This year’s National Social Work Month theme is “The Time is Right for Social Work,” which underscores the increased need for mental health services as the nation recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and addresses growing divides centered on social issues.
For more than a century, social workers have helped individuals, families, communities and the nation overcome challenges and reach toward their full potential. The annual Social Work Month is a time to inform the public about the services social workers provide in an array of sectors.
CNIC oversees over 300 licensed clinicians – including social workers, licensed family and marriage therapists, and psychologists – working across 70 installations, both domestically and abroad.
“This month we celebrate all of our clinicians, not just social workers,” said Lolita Allen, CNIC’s CAP program manager. “We believe that social work is an act, not necessarily a title, and all of us are working to change lives for our military families.”
The discipline of social work requires a versatile skill set, including mental health counseling, substance abuse interventions, case management, population-based behavioral health and more.
All of the CAP employees at CNIC headquarters are licensed clinicians who now work at the macro-level to improve social work broadly, managing the oversight, program development, and execution of policy. Under CNIC’s umbrella are the non-medical counseling services and the Family Advocacy Program (FAP), which focuses on prevention, treatment and assessment of domestic violence, domestic abuse and child abuse.
“Social work is all about advocacy,” said Molly Ryan, CNIC’s quality assurance and risk reduction analyst. “It’s giving voice to people who may be marginalized and not able to have a voice themselves. We have a great opportunity to see a need and then advocate to meet that need for service members and their families.”
Social work is one of the fastest growing professions in the United States, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). There are almost 720,000 professional social workers in the nation, but that number is expected to rise to more than 800,000 by 2030, per BLS.
Social work can be useful for a variety of situations, even when there is no ongoing crisis.
“Sometimes there can be a stigma about coming to see us, but it’s important for people to know that things don’t have to be going badly for them to reach out,” said Judith Wright, work and family life program analyst with Fleet and Family Support programs. “We’re here to connect people with resources and a community even before trouble is on the horizon. We’re here to help them become more warfighter ready no matter where they are.”
Amongst the more creative resources available is the Deployed Resiliency Counselor (DRC) program, which sends licensed clinicians aboard every large amphibious ship when deployed. This ensures care does not have to be interrupted when a services member goes to sea.
Whether you aim to forge stronger relationships, kick a substance use problem, or simply seek help getting your family the resources they need, the Fleet and Family Support Center (FFSC) on your base is the place to start. Contact information for all the FFSCs can be found on the CNIC website here:
https://www.cnic.navy.mil/ffr/family_readiness/fleet_and_family_support_program/FFSC.html
“Social work is critical work that helps service members to accomplish their mission,” said Allen. “When service members and their families are mentally and emotionally prepared – whether for long deployments or from everyday stressors – we know it makes them stronger to take on the mission and the stressors of being a military family.”
During Social Work Month, all are encouraged to learn more about the amazing profession, thank the social workers in your lives, and help support the great work they do.
Commander, Navy Installations Command oversees 48,000 employees located across 70 Navy shore installations in 10 regions around the world and is charged with sustaining the fleet, enabling the fighter and supporting the family. For more news from CNIC, visit www.cnic.navy.mil or follow the command’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.