To view the background on the SWRI, see below.

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Illinois Social Work Reinvestment Initiative (SWRI) Background

Introduction

A. The intent of the national and state Social Work Reinvestment Initiative (SWRI)

The NASW National office recently announced a major initiative designed to unify and

advance the social work profession at the state and national levels. The Social Work

Reinvestment Initiative is an integrated action plan that addresses four of the key goals

identified by the Social Work Congress in 2005. The Reinvestment Initiative builds on the National Social Work Public Education Campaign and the recent findings by the NASW Workforce Center.

As explained by Elizabeth Clark, PhD, ACSW, MPH, “The goal is to get government, employers, and others to fully recognize the importance of social work
and to persuade them to assist us in recruiting, retaining, and retraining professional social workers.” Work on the initiative will begin at the state level and
will include components such as funding for social work education, support for research, strengthening policies and regulations to support social work prac-
tice, and social work education loan forgiveness.

B. The following are the steps used in developing the Illinois Social Work Reinvestment (SWRI) plan:

• Initial meeting with Joel Rubin, Sandra Mills, and Kathy Wehrmann
• Initial presentation of SWRI plan to Board of Directors
• Discussion of SWRI plan with Deans and Directors at NASW-IL conference on September 24, 2007
• Review by NASW-IL Board of Directors
• Posting on NASW-IL website
• Submit final preliminary draft to National office by December 31, 2007 deadline

C. The groups supporting NASW that will be given the opportunity to review the Chapter’s SWRI plan are listed below:

¨ Illinois Association of Deans and Directors

¨ Fieldwork Directors

¨ American Network of Home Health Care Social Workers, Inc

¨ Association for Community Organizations and Social Administration (ACOSA)

¨ Association for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups, Inc.-IL

¨ Association of Police Social Workers

¨ Chicago Perinatal Social Workers

¨ Illinois Association of School Social Workers

¨ Illinois Association of School Social Workers- Supervisors and Coordinators Council

¨ Illinois Society for Clinical Social Work

¨ Latino Social Workers Organization

¨ National Association of Black Social Workers, Chicago

¨ National Association of Social Workers, IL

¨ National Network for Social Work Managers

¨ Northern Illinois Employee Assistance Professionals Association

¨ Social Workers Helping Social Workers

¨ Social Work Alternative Healthcare Network-Chicago

¨ Society for Social Work Leadership in Healthcare, IL

¨ National Association of Social Workers membership (through NASW-IL website)

Illinois Data Profile of Social Work Labor Force

Illinois Social Work Regulations

A. Categories of Licensure

This data was taken from the Association of Social Work Boards website: www.aswb.org

B.

      (a) Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW)                       9284

      (b) Licensed Social Workers (LSW)                                      3436

      (c) Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW)               2250*

*based on NASW-IL membership

Illinois Social Work Education Programs

A.    Name, Location of Social Work Programs, and degrees offered

B.     Number of Social Work Program Enrollees (need CSWE member access)

C. Number of Social Work Program Graduates (need CSWE member access)

D.  Average Loan Debt of Social Work Students

A survey by the Council on Social Work Education found that the average loan debt of social work students graduating in 2004 with a master’s degree in
social work was $26,777; those with bachelor’s degrees in social work faced repayment of $18,609 in loans and those with doctoral degrees in social work
were $32,841 in debt.

This data was taken from the Council of Social Work Education Annual Survey (2004); Complied by the National Association of Social Workers (05/05)

Percentage of College Graduates from Four-Year Institutions with Unmanageable Debt on Starting Social Worker Salary (U.S. Average)

This data was taken from The U.S. Public Interest Research Group website: www.uspirg.org

Illinois Demographic Trends

To better understand the current and potential labor market for social workers in Illinois, the Chapter first reviewed the 2000 Census Statistics related to age,
race, poverty status, and languages spoken at home.

Total Population:                                                  12,419, 293