In the first (longer) version, the speech is basically intact. I streamlined the prose and tried to make it flow a bit better. I also did some reorganizing of the last few paragraphs. I had to add a few transition phrases which Ruth probably ad libbed; I also added a sentence at the end because the speech ends rather abruptly. Questions for you are in parentheses (they were in italics in my original which apparently does not translate in email). My indented paragraphs also did not translate so I have added them in again.

In the second version, I took out the quote and shortened the paragraph that it was in. Perhaps you could use the quote as a sidebar to Ruth's speech or insert it as a boxed quotation to break up the text of the speech?

Special Presentation

Ruth Messinger, MSW, former President of the Borough of Manhattan and Democratic Mayoral candidate in New York City in 1997, spoke at the Annual Meeting of ISP in New York City. Here are her challenging words:

Social Workers as Advocates in State and Local Government

I am pleased to be with you tonight and to support the efforts of ISP. I am here with a simple, but very important message: All social workers should be active in politics--as advocates, as players, trying to make a difference. A friend of mine who served as Texas's Commissioner of Agriculture put it to his constituents this way: "If you are not in politics, you are in trouble."

Why? Because decisions made in the political arena affect you professionally and personally. They determine whether you can admit or discharge patients; the level of coverage available to those you want to help; how our states and localities will address the problem of welfare reform; whether the families you treat will have access to good schools and neighborhood after-school programs; and whether social workers will be licensed. Decisions made in the political arena also determine what kinds of health insurance are available to you and your family; they determine the zoning in your neighborhood, the quality of your schools, and the state of the roads, bridges, and sewers on which you and your clients depend. These decisions must be our concerns.

The personal issues may affect each of you in different ways, but they do, in fact, define your quality of life. The professional issues are critical to us as social workers. How can we help people get their lives together when parts of the system work directly against that end? We must identify the problems in the system that need to be changed and work to promote those changes.

There is a logical progression from service to advocacy. If you work with children and youth services are being cut, or if tensions between police and kids are growing as a direct result of new police procedures or if a new law is being considered by your city council or state legislature, you need to act. Why? Because advocacy is one of our professional skills, and because working for change is one of our professional, ethical mandates.

Let me share with you a thoughtful observation: "There is nothing depressing about the discovery that even here in favored, prosperous, and happy America there are wrongs to be righted, exploitation to be stopped, disease to be overcome, weakness to be protected, and poverty to be abolished. What would be depressing is that such things should be and that the nation should not be consciously aware of them, and aware of the strength of our arms for the accomplishment of that work." This quote provides a framework for my remarks. It comes from an editorial on politics and social work written in 1912. This has been the mission of our profession for a long time.

When I urge you to get involved politically, to fight to change the way things are, to work for economic, social, and political justice in our jobs, in our communities, and with our clients, I am following in a distinguished tradition. The first social workers, active in the settlement house movement, were advocates who got involved in shaping social policy. They were leaders in fighting tenements and developing municipal housing codes. They pushed our government to make immunizations available to children. Several became staunch voices against war because they were convinced that the United States could not afford to fight overseas when its resources were needed to care for its own population.

In our own generation, the social work profession has developed a specialization in community organizing. Some schools of social work teach organizing and political advocacy, and provide internships in government offices. Our national professional association has a political action committee that interviews and endorses candidates for public office. These are important advances for social work as a profession. But involvement in matters of public policy and politics should not be limited to those social workers who majored in community organizing or chose to work in a political office. It must be the province of us all.

Why? Not only because our profession instructs us to work for fair treatment for all persons, but also because on too many fronts, government is not responding to the problems we see every day and is spending our tax dollars in ways that do not advance our interests. In this decade, the federal government has chosen and continues to choose to undo the so-called safety net, to eliminate programs, and to limit access to services. Why? Because many of the decisions which were made in Washington and seemed set in stone are being undone and referred to the states. Why? Because those states have little interest or expertise in these areas, see tax cuts as a panacea, and regularly short-change those in our society who are most in need. And because we, as social workers, have firsthand information about the effects of these changes--information our legislators need to make these decisions.

When discharge policies are determined in your state capital, who is advising the legislators? Insurance companies? Lobbyists representing special interests? Or social workers who struggle everyday to get people discharged from hospitals or to provide them with the home care they need or the help their families need? Quite simply, if we do not get involved, those with less information, different perspectives, and worse attitudes will. Never assume that an elected official knows half as much as you do about actual nursing home admission policies, or about families whose food stamps have been cut, or about conditions in the schools, hospitals or neighborhoods where you work. Don't expect your elected representatives to find out this information on their own. You must tell them.

How do we do this? Where do we start? We need to get involved with public policy in our professional organizations, at our agencies, in our communities, and in our schools. NASW should provide its federal, state, and local legislative agendas to all of its members and urge social workers to keep in close touch with their elected officials. Agencies should encourage staff members to lobby for specific bills that are under discussion in their city halls or state capitals. We should develop letter writing campaigns on legislative or budget issues that affect our work. We should testify at committee hearings, serve as witnesses, and share what we know. We also must use these skills in our personal lives, as advocates and organizers in our own communities. Social workers should serve on community boards and local school boards. We should be leaders in building local coalitions. These techniques are tried and true. They have been used by advocates and activists since time immemorial. They can be enriched further by our professional knowledge and by our problem-solving, diagnostic, and organizing skills.

Finally, there is electoral politics. The easiest step first: Social workers and social agencies should be actively involved in voter registration and should encourage clients to vote. This is not a partisan activity; it is encouraging clients to influence the system that affects them. On our own time, we social workers should get involved in political campaigns--as professional advisors, as volunteers, and as candidates. If we all do our part, we can make a great difference in influencing the policies that affect our communities, our clients, and our personal and professional lives.

"There is nothing depressing about the discovery that even here in favored, prosperous, and happy America there are wrongs to be righted, exploitation to be stopped, disease to be overcome, weakness to be protected, and poverty to be abolished. What would be depressing is that such things should be and that the nation should not be consciously aware of them, and aware of the strength of our arms for the accomplishment of that work." (SOURCE?, 1912)

Influencing State Policy (ISP) interviewed two leading authors of widely-used Research texts in order to explore the relationship between policy and this important part of social work knowledge. Below are their names, current texts and some very perceptive ideas:

Martin Bloom, Fischer, J. & Orme, J. (1999). Evaluating practice: guidelines for the accountable professional. (3rd ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. www.abacon.com/

Robert W. Weinbach, & Grinnell, R.M., Jr. (2001). Statistics for social workers. (5th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. www.abacon.com/

Yegidis, B., Robert W. Weinbach, & Morrison-Rodriguez, B. (1999). Research methods for social workers. (3rd ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. www.abacon.com/

Allen J. Rubin (2000). Research methods for social work, (4th ed.) Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Email: wadsworth.com

ISP: How satisfied are you with current social work research education and developing skills in assessing social policies and programs?

Bloom: Education in social work research that I know about does not effectively equip students to assess social programs and policies. How can two classes (including one introductory class) supply the level of knowledge and skills needed for the complex tasks in macro-level research? I believe that social work continues to perpetuate its own mythology of producing researchers at the MSW level. In fact, these classes generate students with little love for research or knowledge of incorporating research into their empirically-based social work practice.

Weinbach: Unfortunately, most social work research courses at the BSW and MSW levels are not very effective in making the connection between research and social policy. They do a better job preparing students to use research skills to assess program effectiveness. Students are rarely prepared to conduct policy analysis in the same way that they are prepared to design empirical studies that relate to human behavior or to evaluate the effectiveness of individual practitioners and programs (single system research and social program evaluation). Where it exists, policy analysis content is more likely to be found in social welfare policy and services courses where research methods and methods of data analysis receive little attention. This is, I believe, an unfortunate by-product of our tradition of "sequences" in social work education that forces content into either "research" or "policy" categories. Both research methods and knowledge of political forces, taught together, are need to develop skills in policy analysis.

Rubin: Dissatisfied. We need more research curriculum. However, the lack of emphasis on research reflects its marginal status historically in the profession and especially among the practice community. Given that status, as well as the aptitudes and attitudes of students re research, I don't think there are any obvious or easy solutions to this problem, including just adding more research curriculum.

ISP: In what practical ways could state-level policies (as opposed to Federal) and programs be incorporated into social work research courses?

Bloom: If states and communities wrote into their laws that efficacy studies are an intrinsic and necessary part of every program and policy, then there would be more demand in all fields to produce the level of researcher suitable to the task.

Weinbach: Class exercises might be developed to examine state level policies in relation to the social indicators and other data that were employed at the time of "selling" them within the political sphere. Students might be taught to identify how politics might have led policy advocates to selectively use or even distort research data to advance their agenda. State level policies that have been in existence for some time and might be based on outdated data might be critiqued in relation to current research data and revisions formulated upon those data. For example, in South Carolina, a recent dramatic growth in the Hispanic population and recent data on their health and financial status would suggest some badly needed changes in state health and welfare policies.

Rubin: I don't think this is the right question -- especially in the many programs where there is insufficient content on research methods per se. Instead, I think the question should be how to get more research content into the rest of the curriculum, including policy courses.

ISP: In what directions do you foresee social work research moving in the next ten years?

Bloom: I suspect....although my crystal ball is cloudy...that education in social work research will continue to dither along for the next decade, preoccupied with new high-tech toys. This will probably result in non-social work fields (like business) taking over research in programs and policies. This will be quite unfortunate as humanitarian values will give way to sheer profit outcomes. (Look at managed health care for an image of this future.)

Weinbach: I may be wishing more than prognosticating, but I hope that research education will permeate the curriculum and finally lose its role as stepchild. This will came about as we acknowledge, perhaps reluctantly, that research skills are essential for social workers in all areas of practice if they are to achieve and maintain credibility among others who may not share the same concerns or even the same values. When convincing an accountant that a state health policy must be revised, we must be able to present valid, credible data. I think we must prepare our graduates to do that. I also believe that the current quantitative/qualitative research debate will finally subside as reasonable people recognize that both methods have an important contribution to make to our knowledge base, both can help us to achieve our change objectives and that one method is not inherently superior to the other.

Rubin: Unfortunately, I worry about a continuation of the trend in which most of the research is done by academicians conducting limited studies that put more emphasis on vita building and securing tenure and promotion than on highly rigorous, cumulative studies that significantly build the knowledge base to guide practice or policy.

ISP: If you believe that policy(s) affect social work practice, what can be done to strengthen this belief I our profession and its educational units?

Bloom: Social work as a profession eventually needs to become serious about research on policy and programs. This may call for specialized schools at the Masters level, something like Brandeis University at the doctoral level, to provide as many classes in research as the other schools provide in practice methods. The much larger number of other schools should focus on education for evaluating practice with individuals, groups, and neighborhood or communities. Evaluation, in contrast to research, can probably be taught to a level of effective competence in two to three classes if reinforced throughout the curriculum.

Weinbach: In social welfare policy courses, academicians can and do provide plenty of examples of how social work practice has affected policy at the federal and state levels throughout history. Students learn how policy affects practice to some degree when they encounter obstacles to applying what they have learned in practice classes within their field placements. However, what they learn through their frustration relates more to the style of individual managers or constraints unique to their agency than to state or national policies. What they need are more examples of how state and federal policies may both constrain and sometimes support their practice. This could be added by the use of classroom speakers who are responsible for translating state and federal policies into services----mid or upper-level managers in state agencies. The fact that many of these people are not social workers and may be operating out of a different value base would be enlightening to students and provide for lively discussion after they leave.

Rubin: Teach policy in ways that make it more integrated with practice, and show practitioners this relevance.

Allen Rubin, Ph.D.
Bert Kruger Smith Centennial Professor in Social Work
School of Social Work
The University of Texas at Austin
1925 San Jacinto Blvd.
Austin, TX 78712
512-471-9218
FAX: 512-471-9600

Listed below are examples furnished by ISP members about how states are establishing their own priorities and shaping social policies to fit them.

In Virginia, due to protests by the Coalition for the Protection of Children in Foster Care, state officials have suspended new regulations that would have allowed foster parents affiliated with private (not public) agencies to spank children.

State and local governments are expected to post a combined surplus of around $60 billion this year, up from $51 billion in 1999. Study was conducted by the US Commerce Dept.'s Bureau of Economic Analysis in May, 2000.

In Minnesota, a pilot project, the Minnesota Family Investment Program, has improved the well-being of children, reduced domestic violence, and stabilized marriages among welfare recipients. These positive results are being analyzed for implications for the entire state welfare system and the reauthorization of the federal legislation in 2002.

In Georgia, threatening to withhold welfare payments to low-income families unless their children got regular vaccines significantly increased the immunization rates. (Ethics?)

In Idaho, victory in November turned to defeat in April. Emergency legislation exempted nursing homes, hospitals and intermediate care facilities from a statute requiring licensed social workers rather than social services designees to perform medical social work. Advocates were unaware that a bill was moving through the Idaho House and had little time to prepare opposition.

In Maryland, the NASW chapter and social work students demonstrated to fund legislation that would reduce child welfare caseloads. Meeting the Child Welfare League of America's caseload standards would prevent putting children in jeopardy.

In Kansas, social workers are pushing to establish an independent regulatory licensing board to protect the interests of the profession. The current board has 11 members, only 2 of whom are social workers, even though seventy-eight percent of the licenses issued go to social workers.

In Texas, more than a quarter of its citizens have no health insurance. It ranks near the top in the nation in rates of AIDS, diabetes, tuberculosis, and teen-age pregnancy. It ranks near the bottom in immunizations, mammograms, and access to physicians.

In Los Angeles, CA, Mayor Riordan has proposed diverting $300 million from his city's share of the national tobacco settlement to pay off lawsuits arising from police corruption.

In Kentucky, Washington, South Carolina, Florida and Arkansas, officials have launched "relocation assistance programs" for welfare recipients when their benefits expire. In Kentucky, people can apply for a $900 grant to move out of state if they can prove that someone is willing to hire them.

In Arkansas, the Coalition for a Healthy Arkansas Today is advocating for developing a network of regional centers on aging by using funds from the tobacco settlement. These centers would target older patients and offer services and benefits such as in-home health care, vision treatment, increased Medicaid payments, smoking cessation, and medical equipment.

The following groups and individuals were selected as the most outstanding in their category by a nationwide panel of judges. Influencing State Policy con-gratulates each of them for their commitment to the mission of Social Work as found in the NASW Code of Ethics: "Social workers should be aware of the impact of the political arena on practice and should advocate for changes in policy and legislation to improve social conditions in order to meet basic human needs and promote social justice" [6.04(a)].

BSW Student: A group of five George Mason University BSW students collaborated to lobby for the successful passage of Item 381 of the House of Delegates' Bill 30 in the Spring, 2000, session of the Virginia General Assembly. Juan Alhucema, Kelly Downey, Karla Fife, Sarah Peidl, and Laura Winston supported Item 381 because it provided a 10% increase for the Virginia Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. No increases had been given for 15 years. The students contacted the patron of the bill, involved the university commu-nity, friends and family, wrote a flyer, and hand-delivered a signed letter to each member of the conference committee. 34,000 families were affected. Students learned about the lobbying process, working as a group, being flexible, collaborating with community groups, and that "we are the ones who will advocate for those who cannot, mobilizing the voices and concerns of our neighbors."

BSW Faculty: Patricia W. Ivry, Chairperson of the Department of So-cial Work at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury has developed an assignment for a year-long BSW Community Organization course using a generalist, strengths-oriented model to bring about social policy change. The student project must be consistent with Social Work values, doable in one year, fun, involve each student, and recognize their contributions. Students must keep a weekly log, and progress reports are made in class. Her class chose reducing violence as their project for 1999-2000. Among many activities, the students pro-moted a bill at the Connecticut state legislature, secured a 30 second TV spot that has aired statewide for a year, wrote public service announcements for the university radio, developed a website, www.wcsu.ctstateu.edu/stoptheviolence, distributed 6,000 stickers with a non-violence logo, created an animated bug, "Aunt Tee Violence," networked with other social work educational programs in the state, and planned a "Stop the Violence Day" on campus.

MSW Student: Beatrice Kerr is a part-time MSW student at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work in Richmond. She learned that House Bill 141 would make it a criminal offense for people with HIV/AIDS to have sex without informing their sexual partners of their infected status. As an AIDS counselor, Ms. Kerr knew that this legislation would damage public health efforts to encourage people to get tested for HIV and would further alienate persons with HIV/AIDS. Working with coalitions, she planned a Legislative Rally Day, gave a speech to legislators, researched similar laws in other states, lobbied and educated committee members, and mobilized people to attend Courts of Justice committee meetings. Despite these efforts, Bill 141 passed. Ms. Kerr noted that between 16,250 and 22,500 Virginians would be affected. But, the final bill was modified to make the prosecutor prove intent, i.e., that the person with HIV was out to infect others intentionally. "Although we did not accomplish a pure victory, I learned the importance of educating legislators, that the right strategy can go a long way, and that politics is mostly compromise."

MSW Faculty: Pamela Cress, a MSW faculty member at Walla Walla School of Social Work in College Place, WA developed a "tracking leg-islation" assignment for her students. The MSW program draws stu-dents from Oregon, Idaho, as well as Washington, and groups are formed in the Spring semester to follow a social welfare bill in each state. Students must check weekly on the status of the bill, contact key players in the legislative process, keep a group journal of all advocacy activities, and make a final presentation late in the semester. Fifteen minutes of in-class time is given to the group to plan future activities. The assignment successfully teaches students to overcome fear of the "system," how to use the internet, to understand the role of an advocate, to view an issue three dimensionally (three states), and to use various lobbying techniques.

MSW Field Instructor and Student: A combined University of Mis-souri-St. Louis and Washington University effort led MSW Field In-structor Betsy Slosar and MSW students Elizabeth Corman and Susan Luke on a three year effort to obtain successful passage of an Individual Development Account (IDA) bill in the 1999 session of the Missouri legislature. IDAs provide up to a 3:1 match for clients' personal saving for long-term investment strategies such as post secondary education, homeownership, and micro businesses. The students did research, re-cruited sponsors, drafted and redrafted the bill, monitored the progress of the bill, and mobilized support. They traveled 2.5 hours to lobby key legislators. 3,000-4,000 persons under 200% poverty can benefit from the bill and approximately $8 million dollars are available for matching funds. One student said: "The experience of lobbying was priceless. It dramatically improved my public speaking, my understanding of power, and my ability to think analytically."

Ph. D. Student: Christine TenBarge is a Ph.D. student at the University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work. While taking a doctoral class in research methods, Ms. TenBarge became involved with a PTA group of K-6 grade parents who were concerned that there was no bilingual education classes for the non-Spanish speaking majority. She assisted them by devising a questionnaire and surveying all parents, hoping to assess the level of support for adding Spanish to the curriculum. Based on very positive replies, the group decided to propose a foreign language program. Ms. TenBarge then pursued a university partnership and obtained master's level students to provide the instruction. She used the negotiations as a case study for a qualitative research course, investigating three research questions. Ms. TenBarge noted that 435 students would be affected. She learned that this model can translate into action and impact policy at many levels.