A Social Work Background Can Be Helpful to Public Policy Work

Recognizing this year’s Social Work Month, I want to highlight the unique strengths that social workers can bring to public policy work. This piece relates to GovLoop’s prior post, entitled “Where Are the Social Work Opportunities in Government?”

Do you think social workers mainly help individuals and/or groups with their problems? If so, you are not alone. Don’t let these views prevent social workers from doing public policy, as social workers’ backgrounds can enable them to be valuable public policy employees.

These employees are macro-level social workers who focus on systemic issues that entail advocacy, policy, research, and programs and who have valuable skills, values, experience, and relationships that stand them apart positively in public policy work. Their training in social work differentiates them from other public policy practitioners.

Other policy professionals have different focuses in school. Many public policy programs focus on quantitative skills, economics, and policy issues. Law schools feature different legal fields. Meanwhile, social work schools provide beneficial skills, values, and relationships to public policy.

Skills include:

• Active listening (i.e., keep eye contact, nod, make affirmative noises)
• Conversing (i.e., do not interrupt, paraphrase/summarize)
• Holding difficult conversations
• Building consensus. This skill is particularly useful in current partisan times with close congressional majorities. It is essential to work with different political views. Many successful laws have bipartisan support.
• Having cultural competency. This skill is useful in a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and multi-faith world.
• Having empathy. People putting themselves in someone else’s situation can improve public policy.
• Maintaining confidentiality. Often, public policy professionals have access to sensitive information they cannot disclose. Keeping confidentiality is essential.
• Being organized. As policy professionals have many responsibilities, it is essential that they are organized.
• Documenting work. Documentation can be crucial in tracking legislative advocacy work, such as bill sponsors/cosponsors, meetings, and advocacy events.
• Solving problems. Much of public policy involves fixing issues. It is important for public policy professionals to come with up practical solutions.

Values include:

• Importance of individual, not just statistics. Statistics and data are extremely useful (especially as single cases are not necessarily representative), but individuals are also critical in public policy, personalizing policy. It is more compelling for policymakers to hear from individuals with relevant experience than from policy experts. Common advocacy tactics involve grassroots contacting and/or meeting with their legislators. Many legislative hearings and briefings feature an individual with related experience.
• Strength-based approach
• Meeting people where they are
• The client is the expert. Policy goals can happen with input of people with relevant lived experience.

Unlike at least many public policy-related graduate programs, social work schools have time-intensive field placements. Thus, social workers could have more relevant public policy experience when starting their careers. In addition, they could have clinical social work experience, potentially letting them understand problems and potential solutions better than others.

Unlike many public policy professionals, macro-level social workers tend to be more connected with micro-level people due to education and professional organizations, as most social workers are clinical social workers (CSWorkers). CSWorkers and policy social workers (PSWorkers) can help each other. From being on the ground, CSWorkers understand systemic problems and can create practical solutions. They can also help identify and support grassroots advocates. PSWorkers, experts in government/process, could navigate the system to help everyone.

Social work students can concentrate in policy, gaining traditional public policy skills. Policy curriculum can include microeconomics and macroeconomics. Policy students can also learn how to use statistical software programs that are also taught in public policy schools.

Social workers bring skills and values that can be instrumental in public policy. In my next piece, entitled “Do Not Be Confused by Social Workers Interested in Public Policy Jobs,” I write how offices should not be confused by the desire of some social workers to work in the public policy field.

Miriam Edelman, MPA, MSSW, is a Washington, D.C.-based policy professional. Her experience includes policy work for Congress. Miriam’s undergraduate degree is from Barnard College, Columbia University, with majors in political science and urban studies. She has a master’s in public administration from Cornell University, where she was inducted into the national honorary society for public administration. She has a master’s of science in social work (focusing on policy) from Columbia University. She is a commissioner of the DC Commission on Persons with Disabilities. Miriam aims to continue her career in public service. She is especially interested in democracy, civic education, District of Columbia autonomy, diversity, health policy, women’s issues, and disabilities.

Photo by SHVETS production