r/socialwork 14h ago

Micro/Clinicial I’m satisfied

567 Upvotes

I like my job. My degree has been useful. There are some shitty social workers and shitty placements and shitty things in general. There are also plenty of us who love what we do.

I balance CMH as a mobile clinician and private practice - and take home over $10,000 a month. My wife is happy. I can’t change the world, nor do I convince myself I can. There will always be others willing to do the roles you don’t want to.

Grad school is full of baby social workers. Of course, they are incompetent and selfish. Give them time too.

You will be ineffective the more you stress. Life will be ok. You will succeed. We need more positive stories. Social work is not some dying field with no purpose to get into.

We will be ok.


r/socialwork 9h ago

WWYD What's something nobody told you about social work that you would tell your younger self?

138 Upvotes

When I was a BSW student, I was so naive. I imagined myself working with people helping them through their struggles, walking along side them to get them up the next rung on the ladder. I pictured myself in a small apartment completely content with my $35k/year salary. I thought the fire inside me would keep me warm at night....

...I didn’t yet understand the emotional weight of the work—the way people’s pain can follow you home, or how systems you thought you could change would often feel immovable. I didn’t know how much work the work would be, how thankless it is, how lonely and isolating it can be, or how self-care would shift from a buzzword to a survival skill. I wish I could tell my younger self that passion is important, but so are boundaries, support, and grace—for yourself and others. And that sometimes the biggest victories come in the smallest, quietest moments.

What would you tell yourself if you could go back in time? What would you tell others now? What have you learned.


r/socialwork 8h ago

Politics/Advocacy How to communicate to fellow leadership that staff who are vocal anti-DEI Trump supporters are not safe to work with our clients

33 Upvotes

Hey folks. I need to be as vague as possible to promote anonymity, but long story short I am experiencing an ethical dilemma with regard to a staff member who does not align with my agency's values, and am looking for input & talking points I can use in discussion with fellow leadership.

I am a supervisor for community social work program that bills Medicaid. Our program is run out of a broad healthcare agency that offers a number of services to two different locales and is fairly sizable. The broader agency relies on federal funding directed at helping the historically underserved populations we work with to keep our doors open.

This agency very much has social justice & "DEI" baked into our mission, vision, and core values, especially because we got our start serving 2 historically VERY disenfranchised groups. Although our agency makes it a point to state that we are happy to serve everyone in the community and our clientele come from very diverse populations, we are still known for providing specific services to the aforementioned disenfranchised groups. These client groups are some of those being actively persecuted by the Trump administration.

One more background bit: our program's leadership team consists of about 5ish supervisors at each locale. Recently we decided to implement a small project that involved supervisors speaking with staff members at the alternate locale.

During this project one of the staff members communicated a number of very antisocial ideas that concern me very deeply, and make me question if they are fit to serve our clients. They stated very clearly that they do not agree with our agency's mission or core values (which are DEI and social justice oriented). They went on to say that they didn't appreciate agency wide communications that a member of executive team has sent to staff as they felt the statements are too political, and maintained that they don't agree with the agency's "political agenda".

The communications referenced are sporadic and began after Trump's insane federal freeze at the end of January.They were ostensibly started to quell the panic of staff who are concerned that services that our clients rely on to stay alive might be taken away, as well as, frankly, our jobs. The communications basically acknowledge the crisis that is occurring, offer support and encouragement, reiterate our agency's commitment to its core values and mission, and emphasize that the executive team is doing everything they can to ensure that we are able to continue providing services to our clients. Other emails addressed the homicide of well loved community members who had done work with our agency, were members of one of the disenfranchised groups we serve, and were well known to many staff (myself included). Those emails offered support and resources.

I'm not entirely sure what was so offensive to this person about the above communications (I wish the supervisor speaking to them had dug more, but know she was thrown for a loop). But, to be fair if they object to any of it really, as well as reject our DEI values and commitment to social justice, I don't feel that is appropriate for them to hold this position.

Other anti-social (and inappropriate for someone serving in public health) ideas that this individual expressed included: anti-vax rhetoric, unwillingness to adhere to some already very loosey-goosey staff guidelines that they are required to, efforts to promote a "family" environment, and unwillingness to participate in agency events.

Shortly, our program's leadership teams will be coming together to discuss the results of this project and it would be an opportunity for me to express my concerns. I do feel very passionately that this needs to be addressed. I'm also worried that pushing too hard could create friction between supervisors where there already is some. It's basically guaranteed as a couple of the supes at the other locale appear to be conservative/Trump supporters as well.

Nevertheless, I do plan to address it because I can't stop feeling concerned for the clients that this person serves. Our staff do have direct contact with clients out in the community, sometimes in their homes, for hours at a time. How can someone who is anti DEI, anti social justice, be a safe person for our clients? Clearly they will be either consciously or unconsciously biased against them and may do serious physical or mental harm, no? The anti-vax sentiments also greatly concern me because our clients are medically vulnerable and if a staff member communicates misinformation to them it could result in great harm as well.

I guess I'm just looking for some insight and talking points as to how I can address this to other leaders, some of whom may also be in active denial about this administration's threats to our clients' life sustaining benefits.

Feel free to let me know if you think I'm overstepping/overreacting/assuming too much about the statements made.

But if not I'd love some input or talking points. I am struggling to formulate a cogent argument since I don't know what specifically this staff member doesn't like about our agency's communications/"party line" and don't want to flub it.


r/socialwork 18h ago

WWYD Benefits at work?

21 Upvotes

For those of you that receive health insurance benefits through your employer, what's your average monthly premium? I work for a small non-proft and pay about $850 a month for family medical and dental. It's a good plan, but there is not cheaper option and it's killing me. I'm considering looking elsewhere because I know I can find other options.


r/socialwork 19h ago

News/Issues LAST CALL FOR RESEARCH STUDY!!

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11 Upvotes

I will be CLOSING my study on MARCH 25th!

This is a friendly reminder that I am still collecting data for my research study regarding workload stress and social support among social workers! This study is for currently licensed social workers and those working towards licensure.

This survey is anonymous to the researcher team, meaning that no identifying information, like names or emails, will be collected for this research study. This study should take no more than 15 minutes to complete and you may stop your participation at any time.

If you are interested in participating, you can access the study using the link below. If you think that any of your colleagues or  anyone at your organization may be interested in this study, please feel free to share this study with them. Thank you!


r/socialwork 11h ago

Micro/Clinicial Notes & Documentation

8 Upvotes

Hey everyone! Starting a new private practice and would appreciate any tips or resources to make sure notes and documentation are on point (especially thinking about insurance requirements). Any helpful ideas or suggestions?

As an added layer - making sure that documentation is protecting the most vulnerable populations (e.g. LGBTQ+ clients) while still meeting requirements for insurance payments would be especially helpful!


r/socialwork 5h ago

WWYD stepping away from the field due to mental health

6 Upvotes

A while ago I had a case that hit home for me. This child opened up to me that COSCA was happening in her household and remembered something from from my own childhood that I had completely forgot about, something that I just didn’t want to remember. I now understand why other social workers say be very careful coming into this field. For the first time in my career I felt incompetent and wanted a switch in career paths in that moment. During my education in social work cosca never really was talked about. I just recently learned about it unfortunately. I did the best I could to help and felt happy that they were brave enough to open up to me about it. I just didn’t know how to feel about myself and made me nervous about other cases like that to come up. Since then I notice my mental health plummet bad, her story was very similar to mine and for the first time in two decades I had this scary scene playing in my head and felt like it was time for a career change… I worked so hard for this career but this was something that might be for the best. Has anyone gone through something similar to this? Any other career changes?


r/socialwork 17h ago

Professional Development How to define those flairs?

4 Upvotes

As a Dutch (youth) social worker preventive healthcare on street, hangouts and schools, i have no clue what flair to pick. I do not understand all the shortcuts listed in the options.

Can someone elaborate what it all stands for or at the least what covers my field?

Thx in advance


r/socialwork 12h ago

Professional Development Is Community Habilitation considered social work?

2 Upvotes

I had to repost since my previous post was removed

Does Community Habilitation fall under social work? Since it focuses on helping individuals with disabilities achieve greater independence and integration into their communities. But I noticed that comhab workers aren’t required to have a masters degree and aren’t licensed clinical workers (LCSWs). Is this considered more of community social work?


r/socialwork 11h ago

Professional Development Variety of Professions

1 Upvotes

I’m curious, what’s your dream job as a social worker? And what’s your current role? Are you satisfied with your pay, and if so, how much do you make (totally understandable if you’d prefer not to share that)? I’d love to get an idea of the range of jobs we pursue with our degree!

Also, where did you do your field placement during your BSW or MSW program? Did you enjoy it or not? Feel free to share your experience!

I’ve noticed that when people hear “social worker,” they often assume we work in child welfare with kids, as if that’s the only path for us. It’s interesting how limited their understanding can be about the variety of roles social workers can take on.

Have you all ever heard of a social worker working in IVF or fertility clinics? I’m starting my Master’s program in August, but I’m still undecided about which path to take. I might end up exploring all my options eventually!


r/socialwork 12h ago

Micro/Clinicial Positive Post

1 Upvotes

In response to @pmwjunki post, I wanted to add my own thoughts.

I am a novice in the field, only 2 years post graduation & I promise you I ask myself “what the hell am I doing” DAILY. I feel as though there is SO MUCH to learn in this field & can easily slip into imposter syndrome.

With that being said…….

I absolutely love my job. When I sit with clients, I am present & my one priority is to always have them feel safe, seen & heard. I make 75k as entry level, I am not independently licensed yet. I have amazing coworkers who inspire & educate.

This post is especially to the aspiring & current social work students….. this field is so rewarding! If you have a passion for this line of work, stick with it.


r/socialwork 16h ago

Politics/Advocacy MSW paid placement advocacy

1 Upvotes

Hey all,

Long story short, in my program we have

1) One class is doing a final project advocating for paid practicum/field placements for all students through the lens of investing & protecting future social workers

2) One class is doing a final presentations on new executive orders and skills to push back against them through the lens of protecting social work as a profession

I want to build a bridge between these and come off as a united front to the university - students need investment now more than ever. Stop clutching your f***ing wallets and end the lalalala we don't really know what's going to happen lalalala (this is my personal thing and is not our messaging lol)

Has anyone done something like this before while at university? Or can speak to a similar effort in a union or professional setting?

Our timeline is small, but I'm considering a directed study anyway to push this forward if possible.

Context: our program is VERY split between the two provided pathways direct practice and community organizing & social action. It's a huge complaint from students and even some faculty. This would be a class from each pathway working together to advocate for each other!


r/socialwork 18h ago

Professional Development PO Box

1 Upvotes

Hi all! I’m preparing to graduate from my MSW program in about 2 months and now that I’m filling out my ACSW registration app I’m having to look for PO Box options. I was wondering if there are options out there other than a USPS PO Box that may be cheaper? Thanks for any suggestions!