From the Pen of the President: October 2025
- NASW-IL Staff
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
NASW-Illinois Chapter President LaTasha Roberson-Guifarro, MSW, LCSW
Lately, the ground has been shifting faster than we can find footing. You feel it. I feel it. Our clients live it. In the last few weeks, I’ve led beside social workers across Illinois who are exhausted by the emotional whiplash of serving through another season of instability. But more than exhaustion, I’m hearing something deeper: concern, fear, anger—and a steady fire to act. One social worker told me: "I'm afraid to speak up at work, but I’m more afraid of staying silent." That stuck with me. It’s professional and personal. It strikes at the core of who we are and what we stand for. The systems around us are strained and shifting in ways that erode rights, destabilize communities, and threaten the values we hold sacred as social workers. The shifts are real, and they’re hurting the people we serve. I’ve always found power in naming what shakes me, and here’s what is shaking our ground right now:
Immigration Raids and ICE Enforcement – The launch of Operation “Midway Blitz” and a new federal detention facility in Broadview has reignited fear and re-traumatization across immigrant communities. In just two weeks, more than 400 people were detained—many through unlawful arrests, often without warrants. Aggressive force left families unsure where loved ones had been taken. Social workers are seeing students too afraid to go home, clients disappearing from caseloads, and families avoiding services. The trauma is visible, the fear is real, and agencies are unprepared for the ethical and legal complexities now unfolding. We risk normalizing human rights violations unless we act clearly and collectively.
Medicaid and SNAP Cuts on the Horizon – Medicaid is Illinois’ largest source of federal revenue, bringing in about $21 billion annually and nearly half the state’s budget. With new requirements, estimates suggest 270,000 to 550,000 Illinoisans could lose coverage. That would be catastrophic for people and for the providers who serve them. Many community-based programs cannot absorb that level of uncompensated care. The strain will ripple from families to the social workers providing services.
Rising Fear in Workplaces – Across universities, nonprofits, and clinical settings, staff are uncertain about their rights to advocate, organize, or even name injustice. Some fear retaliation. Others face it directly. Equity-focused programs are under attack. Federal DEI rollbacks are fueling state-level restrictions, contract reviews, and legal challenges. The threats to reproductive justice, LGBTQIA+ safety, racial equity, and behavioral healthcare access are intensifying. And in many settings, just naming the problem has become a risk.
But here’s what I want you to know. We are not powerless. We are not caught off guard. The ground we stand on was built by pioneers who suffered, organized, and laid the foundation so we could rise in moments like this. They endured so we could speak, act, and lead. I am proud that NASW-Illinois has shown what this looks like. When serious questions emerged this year about unregulated AI bots providing so-called “therapy,” we didn’t wait. We led the passage of HB1806, now signed into law, protecting Illinois residents from unregulated, AI-generated “therapy.” At a time when demand for mental health care is surging and automation is outpacing ethics, this legislation reaffirms a simple truth: People need people. Ethical care requires human connection. Therapy must be built on trust, not algorithms. This is one of the most impactful protections we’ve secured for the profession and those we serve—and other states are already taking notice.
We’ve also doubled down on equipping social workers with tools to act. NASW-Illinois Chapter Executive Director Joel Rubin and I brought State Representative Lindsey LaPointe and public finance expert Ralph Martire to our NASW-Illinois Chapter Advisory Board where they unpacked how federal policy changes around Medicaid and SNAP are poised to impact Illinois. They reminded us that budgets are moral documents, and we must be both practitioners and policy shapers; we plan to share more tools on how you can lean into those roles in the coming months. We hosted multiple “Know Your Rights” trainings with Fred Tsao of ICIRR, preparing social workers to ethically and safely respond to ICE enforcement. We’ve shared policy alerts, advocacy templates, and are developing CEU-eligible sessions to help you navigate ethical decision-making in politically charged settings. These tools are meant to keep you rooted, equipped, and ready.
And there is more you can do. I offer these tangible ways to anchor your power:
Lead Where You Are – Whether in direct service, supervision, or systems work, now is the time to stand. Organize colleagues. Raise ethical questions. Propose dialogues. Use NASW-IL resources to equip others.
Get Involved in NASW-IL – Join a committee, attend regional events, step into advocacy or ethics initiatives. We are building a coordinated voice for the road ahead, and we need yours in it. Sign up here.
Educate and Activate Others – Use your platforms, whether that be social media, classrooms, supervision groups, or community centers, to break down the impact of policy shifts and mobilize others. Share our alerts, host a teach-in, or ask your employer to sponsor a CEU. Tell me where you’re showing up. E-mail me the efforts you’re involved in and how we can make impact together. Let’s get visible. When we show up, others follow.
Resources to Keep You Rooted:
I leave you with this: Social workers do not wait for calm to act. We anchor to each other, to purpose, to truth. When the ground shakes, we link arms, dig in, and become the roots we need. Thank you for your service, and stay inspired. I look forward to hearing from you.
In solidarity and action,
LaTasha Roberson-Guifarro, MSW, LCSW
President, NASW-Illinois Chapter
LaTasha Roberson-Guifarro, LCSW, currently serves as vice president and chief operating officer at Lutheran Child & Family Services of Illinois, one of the state’s largest child welfare and adoption agencies, and where she also acts as privacy officer. In this role, she leads programming, data and information systems, and enterprise-wide initiatives that strengthen performance, expand impact, and drive outcomes. Recognized as a trusted voice in the field, LaTasha’s leadership extends nationally and statewide. She is a Council on Accreditation (COA) reviewer, co-chair of the Child Welfare Advisory Committee for Innovation, Technology, and Stakeholder Engagement (CWAC-ITASC), board member of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), vice chair of the Illinois Child Welfare Licensure Board, and president of the NASW-Illinois Chapter. She also serves on multiple advisory boards and committees dedicated to system transformation, child and family well-being, workforce stability, equity in race and LGBTQIA+ care, social justice, and innovation.