PRINTER'S NO. 638
No. 39 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY SCHWARTZ, MARCH 16, 1999
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, MARCH 16, 1999
A RESOLUTION
1 Designating the month of March 1999 as "Professional Social Work
2 Month."
3 WHEREAS, For over a century professional social workers have
4 provided assistance and worked to effect beneficial social
5 change; and
6 WHEREAS, Social work developed in the last century in
7 response to poverty, homelessness, mistreatment of prisoners and
8 persons with mental illness and the plight of widows and
9 orphans; and
10 WHEREAS, The first training classes for social workers began
11 in 1898; and
12 WHEREAS, Social workers have played key roles in every major
13 social reform movement, from settlement houses to labor reform,
14 the New Deal and civil rights; and
15 WHEREAS, Many things we take for granted today, Social
16 Security, child labor laws, the minimum wage, the 40-hour week,
17 Medicare, unemployment insurance and humane treatment of persons
1 with mental illness, came about because social workers saw
2 injustice, acted and inspired others; and
3 WHEREAS, Professional social workers provide critical
4 services in areas such as health and mental health, child
5 welfare and aging. They strive to increase opportunities for all
6 members of society, and to speak out on behalf of the poor, the
7 vulnerable and the voiceless; and
8 WHEREAS, Every day professional social workers help alleviate
9 society's most intractable problems, working one-on-one with
10 troubled children and families, organizing communities for
11 change, performing cutting-edge research and administering
12 social programs; and
13 WHEREAS, An aging population, economic dislocations and other
14 demographic trends are creating a greater need for social
15 workers; therefore be it
16 RESOLVED, That the Senate designate the month of March 1999
17 as "Professional Social Work Month" in recognition of
18 professional social workers' continuing efforts to provide
19 opportunities for a life of accomplishment, dignity and purpose
20 for all people and call upon the people of this Commonwealth to
21 unite with the social work profession in support of appropriate
22 programs, ceremonies and activities.
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