(b) WORKPLACE IMPROVEMENT GRANTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 
to award grants to 2 public agencies and 2 private 
agencies to address workplace concerns for the social 
work profession including caseloads, compensation, 
social work safety, supervision, and working condi-
tions. 
(2) EQUAL
AMOUNTS.—The Secretary shall 
award grants under this subsection in equal amounts 
of not less than $250,000 and not to exceed 
$1,000,000 to each of the 4 participating agencies 
annually over a 4-year period. 
(3) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 
subsection, the Secretary shall give priority to eligi-
ble entities that— 
(A) are equipped with the capacity to over-
see and monitor the demonstration program in-
cluding proven financial responsibility and ad-
ministrative capability; 
(B) exhibit a need in one of the defined 
workforce improvement areas described in para-
graph (1); and 
(C) are knowledgeable of relevant work-
force trends and have demonstrated this with at 
least 2 years of experience. 
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(c) RESEARCH GRANTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 
to award grants to 25 social workers holding a doc-
torate degree in social work for post-doctoral re-
search activity to further the knowledge base of ef-
fective social work interventions and to promote usa-
ble strategies to translate research into practice 
across diverse community settings and service sys-
tems. 
(2) AMOUNTS.—The Secretary shall award 
grants under this section in the total amount of 
$5,000,000 over the course of 4 years to be allocated 
among at least 25 social workers holding a doctorate 
degree in social work. 
(d) EDUCATION AND TRAINING GRANTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 
to award 20 grants to institutions of higher edu-
cation to support recruitment and education of social 
work students at the bachelors, masters, and doc-
toral levels as well as the development of faculty. 
(2) EQUAL
AMOUNTS.—The Secretary shall 
award grants under this section in equal amounts of 
not less than $75,000 and not to exceed $100,000 
to each of the 20 participating institutions annually 
over a 4-year period. 
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(3) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 
section, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible 
entities that— 
(A) are accredited by the Council on Social 
Work Education; 
(B) have a graduation rate of not less than 
80 percent; and 
(C) exhibit an ability to recruit social 
workers from and place them in high need, high 
demand areas. 
(e) COMMUNITY-BASED PROGRAMS OF EXCELLENCE 
GRANTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 
to award grants to 6 not-for-profit or public commu-
nity-based programs of excellence to further test and 
replicate effective social work interventions. The Sec-
retary shall choose programs from the areas of 
aging, child welfare, military and veteran’s issues, 
mental and behavioral health and disability, criminal 
justice, and health. 
(2) EQUAL
AMOUNTS.—The Secretary shall 
award grants under this section in equal amounts of 
not less than $250,000 not to exceed $500,000 to 
each of the 6 participating not-for-profit entities an-
nually over a 3-year period. 
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(3) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 
section, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible 
entities that— 
(A) have demonstrated successful and 
measurable outcomes that are worthy of replica-
tion; 
(B) have been in operation for at least 2 
years; and 
(C) work with high need and high demand 
populations. 
(f) GRANT AWARD REQUIREMENTS.—In awarding 
grants under subsections (b) through (e), the Secretary 
shall, to the extent practicable, award grants to eligible 
entities that— 
(1) demonstrate knowledge, understanding, and 
participation of individuals and groups from dif-
ferent racial, ethnic, cultural, gender, geographic, re-
ligious, sexual orientation, linguistic, and class back-
grounds; 
(2) demonstrate a record of active participation 
of professionally trained social workers; and 
(3) provide services and represent themselves as 
competent only within the boundaries of their edu-
cation, training, license, certification consultation re-
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ceived, supervised experience, or other relevant pro-
fessional experience. 
(g) NATIONAL COORDINATING CENTER.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall 
enter into a contract with a national social work re-
search entity that has experience in coordinating 
linkages between research, practice, education, and 
policy and maintains relationships with Federal enti-
ties, social work degree-granting educational institu-
tions and programs, and organizations and agencies 
that employ social workers. The entity shall serve as 
a coordinating center and shall have the capacity to 
organize, collect and report data, serve as a clearing-
house, and coordinate with such entities, institutions 
and organizations. The coordinating center shall 
work with universities, research entities, and social 
work practice settings to identify key research areas 
to be pursued, select research fellows and organize 
appropriate mentorship and professional develop-
ment efforts. 
(2) ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED.—The coordinating 
center shall— 
(A) collect, coordinate, monitor, and dis-
tribute data, best practices, and findings re-
garding the activities funded under grants made 
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to eligible entities under the demonstration pro-
gram; and 
(B) prepare and submit to the Secretary a 
final report that includes recommendations re-
garding the need to recruit new social workers, 
retain current social workers, conduct social 
work research and reinvest into the profession 
of social work. 
(3) SELECTION.—Selection of research areas, 
candidates, finalists, and other activities shall be un-
dertaken by the Secretary or a designee in collabora-
tion with the coordinating center. 
(4) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There is authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 
for the coordinating center for a each of fiscal years 
2009 through 2013. 
(h) MULTI-MEDIA OUTREACH CAMPAIGN.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 
and issue public service announcements that adver-
tise and promote the social work profession, high-
light the advantages and rewards of social work, and 
encourage individuals to enter the social work pro-
fession. 
(2) METHOD.—The public service announce-
ments described in paragraph (1) shall be broadcast 
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through appropriate media outlets, including tele-
vision or radio, in a manner intended to reach as 
wide and diverse an audience as possible. 
(3) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this subsection such sums as may be necessary for 
each of fiscal year 2009 through 2012. 
SEC. 5. SOCIAL WORK AWARENESS MONTH. 
It is the sense of Congress that the President should 
designate a National Social Work Awareness month to— 
(1) raise awareness about the importance of the 
profession of social work; 
(2) encourage interest groups, stakeholders, and 
individuals to take an active role in the recruitment, 
retention, research and reinvestment into the profes-
sion of social work. 
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 
As used in this Act, the following definitions apply: 
(1) COMMUNITY BASED PROGRAM.—The term 
‘‘community based program’’ means an agency, or-
ganization or program, usually not-for-profit, that 
provides direct social work services, or community 
development services at a neighborhood, locality or 
regional level to address human service, health care, 
or psychosocial needs. 
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(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-
ty’’ means— 
(A) in reference to section 4(b), either a 
public or private agency working in a social 
work capacity that demonstrates a need in one 
of the defined workplace improvement areas de-
scribed in section 4(b)(1); 
(B) in reference to section 4(c), an indi-
vidual who has graduated with a doctorate de-
gree in the field of social work and will commit 
to using grant funds for postdoctoral social 
work research; 
(C) in reference to section 4(d), a social 
work education program offering the bachelors, 
masters, or doctorate degree in social work; and 
(D) in reference to section 4(e), a not-for- 
profit or public agency working in a social work 
capacity in one of the defined areas in section 
4(e)(1). 
(3) HIGH
NEED
AND
HIGH
DEMAND.—The 
term ‘‘high need and high demand’’ means an area 
or population which lacks sufficient resources and as 
a result has a greater probability of being harmed 
by specific social, environmental, or health problems 
than the population as a whole. Such areas may be 
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defined by the Health Resources and Services Ad-
ministration (HRSA) as ‘‘health professional short-
age areas’’ which may have shortages of primary 
medical care, dental, or mental health providers and 
may be urban or rural areas, population groups, or 
medical or other public facilities. 
(4) RELATED
PROFESSIONAL
RESEARCHER.— 
The term ‘‘related professional researcher’’ means a 
person who is professionally engaged in research in 
a social, political, economic, health or mental health 
field. Such research is primarily conducted by doc-
toral level researchers under university, government, 
research institute, or community agency auspices. 
(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ refers 
to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 
(6) SOCIAL
WORK.—The term ‘‘social work’’ 
means the professional activity of helping individ-
uals, groups, or communities enhance or restore ca-
pacity for social and psychosocial functioning and 
creating societal conditions favorable to this goal. 
Social work practice consists of the professional ap-
plication of social work values, principles, and tech-
niques, including— 
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(A) diagnosis and treatment of mental and 
emotional disorders with individuals, families, 
and groups; 
(B) helping communities or groups provide 
or improve social and health services; partici-
pating in relevant legislative processes; and 
(C) helping people obtain tangible services. 
The practice of social work requires knowledge of 
human development and behavior of social, economic 
and cultural institutions, and of the interaction of all 
these factors. 
(7) SOCIAL
WORK
RESEARCHER.—The term 
‘‘social work researcher’’ means a person who stud-
ies the individual, family, group, community, policy 
or organizational level, focusing across the life span 
on prevention, intervention, treatment, aftercare, 
and rehabilitation of acute and chronic social and 
psychosocial conditions, and includes examining poli-
cies effect on social work practice. Social work re-
search is primarily conducted by doctoral level social 
workers and faculty under university, government, 
research institute, or community agency auspices. 
(8) SOCIAL WORKER.—The term ‘‘social work-
er’’ means a graduate of a school of social work with 
either bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degrees who 
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use their knowledge and skills to provide social work 
services for clients who may be individuals, families, 
groups, communities, organizations, or society in 
general. 
Æ 
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