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Tell the Governor to Veto AB 858!

AB 858 (Wood) is on the Governor’s desk and he must sign or veto this bill by October 11th. This bill would include a marriage and family therapist (MFT) within those health care professionals covered under the definition of a “visit” at Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) thereby making it easier for FQHC’s to hire MFT’s.

We want to Governor to veto this bill as there is an abundance of social workers to fill these jobs and social workers have the most comprehensive training to work with diverse and low-income populations. Social workers have the skills to counsel clients and to access appropriate services to meet the client’s needs and are available to fill any vacant positions.

Please click on the Take Action button below.

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Santa Clara County ‘Social Work’ Reclassification

via NASW News:

The Santa Clara Board of Supervisors is considering a proposal by the Santa Clara Employee Services Agency to include non-social work masters degrees such as psychology, counseling and gerontology as qualifying educational degrees for the Social Worker Classification.

NASW doesn’t agree with this proposal and feels it could jeopardize the safety of children, families, the elderly and dependent adults by including personnel that do not have professional social worker training. Please consider writing an opposition letter to the Santa Clara Board of Supervisors and asking your friends and colleagues to do so.

If you prefer, you can call or email the Santa Clara Board of Supervisors by following this link and clicking on the photo of a supervisor: http://www.sccgov.org/sites/bos/Pages/default.aspx.

For a sample letter and the detailed proposal to add non-social work degrees to the Social Worker Classification, NASW has set up the following webpage: http://www.naswca.org/?page=santaclara.

Thank you for being an advocate of professional social work.

As part of social work’s curriculum, social work students received specific training on child and family laws, ethics and local resources, and are put those knowledge into practice via practicum/internship to provide the quality of service as required by law. Allowing other degrees to match the qualification of Social Worker risks the degradation of quality of services and betrayal of public trust in being a steward of the safety net services for the people in need.

Moreover, the move to allow non-social work degree holder to hold SW position is akin to allowing individuals without nursing degree to be employed in a nurse position. It is grave injustice to the professionalism of social workers, and the unsung and under-compensated work and contribution social workers had made to the community.

Therefore, we urge you to show your opposition to this reclassification, through contacting the supervisors of Santa Clara County through mail, phonecall or email. The contact information can be found in the link http://www.sccgov.org/sites/bos/Pages/default.aspx.