The Summit for America's Future: A Place for Social Work?

The Summit for America's Future was held from April 27 to April 29, 1997, in Philadelphia. Capitalizing on presidential prestige, the event received national attention largely because of the involvement of several living presidents and First Ladies, who encouraged U.S. citizens to volunteer on behalf of youths. The main goal was to inspire individuals and organizations to make volunteer work "an integral part of the American way of life." Organized by the Corporation for National Service and the Points of Light Foundation, the summit was intended to send a message to partisan policymakers who condemn volunteer service either as a Clintonian ruse to expand government or as a conservative conspiracy to shrink government. Community service, the summiteers hoped to demonstrate, is something all Americans can and do believe in, regardless of political beliefs or lifestyle. This sort of bipartisan gathering was the idea of the late George Romney of Massachusetts, who believed that government is simply unable to solve serious social problems like illiteracy and crime. Direct citizen action, he thought, might solve such problems - if, that is, enough Americans came out to serve. Summit organizers invited 1,270 delegates from 150 communities to attend the event. I was selected as one of 10 delegates from my community as the representative of my local United Way, where I serve on the board of directors. I must admit that I went to Philadelphia with some degree of skepticism. Was this going to be another talk session leaving us with little to sustain us beyond the memory of having been close to celebrities? Would we really address the etiology of social problems and use the force of our leaders to truly transform this nation's social ills? Would this effort really be used as an escape valve enabling government abdication from responsibility for social problems? As we worked on our well-organized brainstorming sessions, my fears were not allayed. The greatest disappointment was hearing little about the long-standing and ongoing efforts of those who have long been in the trenches. Perhaps it was not reasonable to expect homage to the frontline warriors, specifically social workers, yet it appeared that mention of such efforts was intentionally absent from most speeches. I believe volunteers and the concept of volunteerism are sorely needed. The social work profession has long advocated for the involvement of citizens who want to make a difference in the lives of others. I waited to hear some reference to how volunteers could be used to build on social workers' efforts and greatly expand services for and by our young people, but the silence was deafening. Most assuredly, there is more than enough room for concern and caring, charity and volunteering. Indeed, in this still-young democracy there is total dependence on citizen determination to preserve the freedoms so recently declared and extend them to all. However, the problems of contemporary society are complex, the solutions more involved and the satisfactions more obscure. Professional social workers are well aware of these facts, and professional intervention and leadership are desperately needed in these times. Clearly the basic ingredients are still the caring and the resolve to make things better, and from the simplicity of these motivations came the summit's efforts. The ideas, of course, are not new, but the national nonpartisan attention is quite a change. The profession of social work must be prepared to guide the change produced by this agenda. A golden opportunity may be presenting itself to influence public opinion, and hence public policy, on such issues as welfare reform and crime through the involvement of more citizens who will see and begin to understand what we encounter in our daily work and through our research. …