NASW-WI 2023 ANNUAL REPORT
NASW-WI ADVOCACY ON BEHALF OF THE PROFESSION
MEETINGS WITH FRESHMAN LEGISLATORS
At the beginning of the 2023-2024 legislative session, NASW-WI Executive Director Marc Herstand met with new Republican and Democratic State Senators and Representatives to introduce them to the social work profession and NASW-WI’s professional and social justice agenda.
SOCIAL WORK COMPACT
NASW-WI is spearheading efforts to pass a Social Work Licensure Compact in the 2023-2024 legislative session. Early in the session, NASW-WI recruited State Representative Paul Tittl, State Representative Kristina Shelton, State Senator Rob Stafsholt and State Senator Brad Pfaff to serve as the lead legislators for the bill. During the circulation of the bill for co-sponsorships, NASW-WI mobilized members to contact their legislators and NASW-WI Executive Director Marc Herstand made numerous lobbying appointments promoting the bill. As a result of these efforts, twelve state senators, six Republicans and six Democrats signed on as co-sponsors of the bill, and twenty-four State Representatives, including eight Republican and sixteen Democrats, signed on as co-sponsors. Hearings were held in both the State Assembly and State Senate. The State Senate Committee voted unanimously to forward the bill to the Senate floor for passage. The State Assembly Committee has not yet held a vote on the bill.
ALTERNATIVE TO LICENSING EXAM
As a result of the serious racial, language and age disparities in the pass rate of the ASWB national social work exam, NASW-WI is working to get legislative support for an Alternative to Licensure Exam bill. In this bill, applicants for a Wisconsin social work credential who fail the ASWB exam, would be able to obtain a three-year non-renewable provisional credential. The provisional certificate or licensure would enable these credential holders to work as a social worker under supervision. After two years of full-time social work supervision, the applicant could obtain a regular social work credential with the approval of their supervisor. At the time this annual report was prepared, NASW-WI had recruited a lead Republican Assembly sponsor who has asked the Legislative Reference Bureau to prepare a bill draft.
DSPS FUNDING
Throughout 2023, NASW-WI has continued to lobby and advocate for the Joint Finance Committee to allow DSPS to use their own monies to hire the staff they need to promptly serve their customers. DSPS currently has a $24 million dollar surplus, which they are unable to use because the JCRAR has refused the Governor’s requests for additional staffing. Over the last year, NASW-WI Executive Director Marc Herstand has testified at two hearings, spoken with several reporters and lobbied Joint Finance Committee members. This work is continuing.
RECIPROCITY ISSUES-DSPS CONTACT-BILL TESTIMONY
For many years, but particularly since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been clear that it is extraordinarily difficult for otherwise extremely experienced and qualified LCSW’s moving to Wisconsin to obtain licensure. Because of how the law is written, LCSW’s with as much as 20, 30, 40 or more years of experience still have to verify the completion of their 3,000 hours of supervised practice after graduate school and that they took a course in graduate school covering Psychopathology in Social Work. This information is almost impossible to verify for many experienced applicants. Although the Social Work Compact would solve this problem, it will take quite a few years before it is fully implemented in all 50 states. In the meantime, NASW-WI has met with the DSPS Secretary to see if there is a legal workaround for this issue and has also supported Universal Licensure and Reciprocity legislation.
NASW-WI ADVOCACY ON SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES
CONVERSION THERAPY BAN
In December of 2022, the revised version of MPSW, the Conduct Code for social workers, marriage and family therapist and professional counselors, went into effect, including a ban on Conversion Therapy. On January 11, 2023, the Legislative Joint Committee on the Review of Administrative Rules met, and after a six-hour hearing, voted to suspend the section of MPSW that included the ban on Conversion Therapy. NASW-WI is currently looking into legal options to fight the suspension of the Conversion Therapy rule.
ANTI-LGBTQ BILLS-COALITION PARTICIPATION, MOBILIZATION AGAINST TRANS CARE BILL
For several legislative sessions, NASW-WI has served as a key member of a statewide LGBTQ coalition, fighting legislative efforts targeting the LGBTQ community. In September and October of 2023, NASW-WI mobilized its membership in opposition to a transgender athlete bill and a bill to ban conversion therapy. NASW-WI Executive Director Marc Herstand testified in opposition to these bills at both Assembly and Senate hearings.
RAISE THE AGE LEGISLATION
NASW-WI has served as a steering committee member of the Raise the Age Coalition, which seeks to pass legislation that will raise the age for mandatory referral to adult court from 17 to 18.
GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION COALITION
For many years, NASW-WI has participated in a statewide gun violence prevention coalition that meets monthly to promote anti violence prevention legislation, including red flag legislation, background check legislation and gun store legislation.
CHILD VICTIMS ACT
in February, NASW-WI Executive Director Marc Herstand held numerous meetings with Republican and Democratic legislators regarding the Child Victims’ Act. The Child Victims’ Act would provide a three-year release of the statute of limitations for childhood victims of sexual abuse.
NASW-WI LOBBIES JOINT FINANCE COMMITTEE MEMBERS ON DSPS STAFFING AND QTT FUNDING
During the first four months of 2023, NASW-WI Executive Director Marc Herstand held meetings with Joint Finance Committee members requesting support for Governor Evers’ budget proposals to fully staff DSPS and increase the base funding for the Qualified Treatment Trainee program. Although these lobbying requests were not ultimately included in the state budget, hopefully, the education provided to these legislators could result in a different outcome in the next budget cycle.
LEGISLATIVE SOCIAL POLICY COMMITTEE ACTIONS
Through the legislative session, NASW-WI’s Legislative Social Policy Committee meets monthly to review and take positions on proposed legislation with an impact on the social work profession or the welfare of our clients. Following these meetings, these positions are posted on the Wisconsin Ethics Commission website.
2023 ADVOCACY DAY
On April 12th, NASW-WI held it biennial Advocacy Day, which brought over 400 social work students and practitioners to Madison to receive training and lobby on the following NASW-WI priority issues: 1) Social Work Compact; 2) Alternative to Licensure Exam bill; 3) DSPS funding; 4) Opposing anti-LGBTQ bills; 5) Opposing so-called Critical Race Theory bills that would limit education and training on racism and sexism; 6) Wisconsin State Budget 7) Raising the Age of mandatory referral to adult court from 17 to 18 and 8) Affordable housing In addition to training on these issues, attendees were also able to participate in a basic training on lobbying called “Advocacy 101”. All attendees were set up with meetings with their State Senate and Assembly offices on April 12th. The information gathered by attendees was valuable for NASW-WI in their lobbying on these issues. The 2023 Advocacy Day was keynoted by Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin Executive Director Tanya Atkinson, who is also a social worker.
COUNCIL ON MENTAL HEALTH LEGISLATIVE POLICY COMMITTEE
NASW-WI Executive Director Marc Herstand serves as a member of the Wisconsin Council on Mental Health Legislative Policy Committee. This Committee reviews state and national legislation that impacts people with mental illness in Wisconsin. It provides recommendations on policy and legislation to the Governor and State Legislature.
NASW-WI STATEMENT ON THE RACIST VIDEO AT UW MADISON AND THE WAUSAU SCHOOL DISTRICT’S HANDLING OF RACIST COMMENTS BY A HIGH SCHOOL BAND DIRECTOR
During spring of 2023, NASW-WI issued a statement condemning racist comments against a Gay Hmong student in Wausau and a racist video put on social media by a UW Madison student.
2023 WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT ELECTIONS
During the first fourth months of 2023, NASW-WI Executive Director Marc Herstand and NASW-WI intern Rob Brown spoke to social work classes all over Wisconsin regarding the importance of voting in the April Supreme Court elections and the policy differences between the candidates. Prior to 2023, Rob put together a power point reviewing some of the major issues reviewed by the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the views on these issues by the then four candidates. These issues included abortion, gerrymandering, conversion therapy, voting and environment issues. This power point was used in the 2023 presentations.
2024 ELECTIONS
At the 2023 annual conference, NASW-WI will begin fundraising to support the hiring of a political organizer for the 2024 Wisconsin elections.
MEMBERSHIP
GROWTH IN MEMBERSHIP
2023 saw one of the largest growths in membership for NASW-WI. This growth included the Madison Metropolitan School District paying for membership for all its school social workers.
CLINICAL NETWORK LIST SERVE
In the fall of 2023, NASW-WI began preparations to start a Clinical Network list serve program, which will be reviewed by the NASW-WI Board of Directors
NASW-WI COMPLETES AND RELEASES SALARY SURVEY
At the end of 2022, NASW-WI released its 2022 salary survey. Our 2022 Salary Survey consisted of 32 questions and collected data from 946 respondents that practice in the Social Work field in Wisconsin. This was the largest number of respondents to a salary survey NASW-WI has ever had. This information is designed to help members bargain for higher salaries and for employers to understand what they should be paying their social work employees.
BIPOC STUDENT LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
The BIPOC Student Leadership program held its fourth year of operation with four outstanding BIPOC student leaders. In addition to receiving a mentor, the students attended programming presented by experienced BIPOC social work leaders.
MEMBER FORUM
NASW-WI continues to hold monthly member forums open to all NASW-WI members. At these forums, NASW-WI Executive Director Marc Herstand provides an update on NASW-WI activities and then each forum attendee has an opportunity to ask questions of Marc and provide an update on their social work career.
STUDENT AMBASSADOR PROGRAM
The 2023-2024 Student Ambassador program will include representatives from five social work programs who will receive leadership training from NASW-WI staff in late October. These Student Ambassadors promote NASW-WI membership and advocacy efforts on their campuses and provide feedback to NASW-WI on student social work concerns.
QTT PROGRAM
NASW-WI Executive Director Marc Herstand continues to serve as the lead Volunteer on a QTT (Qualified Treatment Trainee) Advisory Program that provides grants to Wisconsin outpatient mental health clinics serving underserved populations and regions in Wisconsin.
NASW-WI NETWORKS
In 2023, through the leadership of Messina Dugan and Winnie Chastek, NASW-WI revitalized its Pride Caucus, which will be holding a luncheon at the 2023 annual conference. The Pride Caucus serves as a forum, support and policy advocate for NASW-WI LGBTQ members.
NASW-WI’s Clinical Network, under the leadership of Roberta Bronecki, continues to serve as a fountain of information and sharing through its list serve for its members. Members also participate in periodic meetings with the Executive Director on important professional policy decisions. Clinical Network steering committee members meet monthly and plan the annual Clinical Network luncheon. They also write a regular column for the quarterly chapter newsletter.
The NASW-WI Rural Mental Health Network, under the leadership of NASW-WI board member Susan Townsley, provides bi-monthly virtual programs to its members as well as facilitating a luncheon meeting at the Annual Conference. The Rural Mental Health network also writes a regular column for the quarterly newsletter.
The NASW-WI Health Care Task Force, under the leadership of Cindy Dunst and Linda Wojtasiak, holds periodic meetings, writes a quarterly column for the chapter newsletter and hosts a luncheon meeting at the Annual Conference.
In September 2023, the NASW-WI Board of Directors approved the formation of a Children’s Taks Force under the leadership of Antoinette Davis and, Kayla Howell.
SOUTHEAST BRANCH HOLDS MARCH IS SOCIAL WORK MONTH EVENT AT THE MILWAUKEE ZOO.
On March 15, 2003, the NASW-WI Southeast Branch sponsored a program entitled “Mental Health challenges and Changes in Milwaukee County in Supporting our Clients.” Speakers included Linda Hall - Director Office of Children’s Mental Health, Mike Lappen - Administrator of Milwaukee County BHS, Jyl Ellmaker-School Social Worker, Milwaukee Public Schools, and Allison McCool- Social Work Supervisor with Children’s Wisconsin.
NASW-WI SOUTH CENTRAL BRANCH HOLDS STATEWIDE WEBINAR WITH LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR SARAH RODRIGUES
On March 21st, NASW-WI’s South-Central branch held a statewide webinar on the importance of the Supreme Court elections with Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Sarah Rodriguez.
NASW-WI EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MARC HERSTAND PROVIDES LEGISLATIVE UPDATE AT MENTAL HEALTH SUMMIT IN LAC DU FLAMBEAU
On May 19th, NASW-WI Executive Director Marc Herstand presented a legislative update, with a focus on LGBTQ legislation, at a Mental Health Summit in Lac Du Flambeau.
NASW-WI SOUTHEAST BRANCH HOLDS NETWORKING EVENT AT ALVERNO COLLEGE
On September 14th, the Southeast Branch held a networking event at Alverno College. Alverno College social work faculty and students, as well as Milwaukee area NASW-WI members, were in attendance. NASW-WI Executive Director Marc Herstand and Membership and Communications Coordinator Nadir Carlson also participated in the networking event.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ASSISTANCE
Every week, NASW-WI Executive Director Marc Herstand meets with multiple members via Zoom to help them with licensure difficulties, ethical concerns and other issues.
CONTINUING EDUCATION
2023 ANNUAL CONFERENCE
The NASW-WI 2023 Annual Conference features keynote speakers Dr. Laura Burney Nissen looking at how the social work profession can adopt to future trends in society, and Debra Minsky Kelly, MSW, LCSW on how social work can address the challenges of the next generation. The 2023 Town Hall Meeting will consider how we can bridge racial, ethnic, religious, ideological and political divides. On Wednesday and Thursday, Networking sessions will be held by the Clinical Network, the Rural Mental Health Network, the Health Care Network, and the Pride Caucus. In addition, an affinity group for BIPOC practitioners will take place. The annual movie night on Wednesday will view “The Social Dilemma.” Throughout the three days, over 55 break-out sessions will be held.
2023 WINTER WEBINAR SERIES AND ETHICS WORKSHOPS
During January and February of 2023, NASW-WI presented 15 Winter Webinars and four ethics workshops.