REACH OUT, RAISE HOPE, CHANGE SOCIETY...
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ocial workers and politics may make strange bedfellows at first, but look closer and you’ll see an opportunity to improve the current political landscape. Social workers are expertly trained to work with communities, craft effective public policy and use their people skills to champion legislation. When social workers enter politics, they have the opportunity to not only develop policy which improve lives, but also to change the very image of politics by building trust, bridging differences and refocusing on the common good.
The National Association of Social Workers’ Code of Ethics specifically calls on social workers to engage in political action, and to advocate for changes in policy and legislation that promotes social justice. Social workers who become politicians uphold these principles as candidates and officials, bringing altruism and trustworthiness to government.
curriculum provides students with a deep understanding of both policy and political issues from a social justice perspective. Designed and led by Clinical Assistant Professor Justin Hodge and Associate Professor Kristin Seefeldt, the pathway is one of the first programs in the country that provides social workers with political training as part of their MSW.
After a divisive election season, what better way to rebuild trust in our political institutions than an infusion of social workers, who bring practical skills, community buy-in, a commitment to ethics and a passion for creating a more just society? To support potential candidates, the School of Social Work has developed a groundbreaking program to train social workers to go into politics.
“I think social workers are the bestequipped people to engage in policy and political work, and be elected officials,” says Hodge. “If you look at all of the different areas that social work students learn about — interpersonal practice, community organizing, management, program evaluation, all of that — those are all essential skills that I would want any competent elected official to have.” Hodge speaks from personal experience: he was recently elected a Washtenaw County Commissioner.
For a century, the School has been training practitioners, researchers and educators to be leaders in the field. With the introduction of the new Policy & Political Social Work curricular pathway, the School has created a program that trains MSWs to become effective leaders in the field of politics. The pathway’s
Seefeldt’s background is in public policy — in addition to her role at the School, she is associate director at U-M’s Poverty Solutions. Social workers, she says, have a different way of looking at problems, specifically in politics. Clinical Assistant Professor Justin Hodge (top) and Associate Professor Kristin Seefeldt
6 · University of Michigan School of Social Work
