Congresswoman Lee Celebrates Social Work Month, Reintroduces Measures to Support Social Workers
Washington DC – Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee celebrated the beginning of Professional Social Work Month by reintroducing several bills to recognize and support the contributions of social workers.
“As a former psychiatric social worker, I know firsthand the invaluable contributions that social workers make to our country,” said Congresswoman Lee. “Social workers play a critical role for our nation’s most vulnerable communities. With empathy and compassion, social workers provide vital support to individuals and families and help ensure high quality care and resources for all. Congress must invest in our social workers and ensure they have support they need to help those who need it the most.”
Congresswoman Lee reintroduced the Social Work Reinvestment Act, which would establish a commission to study the social work profession and promote recruitment, retention and reinvestment in social workers. In order to address the significant challenges felt by more than 650,000 professional social workers, the Social Work Reinvestment Act would ensure that millions of individuals and families throughout the nation continue to receive well-rounded care.
She also reintroduced the Improving Access to Mental Health Act, which would raise the reimbursements for clinical social workers who provide critical mental and behavioral health care to Medicare beneficiaries. This legislation is critical to providing seniors continuous and complete access to high-quality mental health services from Clinical Social Workers (CSWs).
In addition to these bills, Congresswoman Lee reintroduced a resolution celebrating Professional Social Work Month and the extraordinary contributions professional social workers make to our communities every day. World Social Work Day, which will be held on March 19th, focuses on “Promoting the Importance of Human Relationships.” This year’s celebration raises awareness for the social work profession and the extraordinary impact of social workers in our communities.
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