People

1. Barack Obama: Forty-three percent of white Americans voted for Obama (not quite a majority) in 2008, when he won the seat as the 44th President of the U.S., and the first African-American president. As president, Obama’s positions on jobs, healthcare, women’s rights, and education all lean toward a civil rights agenda; but his tendency to cave in to moneyed elite concerns leaves his critics unconvinced. Obama was born in 1961, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement direct-action phase that included sit-ins, freedom rides, marches, and boycotts. Voting rights and segregation emerged at that time as the two central issues.
2. Farhana Khera: Khera is the first Executive Director and founder of Muslim Advocates. Muslim Advocates came into existence after 9-11 and the Patriot Act. Focused on religious and racial profiling, the work of Muslim Advocates in many ways signals the expansion of the traditional civil rights movement. Muslim Advocates emerged in 2005 as a 501(c)(3) sister entity to the National Association of Muslim Lawyers (NAML), a professional association of approximately 500 Muslim lawyers, law students and other legal professionals.
3. George Soros: According to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Soros gave $332 million to his Open Society Institute in 2010, an organization that promotes education and democracy initiatives around the world. As one of history’s most successful financiers, his philanthropy is less known than his views on investing. His Open Society Foundations seek to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. On a local level, the Open Society Foundations implement a range of initiatives to advance justice, education, public health, and independent media.
4. Vincent Tan: Tan founded the conglomerate Berjaya Group, and follows the Giving Pledge by giving away half his wealth. He is worth an estimated $1.25 billion. Most of those funds will go to his Better Malaysia Foundation. India today is one of the global leaders in charitable giving among developing and emerging economies.
5. Van Jones: Jones is an award-winning pioneer in human rights and the clean energy economy. TIME magazine called him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2009. He is also the best-selling author of the definitive book on green jobs, The Green Collar Economy. Jones, along with James Rucker, is co-founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Color of Change, two social justice organizations striving to give positive alternatives and a political voice to vulnerable communities.

Legislation

6. 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act: Signed into law in October 2010, this act establishes new safeguards for disability access to ensure that people with disabilities are not left behind as technology changes and the U.S. migrates to the next generation of Internet-based and digital communication technologies.
7. Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act: This act, CHIPRA or Public Law 111-3, signed into law in 2009, reauthorized the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) until Fiscal Year 2013.
8. Domestic Workers Bill of Rights: New York Governor David Paterson signed this bill into law in 2010 as a massive and unprecedented win for the new labor movement. In 2010, the California State Assembly passed a resolution recognizing similar labor standards for domestic workers, rights that lawmakers will likely codify as state law next year. Organizers in other states are working to generate more such victories.
9. Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act: GINA, signed into law in 2008, prohibits discrimination against individuals in 1) employment, and 2) health care coverage (including group health plans, individual health insurance coverage and Medicare supplemental insurance policies). Further, GINA states that it is an unlawful employment practice to discriminate on the basis of genetic information or to request, require or purchase genetic information.
10. Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008: Congress passed this act, which requires insurance companies to treat mental and chemical health on an equal basis with physical illness when policies cover both. The late Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN) and Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM), were dominant figures in the quest for equal treatment of benefits throughout their Senate careers.
11. UN Security Council Resolution 1325: Unanimously adopted during the Namibian presidency of the United Nations Security Council in October 2000, this resolution is a landmark legal and political framework that acknowledges the importance of the participation of women and the inclusion of gender perspectives in peace negotiations, humanitarian planning, peacekeeping operations, post-conflict peace building and governance.
12. UN Security Council Resolution 1820: The United Nations adopted this resolution in June 2008 to address the issue of widespread sexual violence in conflict, either when used systematically to achieve military or political ends or when opportunistic and arising from cultures of impunity. Resolution 1820 identifies sexual violence as a matter of international peace and security that necessitates a security response, by recognizing that such acts can exacerbate situations of armed conflict and can impede the restoration of peace and security.

Organizations

13. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: In 2006, the United Nations adopted this movement, which included the first comprehensive human rights treaty of the 21st century.
14. Trail of Dreams: Four students from Florida — Felipe Matos, Gaby Pacheco, Carlos Roa, and Juan Rodriguez — left Miami on January 1, 2010 to embark on a 1500-mile journey to the nation’s capitol. On March 21, 2010, thousands of immigrants and their allies joined them to march in Washington, D.C. in a show of solidarity to raise awareness about the plight of illegal immigrants as part of the Dream activist movement. Similar demonstrations were held in cities throughout the nation. The Dream Act, a legislative proposal that has been a political football since 2001, would grant permanent citizenship rights to eligible undocumented students.
15. UN Women: The establishment of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, known as UN Women, is a result of years of negotiations between UN Member States and advocacy by the global women’s movement. It is part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact.

Other Milestones

16. Eugenics: In 2001, the Commonwealth of Virginia became the first state to formally expressing regret for its past support of eugenics. Virginia’s eugenics legislation resulted in the involuntary sterilization of more than 8,000 people with disabilities between 1924 and 1979 and also reduced the population to two classifications: white and colored. It defined race by the “one-drop rule,” defining as “colored” persons with any African or Indian ancestry.
17. Giving Pledge: Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet establish the Giving Pledge in 2010, which encourages wealthy individuals to donate the majority of their wealth to charitable causes.
18. Pan-African Grant Makers Assembly: The first event was held in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2010, funded and organized primarily by African foundations such as TrustAfrica, the Kenya Community Development Foundation, Akiba Uhaki, the African Women’s Development Fund and the Urgent Action Fund. It receives additional support from the Rockefeller Foundation.
19. Polio Eradication: A $630m foundation-funded polio eradication initiative is launched in 2010 with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rotary International and the British and German governments.
20. Population Change: In 2010, Hispanics were represented by one in six U.S. residents for the first time. Many of their biggest jumps were in the South, including Alabama, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Louisiana, where immigrants made large inroads over the last decade. The number of Hispanics has grown 13 percent since 2000, accounting for nearly half of the population increase in the United States.

1. If you have a kind heart, that’s all you need to become a social worker. Having a kind heart is great for anyone, but social workers need much more than this to get through a day. Social workers are highly-trained professionals who hold a degree in social work at the bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral level. Additionally, a social service employee, caseworker, assistant, or volunteer community worker is not a “social worker” unless he or she has a social work degree.
2. Anyone who does any kind of service for the public is a social worker. It is true that many people want to better the world they live in, but not all those folks are social workers. They may be politicians, volunteers, psychologists and more; but, social work is a “professional service based upon scientific knowledge and skill in human relations, which assists individuals, alone or in groups, to obtain social and personal satisfaction and independence.”
3. Social workers are bleeding hearts and meddlers. What is it with the heart and social work? Nothing wrong with the strong desire to help improve lives, but many factors affect the health and well-being of any community. Think about early childhood education and care; literacy and education; employment and working conditions; income and its distribution; housing; social inclusion, and a multitude of other factors. Those items are the social worker’s focus. The aim of social work practice is to promote social change, problem solving in human relationships, and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being — not to meddle.
4. Social workers can take your kids away. Social workers are dedicated to strengthening families in the interests of creating safe, nurturing environments in which children can grow and develop. When there is reason to believe that a child is being harmed and in need of protection, social workers in all areas of practice, like all other professionals, are obligated, under provincial legislation and mandatory requirement, to report their concerns to the proper authorities. Social workers who are employed by Children’s Aid Societies have as the exclusive focus of their work the protection of children, as mandated by provincial legislation.
5. Most social workers are employed in public welfare or child welfare or work with welfare recipients. About one-quarter of all child welfare cases are handled by professional social workers. About one percent of National Association of Social Workers (NASW) members work in the public sector. Professional social workers practice in many settings: family service agencies, mental health centers, schools, hospitals, corporations, courts, police departments, prisons, public and private agencies, and private practice. More than 200 professional social workers hold elective office, including one U.S. Senator and four Representatives.
6. For mental health services, you need to see a psychologist or psychiatrist. Social workers are the largest group of practitioners providing psychotherapy and other mental health services. In fact, social workers are often the only mental health care providers in many rural and remote communities. Social work is unique among the helping professions because it looks at people’s problems within the context of their families, workplace, and communities and considers the connection between personal problems and larger social issues. Social work is designated as one of the four core mental health professions under federal legislation that established the National Institute of Mental Health. For more information, read about the differences among counselors, therapists, psychotherapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and marriage and family therapists.



7. Most social workers work for the government. Fewer than three percent of all professional social workers work for the government. About a third of all professional social workers are employed by federal, state, and local governments combined. Social workers are employed in a variety of settings, including hospitals, mental health clinics, schools, nonprofit agencies and government offices.
8. You can’t specialize in social work. The majority of the social workers choose specialties in this field. School, family, and child social workers strive to help make the lives of kids and families better, and to assist them with doing better in their school as well as society. Some social workers work with the adoption agencies and work to locate foster homes for children. Sometimes they are employed by schools and help with things like truancy and teen pregnancy. Some social workers are specialists in working with the elderly. They work together with caregivers, patients, and families, and help with arranging for services at home. There are social workers, too, who are specialized in substance abuse, such as drug, alcohol, or tobacco.
9. You don’t need a social worker unless you’re down on your luck. Social workers [PDF] deal with people from all backgrounds and at all levels of society. It doesn’t matter what your educational status, financial status, or employment status is, you could find yourself in need of a social worker at some point.
10. Social workers carry magic wands. Social workers connect people to resources, but they don’t carry magic wands — although some social workers might wish for one! They don’t hand out cash, they don’t have homes waiting for you, and they don’t provide welfare. They are not attorneys, nor do they lend money. Nor do they have an unlimited amount of time (hence the mystery behind the time available for “meddling”). But, they can — with your help — give you a leg up on obtaining help if you help them with your information.
11. Social work is a 24/7 job. It’s very easy to become engaged in helping others, but there has to be a line between work and personal life. In order to avoid burnout, social workers must learn how to distance work from personal life to maintain a healthy life balance. The average work week is 40 hours, and salaried employees can possibly be paid overtime for more hours.
12. Social work is a dangerous job. We won’t lie that social work can be a dangerous job. But, the NASW is working to try and improve the situation through more social work safety laws. Most of the danger comes from misconceptions about the profession (meddling, taking children away, etc.). Other dangers come from working with people who may be unstable because of stressful situations.



13. Social workers are socialists. Socialism is an economic or political theory that has to do with workers owning the means of production. Social work is a paying profession having to do with helping individuals, groups and larger communities develop to their best potential level within a society. The only commonality between the two is the word “social,” which refers to the interactions of people in and within groups.
14. If you study sociology, you can become a social worker. Sociology is a very broad field that focuses on the scientific study of the development, structure, and functioning of human society. It also focuses on the study of social problems. While this study can benefit and inform any social worker, social work courses often focus on discovering resources for current social issues in any given community.
15. Basically, social work is volunteer work. Although social work has been linked to volunteerism historically [PDF], that notion has changed. If a person earns a social work degree, and is working 40 or more hours per week for an employer, that person is not a volunteer. Social workers may volunteer for other events or work, but — hopefully — it has nothing to do with social work (see above for 24/7 and a healthy life balance).

To help illustrate this, we have gathered 22 unique and exciting careers in social work. Whether looking to build happy families or lend a hand to our armed services, there is something for everyone.

Entry Level Unique and Exciting Entry Careers in Social Work

1. Social Work Writer
   What better feather in your cap than to have a few articles published on the topic? The folks at The New Social Worker are always looking for relevant articles to publish. Stop here to find out how to do so, as well as who to submit to.
2. Research Assistant
   As with all areas of work, research is constantly being conducted in social work. And just about all of them need research assistants with an education in social work. This particular job was for a PhD candidate in social work who also has transcribing talents.
3. Group Home Worker
   This is a job where up and coming social workers help those in a group home, such as for homeless teens and battered women. They help teach life skills and make the transition from the home back into the real world. Working as a liaison, with clients, and with other social workers is key.
4. Work Abroad
   No matter what your area of expertise, there is a work abroad option for you. This company offers students, recent grads, and adults the opportunity to explore the world through unique, hands-on volunteer cultural immersion projects. Use the search engine to find a job, or scroll down for more.
5. Social Work Abroad
   If you need more social work careers than the above gave, click here. The folks at Go Abroad list just the opportunities for social services and social work here. You can also search for other work abroad jobs while there.
6. CIEE Intern
   CIEE is designated by the U.S. Department of State as a sponsor of many internship programs. Check out the site to find and apply for internships all across the U.S. International applicants are welcome.
7. Social Work Intern
   If still a student or just need some experience, social work is one of the many areas that is hiring interns. This site even lists the top ten internships on the homepage, so you can see who is applying for what. You can even do a search in your area or just for social work jobs.
8. Internweb
   Whether looking for entry level social work locally or abroad, this site has options for you. Searches include summer internships, paid options, and even entry level jobs. They also have a Twitter feed and blog with more.

More Advanced Unique and Exciting Careers in Social Work

9. Psychiatric Technician
   You don’t need to be a licensed psychiatrist to take on this job. They help care for physically or mentally ill individuals confined to hospitals or mental health settings. Although they are required to have training, it can be an excellent stepping stone to a career in social work.
10. Corrections
    This job isn’t just for law enforcement and criminal justice types. Social work often involves those coming out of prison. The Federal Bureau of Prisons hires thousands of people in jobs such as chaplain, education, psychology, and more.
11. Adoption Social Worker
    Play an integral part in placing children with families in this social work career. Home studies are an important part to the process and those conducting them are required to have a master’s in social work. They also finalize placements, deal with parent’s rights, and provide counseling.
12. Substance Abuse
    Want to help people get control over substance abuse? Then this could be the social work career for you. In this short article for College Board, they discuss the career further.
13. Veterans Social Work
    Work with America’s fighting men and women in this job. There are loads of areas to choose from including homeless care, psychosocial rehabilitation, and women’s health. The VA has more on how to apply, as well as the many benefits.
14. Child Social Worker
    Because many children cannot speak for themselves, social workers can often be assigned to speak for them. They are often assigned to supervise them in foster homes or under government supervision and even speak for them at trial. This article from Social Work Job Bank has more.
15. Volunteer Management
    Because someone has to organize all those volunteers, there is this job. Recruiting plans, volunteer optimization, and working as a team are all part of the job. Energize has more on this and related jobs.
16. Social Work Lawyer
    There are lawyers for just about every profession, including social work. This program at the University of Pittsburgh offers students the chance to graduate with an MSW and a JD degree, giving them an education in both social work and law. It also qualifies students to take the exams and get the license needed to practice law.
17. Director of White House Domestic Policy Council’s Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation
    This job may be a mouthful, but it is just about as high as you can go on the social work ladder. This office is part of President Obama’s national social service initiative. You can read more about the current director here.

Weird Unique and Exciting Careers in Social Work

18. Forensic Social Work
    Not just the stuff of television, forensics is also used in social work. More specifically, forensic social work is the application of social work to questions and issues relating to law and legal systems. These workers provide consultation to criminal justice, law makers, legal professionals, and more.
19. Fertility Counselor
    You don’t need a PhD in the birds and bees to take on this career. Helping the struggling couple who is trying to have a child is the focus of this social work job. Connie Shapiro of Psychology Today has more on what to expect from one.
20. Recreational Therapy
    If you have a love of art, music, or dance and social work, this may be the career for you. It involves using the above to help the mentally combat their issues. They can work with all sorts of patients from children to the elderly.
21. Director of First Impressions
    If you have an outgoing personality, excellent communications skills, and are a team player, this might be the job for you. It is actually the fancy way to say “receptionist” but is worth mentioning for its moxie alone. The blogger also lists other funny and unique jobs.
22. Horror Transcriptionist
    Staci Wilson wrote an article for AOL on the weird ways one finds a job. About halfway through, she tells the story of a social worker who found a second job typing up dialogue for horror movies. See how and the other weird ways people snagged a job with a read.

1. Introducing Social Work Practice: This is a great course for those who are trying to decide if social work is the right field for them. It looks at different approaches to social work and the skills involved.[OpenLearn]
2. Aging and Disability: Transitions into Residential Care: This course, designed for social workers working with the elderly teaches students about the issues involved in transitioning elderly patients from their homes into residential care facilities. [OpenLearn]
3. The Limits of Primary Care: This class explores the access to community services for those that need them. [OpenLearn]
4. Community Care: This course explores how language nuances affect attitudes toward social services. It helps social workers learn to communicate appropriately with clients about the community care resources. [Open University]
5. Social Psychology: This class from MIT explores social communities and how they use and share resources and relate to each other. [MIT]
6. Changing the Face of American Healthcare: This course from Notre Dame explores the strengths and weaknesses of our healthcare system and how changes might help our society. [Notre Dame]
7. Foundations of Public Health: This course from the University of California at Irvine presents the framework, principles, and core responsibilities of public health research and practice from a multidisciplinary perspective. [University of California, Irvine]

Take a look at these open courseware classes on social work. They can help you learn more about the field to determine if it is the right career for you. If you already know that social work is a field you’d like to pursue, these classes can help you increase your knowledge so that you can be better prepared for the real courses you’ll take in order to obtain that degree in social work.

1. JenMSW: Jen is an MSW in Florida. She tweets inspirational information regularly.
2. Mental Health: This tweeter is a social worker from northern England who posts regular news snippets from the world of mental health.
3. Rachel Gross: Rachel Gross is a Washington DC based social worker who posts lots of information on topics related to social work.
4. Amy: Amy is a Social Worker in Oregon who also blogs on a regular basis.
5. Isocial Worker: iSocial Worker is a great way to keep up with what’s going on in the world of social work.



6. Be a Social Worker: This Twitter site seeks to recruit new people to the profession of social work. It’s also a great way to keep abreast of things going on in the world of social work.
7. Social Worker Fun: This site is dedicated to promoting social gatherings for social workers. Advertise your event here, or find events to attend.
8. Free a Servant: A social worker tweets about financial distress and the low wages of the profession.
9. Crazy World of Social Work: This social worker works in the family court system. He tweets about the adventures, good and bad, of his job protecting kids and working with families in trouble.
10. Cyber Social Work: This Twitter account follows social work information online and through a related blog. There are great links to articles about topics of interest to social work.
11. Social Work Diary: Follow this social worker through daily adventures and stories.
12. Get Social Work Jobs: Looking for work? This Twitter page keeps up with job openings in the social work field. Social work is very hot right now, and there are typically lots of job openings. Keeping up with the current openings in a quick and easy fashion can help you land the perfect job.
13. Social Work News: All the news Social workers need about their profession. On this Twitter page, you’ll find information about changes in laws that affect social workers as well as job openings and other useful information about your field.
14. Reclaim Social Work: Social Work Children’s Services agency offers information about job openings and professional news in social work.
15. Team Social Work: Team Social Work is an online community for volunteers and social workers. You’ll find lots of useful information and people to network with by following this Twitter page.



16. Social Worker Study Guide: This Twitter account offers help with studying for your certification in social work.
17. Care Advisor: These tweets come from an independent social care advice organization in London. They specialize in working with children.
18. Social Worker UK: Follow the adventures of this UK social worker.
19. Social Worker Mom: This social worker specializes in working with children who have had a traumatic brain injury.She’s also a mom herself, so she offers lots of insight into interacting with children on both a personal and professional level.
20. Secret Social Worker: This social worker works with families in crisis.

Social work is an in-demand, ever changing field today. There are lots of new information available and lots of job opportunities as well. Using the resources you can find on Twitter and other places will help you to gain as much knowledge as possible about the field of social work, whether you’re just considering getting into it, or whether you already know that it is your professional passion.

1. Leadership Conference on Civil Rights

   This influential non-profit coordinates and handles the work of more than 200 civil rights organizations across the USA. It does the work of organizing conferences, making sure bills related to affirmative action and civil rights get passed, and “protecting and promoting the civil and human rights of all the people in the United States of America”, according to its website.

   As influential non-profits go, this is right up there with the most influential groups in the USA, but has a lower profile than such groups as the NAACP and the ACLU because it tends to handle most of the background work.

2. Association of Fundraising Professionals

   All non-profits need funds, and this is where they get them. This is one of the most influential non-profits around because it handles the purse-strings. The are a group of professionals responsible for generating donations and philanthropic support for a wide range of other non-profits.

3. W. K. Kellogg Foundation

   With a string of achievements to its name, the latest work of this influential non-profit involves a new method of organizing other non-profits. integrating their members into teams for handling specific situations while leaving their essential structures intact. They mostly lend their support to community based organizations where children faces the toughest challenges such as education (or lack their of) and violence.

4. Doctors Without Borders

   Doctors Without Borders is an international humanitarian group who specializes in responding to areas with medical disaster zones such as Haiti after the earthquake.

   Doctors without Borders is completely government independent and is kept afloat by private donations. In 2008 the group had 3.7 million individual private donations.

5. The IRS Tax-Exempt and Government Entities Division

   This one may have caught you by surprise. There job is to make sure that all non-profits and charitable institutions actually are what they claim to be, while at the same time helping other non-profits navigate the tax landscape. Here is why they made this list: they also control $8.7 trillion dollars in assets. Therefore in the process of making sure that the Internal Revenue Service automatically becomes a major player in the non-profit sector. Something you find ironic is one of their missions is to “Enable a Paperless Environment”

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