Social workers are crucial, and they need help, too

COVID-19 appears to be on the wane. But a crisis may fill the void left by the virus. Some experts say the damage could last a generation.

Since the earliest days of the pandemic, social workers have served on the front lines, providing essential mental-health services to those in need. As lockdowns hit and deaths multiplied, social workers helped individuals and families cope with anxiety, depression, grief and isolation.

These professionals possess the expertise to treat the social, emotional and economic forces that have made the pandemic’s mental health toll so steep.

Unfortunately, there are not enough of us to meet the increasing demand for our services. We need to bolster public support for social workers, promote awareness of the valuable services they provide and amplify recruitment efforts to attract new people.

Today, demand for mentalhealth and behavioral-health services is at an all-time high. According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost one-third of adults feel symptoms of anxiety or depression on a week-to-week basis. Yet client rosters are full.

There also is heightened concern for our youths. School closures — while necessary to stem the rate of transmission — had a devastating impact on children’s socialization and education. Some children were forced to remain at home, resulting in increased risk for abuse and neglect. Others experienced food scarcity and loss of housing.

With the closures of an array of social-welfare programs and quarantine orders, it was almost impossible to connect vulnerable children with the services they needed. Last year, three leading children’s health organizations declared children’s mental health a national emergency.

At the same time, COVID-19 has fueled a spike in the nation’s opioid epidemic. Overdose deaths have continued to break records nearly every month of the pandemic.

Joblessness, loss of housing and myriad health problems are complex contributors to the opioid crisis. Social workers are uniquely qualified and trained to address these intersections among economic, social and other factors that affect health.

Social workers deliver more mental health and social care than any other group of providers. There are more than 700,000 social workers who serve millions of Americans in a range of settings.

Like many other health-related professionals, social workers are experiencing high levels of burnout. But with increasing demand for our services, communities cannot afford to lose us.

Here are a few ways policymakers can ensure they don’t.

State and local governments are elevating the role social workers play in addressing public-health issues.

Some municipalities now call on social workers, rather than police, as first responders for social, mental health or other similar emergencies. And the new national 988 suicide hotline coming this July will be staffed with social workers.

But there’s more our leaders can do. Medicare pays social workers 25% less than other nonphysician practitioners for the same work. Increasing social workers’ reimbursement rates to match that of their peers would help incentivize and grow our essential workforce.

Expanding access to studentloan forgiveness programs also is imperative. Even after obtaining a master’s degree in social work, which is the terminal degree to practice independently, countless professionals are trapped in perpetual student-loan debt.

This financial stress is especially problematic for our profession, which is more racially and economically diverse than any other mental-health occupation and includes a rising number of firstgeneration graduates of color.

As the coronavirus relaxes its grip, we must reckon with the lasting impact of two years of uncertainty, insecurity, isolation and illness. With support from policymakers and communities, social workers can continue to help those in need during the POST-COVID era and beyond.