In our continued efforts to strengthen the social work workforce in Illinois, the NASW-Illinois Chapter (NASW-IL) received funding from the Telligen Community Initiative (TCI) to develop, "Strategies to Strengthen the Social Work Workforce Diversity Pipeline in Illinois." This builds upon our 2020 social work workforce study (also funded by Telligen), “An Evaluation of the Illinois Social Work Workforce: Challenges and Opportunities,” which was released in March 2021.
Our current report took place from November 1, 2021, through May 15, 2023. The grant set out to look at the strengthening racial and ethnic minority hiring for the social work workforce. The grant period took place at the same time as major issues arose that greatly impacted the social work workforce in the state of Illinois as well as nationally which are highlighted in this report.
A great deal of thanks to the NASW-Illinois Chapter’s Diversity Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Committee under the leadership of Latesha Newson, MSW, LCSW, who is now NASW-IL Chapter President, as well as Bonnie Ewald, MA, Managing Director of Rush University’s Center for Health and Social Care Integration, which carried out several focus groups to understand perceptions of social work held by community health workers (CHWs) and others who share a demographic identity with the individuals they’re serving.
We welcome your feedback about this important initiative.
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