Social workers are five times more likely than the overall workforce to sustain an injury from workplace violence, according to research from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Because they have little experience at the outset of their careers, most young and eager social workers tend to dismiss the risks inherent in the profession. Social work agencies are inclined to downplay the risks rather than give the profession a reputation for being as risky as policeman, for example. This tendency, however, contributes to the risk by not preparing social workers for the dangers they might face along the way.

Bullying in School 

Bullies are nothing new. There have always been bullies in the school yard and in the neighborhood. Bullies were often the favorite antagonists in classic movies and T.V. sitcoms. However, education social workers tell us that bullying has become a widespread problem in America’s schools.

Health and Human Services

Few can imagine the vast impact the human services profession has on American society. Perhaps the best lens through which to view the work of human service professionals is to focus on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This gargantuan agency (HHS) will manage a budget of $130.7 billion in discretionary and $1.7 trillion in mandatory expenditures for FY 2025.

Adolescents in Cyberspace

Social media is ubiquitous and intricately interwoven with the lives of people. Social media includes web and mobile platforms that allow individuals to connect with others within a virtual network where they can share, co-create or exchange various forms of digital content, including information, messages, photos, or videos. There are an estimated 5.2 billion social media users worldwide. Adults make a clear distinction between online and offline social interactions, while this distinction is less evident in young people. They grow up with plentiful online resources to interact and communicate with others, making them digital natives.

What Society Values

Social work has always been considered a "low paying profession". In the beginning, it wasn't a profession at all. Women with big hearts and tons of empathy reached out to help society's unfortunates, and that image of the social work profession has persisted to this day. With the Industrial Revolution, immigrants flowed into the U.S. and lived in dire poverty until they were assimilated into the economy of the 20th century. Cheek by jowl with wealthier neighbors, their poverty was uncomfortably visible in major American cities, and social work as a paid profession began to emerge. By the 1950s, social workers were required to be college level educated and finally, by the 1970s, required an advanced degree to rise to the top of their profession. Over the 20th century, social work had journeyed from well-meaning volunteers to highly educated professionals without society taking notice. As a result, proper pay has always lagged the professional status of social work giving social work the reputation of a comparatively "low paying profession".

Frontline Advocacy: Transforming Passion into Action for Healthier Communities

Health transcends individual boundaries, emerging as a vital concern shared by all. When you channel your passion for health into advocacy, you not only enrich your own life but also significantly uplift those around you. Your proactive approach in spreading health awareness can catalyze community transformations, fostering environments that nurture wellbeing and longevity. By stepping into a role that leverages your enthusiasm for health, you play a crucial part in forging a society focused on holistic wellness. Here are some tips from theFAMCare team and one of our favorite guest blog contributors, Sharon Wagner from Senior Friendly.    We hope to help you get started on the right track!

Lonely Adolescents

"Adolescence is a unique, highly sensitive developmental stage initiated by puberty. During this time, the biological imperative is to detach from family and move closer to peers,” according to a 2021 study of adolescent grief during the COVID-19 pandemic. “In more individualistic cultures, a core developmental task of adolescence is to determine ‘who am I?’ Adolescents seek a coherent, integrated, and stable sense of themselves, separate from the identity imposed on them by family.” This is normal personality development in our Western culture but carries with it the risk of falling into a deep sense of loneliness especially for adolescents as they try to separate their personal identity from their identity as a member of their family. Their desire to feel socially accepted and identify with a group beyond their family of origin becomes particularly intense during this developmental period.

Beyond Cliche

When we encounter a homeless person asking for a little help on the curb by a stoplight, most of us will offer a little financial assistance and drive on feeling we have done our part. We rarely give them a second thought. They usually fit the cliché we have fashioned of the damaged vet, or the mentally ill, or the alcoholic or drug addict who sleeps on a park bench or under a flat newspaper tent. A while back, however, I had an awakening. I parked near a young woman with 3 small children camped on the curb of a Whole Foods parking lot. She displayed a large handwritten sign asking for help but did not approach me or verbalize at all. She was obviously shy and appeared embarrassed by her circumstances. I couldn't just drop a dollar in the colorful basket she had set out and go about my business. She and her children did not neatly fit my homeless cliché. I was compelled to inquire.

The Market Sets the Price 

The proper pay scale for social workers has been the subject of debate for many years. Many believe that social workers are paid fairly, and any upward pressure will put the survival of nonprofits (both public and private) in jeopardy. Others believe that social workers deserve to be valued according to their worth and professional skills. No amount is too high.

Mindful in Michigan 

Technology in all its myriad forms has invaded and altered the very fabric that binds society. In the relatively short span of 50 years digital and cyber technologies have transformed how humanity learns, communicates, transacts, records, analyzes, and interacts on every level. The invention of the internet and the development of social media supercharged the otherwise prosaic everyday tribal activities of socializing, trading, raising the family, and falling in and out of love. Almost every daily activity is now conducted through cyber filters. Much like the introduction of electric lighting, internal combustion engines, telephones, and airplanes, computers and their offspring have altered the very foundations of human interaction. To varying degrees, but in a very real sense, technology has rendered us all "strangers" in our own lives.