Sec. 2. Findings
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Congress finds the following: Although the United States poverty rate has had a slight decline to 12.3 percent in 2017, poverty remains a social issue for our Nation, especially for communities of color and women and children who continue to experience higher than average poverty rates. Homeowners and those seeking to become homeowners continue to face challenges with high mortgage delinquency, mortgage loan interest rates, and threats of foreclosure. Joblessness and economic insecurity contribute to the incidence of mental illness, family violence, suicide, substance abuse, crime, and diminished capacity for health, family, and community functioning.
Social workers form society’s social safety net. Social workers provide assistance, guidance, and resources to individuals, families, and communities in poverty. Additionally, they understand the devastating costs and consequences of poverty and unemployment on our society and provide direct services in order to prevent and abate economic inequality. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the social work profession will grow at an above-average rate through the year 2026, with a 16-percent growth rate overall and a 20-percent projected growth rate for health care social workers.
This increase is faster than the 7-percent average for all occupations, demonstrating a substantial need for social workers in our Nation. Social work salaries, on average, are among the lowest for all occupations in the United States and for those with master’s level education in particular. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual income for social workers in 2017 was $47,980. The report titled 2017 Statistics on Social Work Education in the United States by the Council on Social Work Education stated that 77.7 percent of students graduating from Master of Social Work programs incurred debt to earn their graduate degree.
The average debt for a Master of Social Work degree was approximately $44,296. Social workers often deal with the most vulnerable clients in emotional or traumatic situations, and face possible danger as a result. The National Association of Social Workers Center for Workforce Studies found that 44 percent of survey respondents faced personal safety issues on the job. In 2015, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration reported that 75 percent of workplace assaults that occurred between 2011 and 2013 took place in the health care and social services industries.
The Alzheimer’s Association of America states that 5.7 million Americans, or 1 in every 10 individuals over the age of 65, have Alzheimer’s disease. Social workers in gerontology settings work with older adults, including those with dementia, to support their physiological, psychological, and social needs through mental health therapy, caregiver and family counseling, health education, program coordination, and case management. The Children’s Defense Fund states that every 47 seconds a child is confirmed as abused or neglected and every 5 1/2 hours a child is killed from abuse or neglect.
The Administration for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services states that 437,500 children were in the United States foster care system at the end of fiscal year 2016. Most children placed in foster care are placed due to parental abuse or neglect. Research shows that professional social workers employed in child welfare agencies are more likely to find permanent homes for children who have been in foster care for 2 or more years. Unfortunately, less than 40 percent of child welfare workers are professional social workers.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 46.6 million individuals (nearly 1 in 5 or 18.9 percent) in the United States age 18 or older experienced a diagnosable mental illness in 2017. Additionally, at least 3 million (1 in 10 or 13.3 percent) youth between the ages of 12 and 17 experienced at least one major depressive episode in the past year. Social workers provide the majority of mental health counseling services in the United States, and are often the only providers of such services in rural areas.
Social workers working with veterans and their families provide services that include case management, crisis interventions, mental health interventions, housing and financial counseling, high-risk screening, and advocacy. The Department of Veterans Affairs, which is the largest employer of social workers in the Nation, employs over 12,000 social workers who are available to serve an estimated 20.4 million veterans in the United States. A once-declining veteran population is now surging and is in dire need of mental health treatment to address issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, drug and alcohol addiction, and suicidal tendencies.
The American Cancer Society estimated that there would be 1,735,350 new cases of cancer and 609,640 cancer deaths, or 1,670 deaths a day, in 2018 alone. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that there are over 1,100,000 people living with HIV in the United States, with approximately 38,500 new cases diagnosed in 2015. In 2017, 1,430,000 to 1,700,000 people received care from the Nation’s hospice providers. Health care and medical social workers practice in areas related to all of these circumstances and provide outreach for prevention and health promotion, help individuals and their families adapt to their health conditions, connect patients and family caregivers with community services and supports, provide grief counseling, and act as a liaison between individuals and their medical team, helping patients make informed decisions about their care.
The Children’s Defense Fund notes that every 2 seconds a public school student is suspended and that every 9 seconds a high school student drops out. The National Center for Education Statistics states that in 2016 the national dropout rate for high school students was 6.1 percent. Some vulnerable communities have dropout rates of 50 percent or higher. Social workers in school settings help students avoid dropping out through early identification, prevention, intervention, counseling, and support services.
According to the Department of Justice, every year more than 650,000 ex-offenders are released from Federal and State prisons. Social workers employed in the correctional system address disproportionate minority incarceration rates, provide treatment for mental health problems and drug and alcohol addiction, and work within, as well as outside of, prisons to reduce recidivism and increase positive community reentry.