What is social work? Social work is a helping profession focused on enhancing human well-being and addressing social and individual problems. Social Work’s core principles include empowering individuals, promoting social change, and advocating for social justice.
Almost everyone has interacted with a social worker. Why? Because social workers are employed in so many different settings. We connect people with resources, including finding housing, food assistance and childcare. We provide emotional support, counseling, and guidance to individuals dealing with personal and family problems. We advocate for client’s rights in legal proceedings, social service agencies, and other environments. Almost everyone has worked with a social worker or knows someone who has.
Social work is a profession that combines compassion, knowledge, and advocacy to improve lives and create a more just and equitable society. As social workers, we actively engage with our communities to meet the needs of the vulnerable. It’s a skill innate to our profession.
Through an exciting collaboration of social work educators, leaders from across the state are working together to determine the social work needs of North Carolina—and the path to meeting them. The Social Work Coalition for NC Workforce Development is a coalition of educators dedicated to increasing the workforce of social workers to meet the high demand for social work professionals across the state.
Over two years ago, social work leaders began to envision what a coalition of social work educators could achieve if unified and working together. Recognizing how North Carolina could be healthier and stronger with more social workers, the coalition formed around five key areas of need across the state: 1. Child and family services, 2. Mental and behavioral health, 3. Health, aging, and caregiving, 4. Intellectual and developmental disabilities, and 5. Service to justice involved individuals. Recognizing that the social work workforce needed to grow to address these areas of need, social work leaders from 25 schools and departments across the state gathered in November 2024 at North Carolina State University for our first in-person work group meeting.
The coalition is dedicated to collecting information about how best to address these needs. How many social workers does North Carolina need to be strong? What barriers do potential social workers find to an education? What are the mental health needs of the state, and do North Carolinians know and understand the value of social workers in their lives? Answers to these questions will assist the coalition to develop a strategic plan that is effective and addresses the workforce needs of North Carolina.
The coalition has also been divided into workgroups, developing strategy in key domains important to effective outcomes. These work groups are collaborating to find solutions to problems that could increase the social workforce across the state.
The Data Analytics work group, led by Ramona Denby-Brinson (UNC-Chapel Hill) and Kristin Mapson (UNC-Wilmington) is identifying existing data resources and gathering statistics to address workforce and service gaps in the social work field. By gathering data, we hope to identify key areas of need and resources across the state.
The Marketing and Communications work group, led by Barbara Wiedemann (UNC-Chapel Hill), is responsible for overseeing the creation and execution of strategies to effectively promote the Coalition’s mission, raise awareness, and engage and inform key internal and external audiences. By communicating our work, we hope to further engage social work educators who are interested in joining the coalition.
The Innovations and Technology-Based Education work group, led by myself and Summer Woodside (UNC-Pembroke), is exploring how online social work degree programs can help address workforce shortages. Online education provides accessibility for educational opportunities for potential social work students. By addressing existing barriers to education, we hope to establish the best practices for online and technology-based education, engaging more potential students to become social workers.
The Workforce Diversity and Special Populations work group, led by Tauchiana Williams (UNC Chapel Hill) and Yarneccia Dyson (NC State), promotes a social work workforce that reflects and values diverse viewpoints, experiences, and backgrounds to better meet community needs and collaboratively generate innovative solutions. North Carolina needs a workforce that can serving a wide range of populations and communities across the state and beyond. We hope to expand the workforce to various groups of people who may not know much about social work.
The External Affairs work group, led by Valerie Arendt (National Association of Social Workers – NC Chapter), is responsible for assessing and supporting initiatives aimed at expanding and promoting the social work workforce in North Carolina. We hope to work with partners to find ways to expand social work by leveraging relationships and increasing knowledge of our field.
The work of these groups is ongoing and powerful. Together, we are stronger. As a Coalition, we aim to be together two to three times a year. We would love to have partners who care about this work as much as we do.
If you’d like to join us, you can learn more here.
