Coalition for Social Work and Health - Advocacy & Strategic Planning In-Person Meeting Review
Earlier this year, our Coalition for Social Work and Health Steering Committee convened in Baltimore and Washington, DC. This trip marked the first in-person meeting of our steering committee and was designed to combine advocacy, policy discussion, and strategic planning. The trip included advocacy visits with key legislative offices, a small policy summit, and a two-day strategic planning meeting, all aimed at strengthening our collective impact and advancing our mission.
Congressional Visits
Post-Hill visits. From left to right: Abigail (Abby) Ross, Ryann Hill, Teresa Moro, Robyn Golden, & Alyssa McFadden
Our trip began with a subset of the steering committee conducting a series of visits to the offices of our congresspeople and their staff. Organized and accompanied by Ryann Hill with Indigo Hill Strategies, we discussed the overall importance of social work and advocated for the re-introduction of H.R. 4638, the Integrating Social Workers Across Health Care Settings Act, which the Coalition had helped to draft and introduce in the previous Congress. These meetings were crucial in highlighting the vital role social workers play in our communities and the need for legislative support.
Coalition members met with the health staffers for Representative Jennifer Kiggans (R-VA-2), Representative Dwight Evans (D-PA-3), and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). These meetings were hopeful and energizing, especially for those of us who had never been to Capitol Hill to do advocacy visits before. Despite the impact of the news cycle on these offices, the staffers we spoke with were fully engaged in our conversation and supportive of health care social work. We came away from the Hill that day with a clear picture of the next steps to advance the re-introduction of the legislation.
Policy Summit
The following morning, we held a brief policy summit to delve into the current state of politics and the roles that social workers can play within this landscape. Facilitated by Ryann Hill with Indigo Hill Strategies and Audrey Wheeler with Guide Consulting Services, this summit provided a platform for robust discussions and strategic thinking about how we can influence policy and advocate for our profession. We welcomed input and engagement from our steering committee, lobbyists, and broader coalition members who were able to attend.
In this summit, we discussed:
Ways to frame our messaging on the value and importance of healthcare social work
How to leverage congressional committees and the current state of the legislative branch
Non-legislative ways to support our social work legislation
Various advocacy roles that social workers can play
The congressional schedule and the impact that it has on our advocacy efforts
Policy Summit discussion. From right to left: Amy York, Bonnie Ewald, Katy Matarese, Lauren Parks, Valu Vakalahi, Shirley Otis-Green, Audrey Wheeler, Jennifer Luna, and Ryann Hill.
Strategic Planning Session
After our policy summit, the Coalition for Social Work and Health Steering Committee convened its Strategic Planning Retreat, bringing together a diverse group of social work leaders, educators, researchers, policymakers, and advocates. The retreat was designed to strengthen leadership, align strategic priorities, develop a collective vision for advancing social work’s role in healthcare, and cultivate the best next steps to move us towards our goal.
Facilitated by Jennifer Luna, MSSW, the retreat emphasized a strengths-based approach, leveraging CliftonStrengths assessments to identify individual and collective capabilities that can drive coalition impact. Through interactive discussions, strategic exercises, and the application of the Collective Impact Model, participants worked to define actionable steps that will guide the coalition’s future direction. Discussion topics included:
Strategic planning session with Steering Committee.
Steering Committee Development: Throughout our meeting, our steering committee learned more about one another as individuals, and more about the organizations that our individuals represented. This development fostered a sense of further engagement with, and commitment to, the Coalition's shared vision and mission.
Shared Vision and Mission Alignment: Our group refined the Coalition's vision and mission, thus grounding our organization in a shared goal.
Vision: Ensure that social work is embedded throughout healthcare systems to improve quality and outcomes for all.
Mission: The Coalition for Social Work and Health connects professional organizations, practice leaders, researchers, educators, policymakers, and allies to engage in activities that amplify social work’s impact in transforming healthcare, improving health, and advancing health equity.
Workgroup Infrastructure: A large piece of our strategic planning session included adapting Coalition infrastructure to better serve the mission and vision we developed. As such, we altered the current workgroup model. After this retreat, the Coalition now has four workgroups that meet monthly outside of the full Coalition meeting. All Coalition members are welcome to join the workgroups. You can find more information on these workgroups and their goals below.
Policy Advocacy: Pass policies which expand Medicare coverage of social work services
Research & Evaluation: Identify a series of common outcomes to study across systems, institutions, and studies; compile a dataset & compare results across studies
Communications & Outreach: Develop a unified communications strategy and messaging
Professional Development and Education: Establish health social work hubs within social work education programs
Conclusion
Our trip to Baltimore and DC was a resounding success. It reinforced the importance of our advocacy efforts and provided us with valuable insights and strategies to further our mission. The combination of congressional visits, policy discussions, and strategic planning has equipped us with a clear roadmap for the future. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in-person and dedicated space, and we look forward to continuing our work to support and advance the field of social work.
The Coalition for Social Work and Health Steering Committee, from left to right: Bonnie Ewald, Alyssa McFadden, Louise Knight, Abby Ross, Teresa Moro, Barbara Jones, Valu Vakalahi, Robyn Golden, Barbara Bedney, Darla Spence Coffey, Shirley Otis-Green
To learn more about the Coalition for Social Work and Health, visit our website at www.socialworkandhealth.org
Interested in joining the Coalition for Social Work and Health, or have questions about the article?
Message Alyssa at Alyssa_mcfadden@rush.edu