Why Social Work?

The primary mission of social work is to enhance human well-being and to help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty.

Professional social workers are employed in schools, hospitals, mental health clinics, senior centers, elected office, private practice, prisons, corporations, and in many public and private agencies that serve individuals and families in need.

Social workers have many areas of expertise, including:

• Substance abuse
• Gerontology
• Disaster relief
• Veterans services
• Mental illness
• Poverty
• Child abuse
• Development of social policy
• Aid to refugees
• School violence
• Hospice care
• Management of nonprofit organizations
• Homelessness
• Developmental disabilities
• Domestic violence
• Crisis intervention

Social workers provide help to those in need on many levels. Some provide services directly, while others develop policies that aid families and communities, or manage nonprofit organizations and government agencies that provide critical services to individuals and families.

On every level, social workers are having a profound effect on the lives of others.