Steve Harms, MSW,
Deputy Secretary for Health and Human Service in Virginia,
Challenges Social Work Students

Steve Harms, MSW, Deputy Secretary for Health and Human Service in Virginia, spoke in February, 2003, to approximately 225 social work students at the NASW Legislative Rally Day. Below are the highlights of his remarks that are applicable to any state or group of students:

What a privilege to address so many who have committed their lives to serving others! Speaking from my obviously biased opinion, there is no more honorable profession than social work. I’m proud of this common bond and calling that we share.

I have two purposes for addressing you today. First, to expand your vision of what social work can be, and [point out] the influence YOU can exert on social policy. My second purpose is related to my first. I’m here on a recruiting mission. It is my hope that some of you or maybe ALL of you would be motivated to join me and others in speaking up for the needs of the disadvantaged – particularly in these troubled economic times.

My path into social work was indirect, but perhaps not unlike the path many of you have taken. I had a general sense that I wanted to help others. That’s quite a hazy goal, but my path into social work started as nothing more than that. I graduated from college with a degree in psychology, after starting in engineering. You can imagine that call home when I switched majors. My parents asked: What are you going to do with a psychology degree? But after graduation, I was blessed with a number of opportunities to test my skills in helping others. I started in a community mental health center, as an inpatient psychiatric aide. I lived and worked in a group home for troubled teens. I did community-based family counseling. I worked as a coordinator for a housing rehab project for poor families.

But through all these jobs, I began to crave more skills. I wanted to become more effective in helping the families and individuals I worked with. That’s when I came to the doorstep of VCU’s School of Social Work – which changed the course of my people-helping career. I came seeking more skills as a clinician. I left with an insatiable appetite to influence public policy. I had hoped to become more skilled at helping individual families. I left with a desire to improve the lives of many, through social action and advocacy.

The school facilitated a field placement in a non-traditional social work setting -- as an intern with the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission. This watchdog agency in Virginia, much like the GAO at the federal level, is responsible for program evaluations and policy studies. That field placement led to a 20-year career as staff for the Virginia General Assembly, including work for the Senate Finance Committee.

Now you might be thinking, how exciting can that kind of work be, when compared with face-to-face work with clients? Why would a social worker ever want a job as a program evaluator or a budget analyst? Let me ask you this:

• What if you could gain access to the lending records of a billion dollar housing authority? What if, based on your findings and recommendations, that housing authority is now providing low-interest mortgages to thousands of low-income families -- who previously never could have dreamed of owning their homes?
• What if you could gain access to the insides of state prisons? What if you were granted interviews with prison wardens, staff, and inmates? What if, based on your findings and recommendations, hundreds of men and women behind bars are no longer idly watching TV, but are engaged in meaningful academic and vocational programs?
• What if, based on your findings and budget recommendations, thousands of previously homebound mentally retarded adults are now engaged in work and socialization programs?
• What if, based on your findings on welfare and poverty and on your tax policy recommendations, the working poor throughout Virginia now have more income to spend on daily living needs because they no longer pay state income tax?

These have been some of my mountaintop experiences in non-traditional social work.

Do you have the vision and desire?? Several years ago, I met a mild-mannered older woman with a heart for serving the homeless. She was deeply hurt when she was forced to turn away needy families from her overcrowded shelter. She had no clue on how state budgeting works or how state tax collections are distributed. Yet, she was persistent, almost pesky. She was successful in arranging personal meetings with governors and scores of state legislators. Each and every year she would trek hundreds of miles to the state capitol and around the state to champion this cause. Today, more than $6 million per year in state funds is allocated for homeless shelters, and to other innovative programs helping families move from shelters to permanent housing. Funding for these programs was instigated by one “case worker” with a vision and desire to help the homeless throughout Virginia, not just in the shelter she worked.

You know better than most -- the range and severity of human need is expansive. Take at-risk children, for example:

• More than 8,000 children in Virginia each year are severely neglected or abused. Do YOU care?
• An estimated 62,000 children in our state suffer from serious emotional disturbances – and yet maybe only one-third receives treatment. Do YOU care?
• In Virginia, anywhere from 50 to 100 teens each week attempt suicide, and one succeeds. Do YOU care?
• About one-half of all children locked up in local and state correctional facilities have mental health treatment needs. Do YOU care?

These alarming statistics document a human tragedy – but YOU can do something to help. As you sit here today, the Virginia General Assembly is considering bills that would extend state and federally financed health insurance for poor children to cover mental health treatment. Do you care enough to schedule meetings with legislators to voice your support? Within the next week and a half, the House and Senate must compromise vastly different budget proposals. One budget cuts $1 million in services to at-risk youth. Do you care enough to tell a handful of Senate negotiators to reject this House proposal?

Do you have the skills?? I’ve talked about vision and desire. But you need to couple those with skills. Here’s what YOU can do, even if your professional focus is in casework.

Take some time to learn how ideas become a legislative bill, and how a bill becomes law.

• Take time to learn how local and state budgets are decided.
• Join with others. Let your voice be heard. There are many advocacy groups you can join, who champion the cause of the mentally disabled, the elderly, the poor, the homeless, and others.
• Mobilize others. Help them to get their voices heard. For example, it was only recently that a statewide group was formed in Virginia to champion the cause of at-risk youth. Look around you. Be creative. Stand up for those who are often overlooked.
• At the end of today, and from this day forward, ask yourself: What happens if I don’t step forward as a social advocate?

Perhaps you’ve heard the expression, “to be a leader, you must excel as a servant.” The very essence of social work is service. Thus, each one of you is a leader. May your service -- whether in the highest levels of government or in the neighborhood homeless shelter, whether in Richmond or in the farthest reaches of the world -- light the way for others to follow. Thank you again for inviting me today. What an honor to serve with you in this profession!