As part of the Council on Social Work Education’s (CSWE) ongoing Public Policy Initiative, in late March CSWE members and leaders participated in meetings with key policymakers in Washington, DC to promote the value of social work education and offer CSWE as a resource to federal decision makers at this very important time. Members were formed into four thematic teams: Education, Children and Families, Veterans Affairs, and Indian Health*. In most cases, the groups met with the federal agency that is responsible for their issue as well as the Congressional committee(s) that have oversight jurisdiction for that agency. By visiting the federal agency and the corresponding Congressional committees, each group was able to get a sense of how their issue is being addressed across the federal government by the different parties involved.
Below are highlights from each of the group’s meetings. Tremendous connections were made throughout the federal government thanks to these efforts. CSWE will be following up on the many action items that came out of these meetings. Going forward, it will be critical to the success of CSWE’s public policy objectives for members to become active and stay involved in activities such as this.
A detailed account of the meeting is available in PDF, below.