and other activities related to research, 

24 workplace improvements, education, training, and pro25 grams of excellence. 


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1 (b) WORKPLACE IMPROVEMENT GRANTS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 

3 to award grants to 2 public agencies and 2 private 

4 agencies to address workplace concerns for the social 

5 work profession including caseloads, compensation, 

6 social work safety, supervision, and working condi7 tions. 

8 (2) EQUAL AMOUNTS.—The Secretary shall 

9 award grants under this subsection in equal amounts 

10 of not less than $250,000 and not to exceed 

11 $1,000,000 to each of the 4 participating agencies 

12 annually over a 4-year period. 

13 (3) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 

14 subsection, the Secretary shall give priority to eligi15 ble entities that— 

16 (A) are equipped with the capacity to over17 see and monitor the demonstration program in18 cluding proven financial responsibility and ad19 ministrative capability; 

20 (B) exhibit a need in one of the defined 

21 workforce improvement areas described in para22 graph (1); and 

23 (C) are knowledgeable of relevant work24 force trends and have demonstrated this with at 

25 least 2 years of experience. 


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1 (c) RESEARCH GRANTS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 

3 to award grants to 25 social workers holding a doc4 torate degree in social work for post-doctoral re5 search activity to further the knowledge base of ef6 fective social work interventions and to promote usa7 ble strategies to translate research into practice 

8 across diverse community settings and service sys9 tems. 

10 (2) AMOUNTS.—The Secretary shall award 

11 grants under this section in the total amount of 

12 $5,000,000 over the course of 4 years to be allocated 

13 among at least 25 social workers holding a doctorate 

14 degree in social work. 

15 (d) EDUCATION AND TRAINING GRANTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 

17 to award 20 grants to institutions of higher edu18 cation to support recruitment and education of social 

19 work students at the bachelors, masters, and doc20 toral levels as well as the development of faculty. 

21 (2) EQUAL AMOUNTS.—The Secretary shall 

22 award grants under this section in equal amounts of 

23 not less than $75,000 and not to exceed $100,000 

24 to each of the 20 participating institutions annually 

25 over a 4-year period. 


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1 (3) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 

2 section, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible 

3 entities that— 

4 (A) are accredited by the Council on Social 

5 Work Education; 

6 (B) have a graduation rate of not less than 

7 80 percent; and 

8 (C) exhibit an ability to recruit social 

9 workers from and place them in high need, high 

10 demand areas. 

11 (e) COMMUNITY-BASED PROGRAMS OF EXCELLENCE

12 GRANTS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 

14 to award grants to 6 not-for-profit or public commu15 nity-based programs of excellence to further test and 

16 replicate effective social work interventions. The Sec17 retary shall choose programs from the areas of 

18 aging, child welfare, military and veteran’s issues, 

19 mental and behavioral health and disability, criminal 

20 justice, and health. 

21 (2) EQUAL AMOUNTS.—The Secretary shall 

22 award grants under this section in equal amounts of 

23 not less than $250,000 not to exceed $500,000 to 

24 each of the 6 participating not-for-profit entities an25 nually over a 3-year period. 


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1 (3) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 

2 section, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible 

3 entities that— 

4 (A) have demonstrated successful and 

5 measurable outcomes that are worthy of replica6 tion; 

7 (B) have been in operation for at least 2 

8 years; and 

9 (C) work with high need and high demand 

10 populations. 

11 (f) GRANT AWARD REQUIREMENTS.—In awarding 

12 grants under subsections (b) through (e), the Secretary 

13 shall, to the extent practicable, award grants to eligible 

14 entities that— 

15 (1) demonstrate knowledge, understanding, and 

16 participation of individuals and groups from dif17 ferent racial, ethnic, cultural, gender, geographic, re18 ligious, sexual orientation, linguistic, and class back19 grounds; 

20 (2) demonstrate a record of active participation 

21 of professionally trained social workers; and 

22 (3) provide services and represent themselves as 

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1 ceived, supervised experience, or other relevant pro2 fessional experience. 

3 (g) NATIONAL COORDINATING CENTER.— 

4 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall 

5 enter into a contract with a national social work re6 search entity that has experience in coordinating 

7 linkages between research, practice, education, and 

8 policy and maintains relationships with Federal enti9 ties, social work degree-granting educational institu10 tions and programs, and organizations and agencies 

11 that employ social workers. The entity shall serve as 

12 a coordinating center and shall have the capacity to 

13 organize, collect and report data, serve as a clearing14 house, and coordinate with such entities, institutions 

15 and organizations. The coordinating center shall 

16 work with universities, research entities, and social 

17 work practice settings to identify key research areas 

18 to be pursued, select research fellows and organize 

19 appropriate mentorship and professional develop20 ment efforts. 

21 (2) ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED.—The coordinating 

22 center shall— 

23 (A) collect, coordinate, monitor, and dis24 tribute data, best practices, and findings re25 garding the activities funded under grants made 


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1 to eligible entities under the demonstration pro2 gram; and 

3 (B) prepare and submit to the Secretary a 

4 final report that includes recommendations re5 garding the need to recruit new social workers, 

6 retain current social workers, conduct social 

7 work research and reinvest into the profession 

8 of social work. 

9 (3) SELECTION.—Selection of research areas, 

10 candidates, finalists, and other activities shall be un11 dertaken by the Secretary or a designee in collabora12 tion with the coordinating center. 

13 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

14 There is authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 

15 for the coordinating center for a each of fiscal years 

16 2009 through 2013. 

17 (h) MULTI-MEDIA OUTREACH CAMPAIGN.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 

19 and issue public service announcements that adver20 tise and promote the social work profession, high21 light the advantages and rewards of social work, and 

22 encourage individuals to enter the social work pro23 fession. 

24 (2) METHOD.—The public service announce25 ments described in paragraph (1) shall be broadcast 


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1 through appropriate media outlets, including tele2 vision or radio, in a manner intended to reach as 

3 wide and diverse an audience as possible. 

4 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

6 this subsection such sums as may be necessary for 

7 each of fiscal year 2009 through 2012. 

8 SEC. 5. SOCIAL WORK AWARENESS MONTH. 

9 It is the sense of Congress that the President should 

10 designate a National Social Work Awareness month to— 

11 (1) raise awareness about the importance of the 

12 profession of social work; 

13 (2) encourage interest groups, stakeholders, and 

14 individuals to take an active role in the recruitment, 

15 retention, research and reinvestment into the profes16 sion of social work. 

17 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

18 As used in this Act, the following definitions apply: 

19 (1) COMMUNITY BASED PROGRAM.—The term 

20 ‘‘community based program’’ means an agency, or21 ganization or program, usually not-for-profit, that 

22 provides direct social work services, or community 

23 development services at a neighborhood, locality or 

24 regional level to address human service, health care, 

25 or psychosocial needs. 


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1 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti2 ty’’ means— 

3 (A) in reference to section 4(b), either a 

4 public or private agency working in a social 

5 work capacity that demonstrates a need in one 

6 of the defined workplace improvement areas de7 scribed in section 4(b)(1); 

8 (B) in reference to section 4(c), an indi9 vidual who has graduated with a doctorate de10 gree in the field of social work and will commit 

11 to using grant funds for postdoctoral social 

12 work research; 

13 (C) in reference to section 4(d), a social 

14 work education program offering the bachelors, 

15 masters, or doctorate degree in social work; and 

16 (D) in reference to section 4(e), a not-for17 profit or public agency working in a social work 

18 capacity in one of the defined areas in section 

19 4(e)(1). 

20 (3) HIGH NEED AND HIGH DEMAND.—The 

21 term ‘‘high need and high demand’’ means an area 

22 or population which lacks sufficient resources and as 

23 a result has a greater probability of being harmed 

24 by specific social, environmental, or health problems 

25 than the population as a whole. Such areas may be 


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1 defined by the Health Resources and Services Ad2 ministration (HRSA) as ‘‘health professional short3 age areas’’ which may have shortages of primary 

4 medical care, dental, or mental health providers and 

5 may be urban or rural areas, population groups, or 

6 medical or other public facilities. 

7 (4) RELATED PROFESSIONAL RESEARCHER.— 

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

9 person who is professionally engaged in research in 

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

11 field. Such research is primarily conducted by doc12 toral level researchers under university, government, 

13 research institute, or community agency auspices. 

14 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ refers 

15 to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

16 (6) SOCIAL WORK.—The term ‘‘social work’’ 

17 means the professional activity of helping individ18 uals, groups, or communities enhance or restore ca19 pacity for social and psychosocial functioning and 

20 creating societal conditions favorable to this goal. 

21 Social work practice consists of the professional ap22 plication of social work values, principles, and tech23 niques, including— 


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1 (A) diagnosis and treatment of mental and 

2 emotional disorders with individuals, families, 

3 and groups; 

4 (B) helping communities or groups provide 

5 or improve social and health services; partici6 pating in relevant legislative processes; and 

7 (C) helping people obtain tangible services. 

8 The practice of social work requires knowledge of 

9 human development and behavior of social, economic 

10 and cultural institutions, and of the interaction of all 

11 these factors. 

12 (7) SOCIAL WORK RESEARCHER.—The term 

13 ‘‘social work researcher’’ means a person who stud14 ies the individual, family, group, community, policy 

15 or organizational level, focusing across the life span 

16 on prevention, intervention, treatment, aftercare, 

17 and rehabilitation of acute and chronic social and 

18 psychosocial conditions, and includes examining poli19 cies effect on social work practice. Social work re20 search is primarily conducted by doctoral level social 

21 workers and faculty under university, government, 

22 research institute, or community agency auspices. 

23 (8) SOCIAL WORKER.—The term ‘‘social work24 er’’ means a graduate of a school of social work with 

25 either bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degrees who 


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1 use their knowledge and skills to provide social work 

2 services for clients who may be individuals, families, 

3 groups, communities, organizations, or society in 

4 general. 

Æ 


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