From NASW News (May 2005):

Imperatives for the Future

Adopted on March 18 at the Social Work Congress 2005

• Improve compensation and working conditions in gerontologic social work.
• Participate in politics and policy where major decisions are being made about behavioral health.
• Assure a qualified social work labor force to serve children.
• Take the lead in advocating for quality universal health care.
• Elevate the public's awareness of the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of social work practice in health care.
• Address the impact of racism, other forms of oppression, social injustice and other human rights violations through social work education and practice.
• Increase the value proposition of social work by raising standards and increasing academic rigor of social work education programs.
• Mobilize the social work profession to actively engage in politics, policy, and social action, emphasizing the strategic use of power.
• Continuously acknowledge, recognize, confront and address pervasive racism within social work practice at the individual, agency and institutional levels.
• Strengthen social work's ability to influence the corporate and political landscape at the federal, state and local levels.
• Promote culturally competent social work interventions and research methodology in the areas of social justice, well-being and cost-benefit outcomes.
• Connect research and practice through partnerships among researchers, the field and communities.
  

Posted May 11, 2005