Updates In Investments in the Social Work Workforce
Monday, May 23, 2022
(0 Comments)
Posted by: Melina Brann
Exciting Investments in the Social Work Workforce! Your Action Needed!
|
UPDATE: Social Work Asks in the 2022 Budget
We are thrilled that Rep. Felicia Brabec has requested that several of NASW-Michigan's priorities be added to the FY22-23 budget. Read about our asks and how they compare to Rep. Brabec's here.
Now we need your help!
We want you to be a part of the legislative process
While budget negotiations are happening, it is critical for certain lawmakers to hear from their constituents on what they need. That’s where you come in -
reach out to the Chairs of both the House and Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations committees.
House HHS Appropriations
Senate HHS Appropriations
Some language you may use:
“As a social worker and Michigan resident, I ask that you support budget amendments (Sections 1996 - 2000) that would increase and enhance the behavioral health workforce in Michigan. These crucial investments would bring hundreds of new professionals into communities across Michigan over the next three years through investing in students, training, and research.”
|
|
|
Next Steps for Paid School Social Work Internships
On May 5th, HB 6020 was passed out of the Health Policy Committee and sent back to the floor of the House. It's counterpart, SB 1012, was passed and sent back to the Senate floor last week.
SB1012/HB6020 will provide payment for graduate-level school social work, psychology, and counseling students during their field placements. It will cover up to $25 per hour for up to 20 hours per week for a school year (30 weeks) or a lump sum of up to $15,000 per school year.
Next Steps:
1. The bills will be read and voted on in their respective Chambers over the coming weeks. Due to bipartisan support shown in the committees, we do not anticipate any challenges.
2. If you would like to continue showing support, click here to take action and write your legislator.
Other Budget Updates:
On Friday, May 20th, the legislature met for the second Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference. Michigan uses a consensus process created by Public Act 72 of 1991 to generate official revenue estimates for the state budget. These conferences establish the official economic and revenue forecasts that will be used in budget deliberations.
During a revenue estimating conference, experts from academia, the federal government, and/or the private sector present and discuss their economic forecasts. Economists from the fiscal agencies and from the Department of Treasury present individual economic forecasts for the current and upcoming fiscal years, and then present a joint staff forecast. Forecasts are based on the assumption that current tax law will remain in effect for the forecast period. The conference principals consider the joint staff forecast and other information provided by conference presenters in order to reach agreement on the official economic and revenue estimates that will be used as the basis for Michigan’s budget.
The second (current) consensus revenue estimates become the basis for the final legislative appropriation bills presented to the Governor in June.
|
At M-PACE, we want members to be as informed as possible, that is why we have taken a stance on the following election petitions.
If you are interested in learning more about M-PACE, visit https://www.nasw-michigan.org/page/MPACE
Federal Updates:
NASW Advocates to Protect Access to Essential Reproductive Health Care
NASW remains resolute in its commitment to protect reproductive rights and freedoms as outlined in our 2021
Blueprint of Federal Social Policy Priorities
and
Social Work Speaks. Learn about recent advocacy at NASW’s national and chapter levels in the wake of the leak of the draft Supreme Court opinion on the future of
Roe v. Wade.
Student Loan Debt Relief — New Developments, Action Needed
NASW continues to work in coalition to advocate for student loan debt relief for social workers, including loan forgiveness, cancellation, and other measures. Learn what happened at the recent U.S. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee listening session on how student loan debt impacts the dignity of work, take educational webinars on the PSLF program and temporary waiver, and more.
| Social Work Issues In The News
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Social-Worker, Rights Groups Sue Ohio City Over Abortion Ban
The Associated Press
Groups advocating for professional social workers and women’s rights challenged a small Ohio city’s ban on abortion, arguing it is an “extraordinarily broad” infringement on the constitutional rights of due process and free speech. The lawsuit argues that the abortion restriction approved last May by the city of Lebanon, in southwest Ohio, should be declared illegal regardless of whether the U.S. Supreme Court follows through with a leaked opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mental Health Care Should Be Available for All, Not a Luxury
Scientific American
Rates of mental illness were already high in the U.S., but the pandemic intensified everything: Illness, loneliness, job loss, grief, and other stressors related to COVID induced a nationwide rise in anxiety and depression. As difficult as the pandemic has been, however, it hit some groups far harder than others. It exacerbated social and economic inequities already known to drive and sustain poor mental health among marginalized communities.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Print Page
Email to a Friend
