ADVOCACY DAY

Voices joined in chorus

Introducing Advocacy Day to Nova Scotia

BY MAGGIE STEWART, RSW

As social workers, we are called upon to recognize social injustice and advocate for change. It is what differentiates us from psychologists and other disciplines. It is at the very core of our profession, yet fighting for social justice often falls by the wayside as we give our energy to our many other daily responsibilities. The NSCSW Social Justice Committee recognizes this challenge and is committed to making advocacy opportunities and resources more accessible for social workers. I’m very excited to share that we have been undertaking efforts to initiate our own Advocacy Day in March, during National Social Work Month, and we hope to grow it to an annual event.

My excitement for this new initiative springs from personal experience. Early in my mental health career – even before I became a social worker – I worked for a few years as a counsellor in a residential care program for adults with “severe and persistent mental illness” outside of Boston, Massachusetts. The company’s name was Advocates, and we were indeed encouraged and trained on how to be advocates for our clients and improvements to the mental health system. We regularly wrote letters to legislators, but my favourite activity was participating in an event sponsored by the Massachusetts branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): Mass Advocacy Day.

Mass Advocacy Day brought together hundreds of stakeholders in mental health for rallies at the state legislatures. That year I attended, a good-sized group of staff and mostly clients from our organization joined together to be part of the crowd at the Boston State House. But the day was about more than just showing up. The gathering was accompanied by inspiring speeches from those working in the field and people with lived experience, and was incredibly empowering for the individuals I attended with. I can still remember them shouting to join in chants demanding better funding and for an end to stigma. We were definitely heard that day and, most importantly, our clients were inspired.

Across the United States, the National Association of Social Workers in the United States holds a similar annual event called Legislative Education and Advocacy Day (LEAD). Social workers are invited to learn about the legislative process in their country and state, and the importance of advocacy, and to collectively reach out to legislators to advocate for policies informed by our profession’s unique perspective.

Our first NSCSW Advocacy Day on March 16 was an opportunity for social work professionals, teachers, students, clients and families, and other stakeholders from around the province to come together to unite our voices in the fight for a more compassionate, responsive and culturally safe mental health system. Our members will be heard by legislators and policy makers, and will strive to plant the seeds of change.

There is critical demand for the skills, care, and advocacy of social workers in communities across Nova Scotia.

MAGGIE STEWART, RSW, is the chair of the NSCSW Social Justice Committee.