Executive Director’s Social Work Month 2021 Message

By Deborah Son, MSW
NASW-CA Executive Director

March is social work month, and quite frankly there is too much to celebrate and honor about social work that extends beyond the capacity of these 31 days. When the world stopped on March 20^th last year, social workers did not. When individuals and families across California were asked to stay home, the vast majority of social workers did not.  

Social workers have always been essential. Our work is informed by and activated through our communities. We exist as a response to human need and the evolution of our field is essential to the progression of societal capacity to achieve equity and wellness. People become social workers because they want to do good in this world. This is the story of our genesis. This is the uniqueness of our profession. And through our history and the over 100 years of our profession, we’ve continued the story of social work time after time, articulating the successes and injuries of our field, and we continued to learn. We continue to heal from the sins of our past, motivated through the integrity of our practice, and in staunch attempts toward a healing future. This past year, you all continued the story of social work in its most virtuous and heroic form – you rose up amid a worldwide pandemic to serve. You all are writing the history of social work that shares your stories of resilience, triumphs, and sacrifices.  

This month, we honor you. We thank you for your service. We thank you for your sacrifices to risk yourselves and your families, to do good for the world that we share. With you, our world can begin to turn again.