CHaSCI’s 2024 Year in Review

Written By CHaSCI

2024 was a busy year for CHaSCI—and a year full of surprises and disappointments, as we anticipate many changes to our sociopolitical landscape after the presidential election in November. Now more than ever, our work feels incredibly important, and we’ll keep advocating for and supporting social care providers and services throughout 2025—whatever this year may bring.  

Last year, we continued our constant work to expand access to social care through training and policy. As we move into 2025, we’d like to look back on the milestones and successes of our growing team and acknowledge the shared achievements of our network of social care providers and advocates. 

We’ll summarize our work in four main categories:  

TRAINING

Our 2024 trainings fell into 3 main categories:

Live Trainings 

CHaSCI engaged in 3 types of live training projects in 2024: (1) CHaSCI Care Model training, (2) Community Health Worker (CHW) training, and (3) Interdisciplinary training & technical assistance. Across these 3 categories, we trained a total of 119 trainees with 54 cumulative hours of training to 3 external partners and many internal partners: 

  • CHaSCI Care Model: In September, we held an in-person CHaSCI Care Model training, which was delivered to social care providers from various Chicago-area organizations, as well as our internal team in the Social Work and Community Health Department at RUSH University Medical Center.  
  • Community Health Worker (CHW) training:  
  • We delivered our CHW Core Competencies training at RUSH University Medical Center for new community health workers, AmeriCorps Members, and social work interns.  
  • We participated in the second year of CHW CONNECT, a HRSA-funded training program run by the University of Illinois at Chicago, Office of Community Engagement and Neighborhood Health Partnerships (OCEAN-HP). Our four training modules, developed and tailored specifically for a CHW audience, included:  
  • Working with Older Adults 
  • Motivational Interviewing 
  • Facilitating Groups to Support Positive Lifestyle Change 
  • Health Policy & Advocacy (a new module that we developed in 2024 for the Leadership Track of the CHW CONNECT training) 
  • We created and facilitated a 2-hour CHW training on Dementia Caregiver Support Group Facilitation, in partnership with IPHA and The HAP Foundation 
  • Interdisciplinary training & technical assistance: 
  • We provided ongoing training consultation for local nonprofit organization Chicago House, specifically focusing on process assessment improvements for older adults living with HIV 
  • We delivered a Motivational Interviewing Training for Gerontology Fellows at RUSH University Medical Center 
  • We delivered a Motivational Interviewing Training for RUSH Department of Social Work and Community Health staff 

Curriculum Development 

In 2024, CHaSCI developed and adapted content for various initiatives, including:  

  • Created an asynchronous CHW supervision curriculum, in collaboration with Partners in Care Foundation  
  • Created and facilitated an 8-hour training for CHWs on Health Policy & Advocacy for the leadership track of CHW CONNECT, a HRSA-funded CHW training managed by UIC’s Office of Community Engagement And Neighborhood Health Partnerships (OCEAN-HP) 
  • Continued to develop and adapt a recorded version of the CHaSCI Care Model training for asynchronous learning platform (for use by Washington Area Agency on Aging)  
  • Developed content for a 2-hour CHW training on Dementia Support Group Facilitation for a larger training partnership with IPHA and The HAP Foundation 

Continuing Education 

In 2024, CHaSCI’s continuing education projects included:  

  • Continued Wellness West office hours, a biweekly social work clinical consultation for CHWs in Chicago’s west side community-based organizations (CBOs) as part of an Illinois state Medicaid transformation project 
  • Hosted bimonthly CHaSCI Clinical Hour, a follow-up consultation space for CHaSCI care model trainees 
  • Wrapped up our Social Work in Health Care – Training Program (SWIHC-TP) with funding to RUSH from the Cigna Foundation, allowing us to pilot a 25 unit continuing education series with 10 local social workers invested in exploring careers in health care  
  • Hosted 6 CHaSCI + Social Work Grand Rounds webinars, including:  
  • Medicare billing codes, with guest speaker Doug Jacobs, Chief Transformation Officer from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) 
  • Cross-Cultural Communication: A key strategy to advancing health equity through relationships  
  • Holding two truths: A Framework for Addressing Complex Needs in Interprofessional Health Care Teams 
  • Preventing Sudden Unexpected Infant Death: Turning data to action 
  • It’s not in your head: A trauma and social justice informed approach to chronic illness for healthcare providers 
  • Your Brain on Dementia Caregiving 

POLICY

In 2024, CHaSCI’s policy work spanned 3 main areas:  

The Coalition for Social Work and Health 

The Coalition for Social Work and Health (CSWH) is a national network of leaders in social work practice, education, research, and policy to advance social work’s role and value in improving our nation’s health. CSWH has representation from over 50 social work professional organizations, academic and research programs, and individual members. Our work is focused on amplifying social work’s impact in transforming healthcare, improving health, and advancing health equity  

In 2024, the Coalition for Social Work and Health…  

  • Continued to run the Campaign for Social Work’s Value in Improving Our Nation’s Health 
  • Visited Washington, D.C. to meet with 5+ legislative offices, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Serices Administration (SAMHSA) 
  • Launched new communications channels, including our new website (socialworkandhealth.org) and LinkedIn page 
  • Submitted comments on proposed Medicare Part B policy changes via Physician Fee Schedule 
  • Completed New York Community Trust grant; applied for and received continued funding 
  • Met with Rep. Kiggans staffer to discuss strategy for H.R. 4638, the Integrating Social Workers Across Health Care Settings Act, in the new Congress 
  • Met with the Congressional Research Institute for Social Work & Policy (CRISP) to discuss areas of alignment and further collaboration  
  • Submitted a proposal to present at the 2025 NASW National Conference: “Social Work: Celebrating Our Legacy | Developing the Future” in Chicago, Illinois 
  • Nominated Bonnie Ewald to be a member of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Health Equity Advisory Committee 
  • Continued rolling out revised membership and steering committee structure 
  • Ran monthly Coalition calls about emerging developments and priorities across  
    social work practice, research, education, and policy. 2024 call topics included:  
  • Moral injury in healthcare social workers research discussion 
  • Federal policy strategy and updates 
  • Discussion on proposed full group and steering committee structural changes 
  • Social worker and community health worker national workgroup 
  • Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) joined to discuss the national social work census project 
  • A new certificate on educating social workers in palliative and end-of-life care (ESPEC) 
  • New NASEM study on the behavioral health workforce processes and implications discussion 
  • Added issue briefs to Coalition resource repository outlining social work with priority populations 

National Coalition on Care Coordination (N3C) 

Formed in 2008 as a partnership between the New York Academy of Medicine’s Social Work Leadership institute and the American Society on Aging, the National Coalition on Care Coordination (N3C) convenes advocates and leaders within health and social care that are committed to advancing public policies and programs that support coordinated and integrated care.  

In 2024, the National Coalition on Care Coordination…  

  • Continued to lead monthly calls for idea sharing on different topics related to complex care 
  • Continued to develop N3C purpose and structure 
  • This year’s monthly call topics included:  
  • Discussion around changes/improvements to N3C structure and function 
  • ACS LION patient navigation credential development and rollout  
  • Center for Care Innovations, reimbursement and payment/financing models 
  • Developments from Partnership to Align Social Care  
  • Payment approaches in Medicare 
  • EINSTEIN Option, a plan for a community of services, value-based care options and affordable residential life for older adults and people living with disabilities 
  • Developments we’d hope to see from a future Harris administration’s policy platform 
  • Camden Coalition: Putting Care at the Center conference & other updates 

Workforce development and other policy efforts 

Through several different avenues, CHaSCI provides thought leadership on social care and care coordination practice change, financing, and workforce development.  

In 2024, CHaSCI’s workforce development & other policy efforts included: 

RESEARCH AND DISSEMINATION

In 2024, CHaSCI’s research, writing, and presentations spanned 3 main areas: 

2024 Publications  

In 2024, CHaSCI publications included:  

In 2024, we also submitted the following pieces for publication, which have not been published yet:  

Research & Dissemination: In Progress 

In 2024, CHaSCI advanced several in-progress research and writing projects: 

  • Started in 2022 and currently underway:  
  • Our Oak Street Health RE-AIM evaluation is further underway (preliminary data analysis). This research project is evaluating the impact of social workers and CHWs being involved across Oak Street Health clinics  
  • Scoping review about social work’s impact in care coordination, which describes and evaluates the state of the evidence on social work interventions on health and economic outcomes since passage of the Affordable Care Act and identifies and highlights knowledge gaps in these areas 
  • Started in 2023 and currently underway:  
  • Rush University additional funding stream for student research assistant 
  • Internal pilot award to explore the use of standardized and informal measurement in the therapeutic relationship in our community psychotherapy clinic 
  • Utilizing feedback of the Social Work in Healthcare – Training Program to edit content and prepare for the launch of the social work in healthcare certificate 

2024 Presentations:  

In 2024, CHaSCI presented at seven conferences and events, including:  

Looking forward 

In 2025, we look forward to continuing our work toward expanding access to social care. As we face uncertainty in our nation’s political climate—including policies that may impact the populations we serve, funding pathways for the work of social care providers, and federal staffing changes that may impact funding and infrastructure for public health and social care—we feel extra motivation to advance our work advocating for and supporting social care providers. We’re proud of the progress we made in 2024 year, and we feel energized to keep the ball rolling in 2025!  

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