Numbering in the hundreds, members and supporters of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) rallied in the rotunda of the state capitol building on April 14, to advocate for new laws to license and protect social workers.
More than 60 Shippensburg University students and professors from the social work department attended the event. They joined students from other schools, including Clarion and Kutztown universities, in order to exercise their First Amendment rights.
“The goal of the rally was generally to demonstrate the power and influence of the social work presence in Pennsylvania,” said Michael Lyman, an SU professor of the social work and gerontology department.
State legislators heard their voices loud and clear throughout the day. They met with students, faculty and members of the NASW to discuss plans to introduce bills into this year’s legislative session to help social workers.
“Some students were also able to attend various committee meetings, press conferences and rallies that were being held during the day,” Lyman said, adding that he hopes students realize they, as social workers and individuals, have the ability to influence state policy.
“We need to have that legislation,” state Sen. John Blake said, referring to bills that would provide practice protection for social workers. “I can’t go home if we don’t get that done.”
Last October, Pennsylvania passed Act 179, an amendment to a 1987 law about licensing social workers. The amendment changes the language of the original law to clarify and update the definition of “provisional licensed social worker.”
The law now includes the term, “licensed bachelor social worker,” which describes “a social worker who holds a current bachelor’s level license under this act.”
The Pennsylvania chapter of NASW argues clinical social work professionals should be able to receive practice protection through licenses. It believes workers will be held accountable for their actions while on the job and provide a better service to their clients.
One of the goals is to get licensed clinical social workers the ability to diagnose clients, similar to psychiatrics.
Another goal is to prevent social workers who had their licenses revoked in other states from practicing unlicensed in Pennsylvania, according to Lyman.
“One of the biggest compliments that all of you, as social workers, have ever received is someone that you are doing social work for, say to you, ‘You have helped me,’” said Timothy Seip, who is an instructor at Kutztown University and a licensed social worker.
Seip, a former state representative, spoke to the crowd in Harrisburg about the merits of being a social worker and how beneficial the job is to society.

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