Opinion: Michigan is turning the tide for social workers

Michigan has made meaningful progress in supporting social workers over the past year — progress we can build on to further strengthen the profession and tackle the mental health care provider shortage. 

Because of Michigan’s shortage of mental health care providers, nearly 900,000 adults with mental illness are left struggling to get by without treatment. Michigan is meeting only 40% of its need for mental health care practitioners, as the ongoing shortage of social workers continues to plague states across the nation. Thankfully, that could start to change. This year, Michigan policymakers have taken meaningful action aimed at eliminating barriers to entry for potential social workers. 

Proposed legislation to eliminate an exam from the current licensing process can relieve unnecessary pressure for social workers. Under the existing system, social workers must graduate with their Master of Social Work (MSW) degree, pay for thousands of supervision hours, and then take a licensing exam that has come under scrutiny for its ineffectiveness and discriminatory effect. 

While such exams are intended to thoroughly vet practitioners licensed to offer therapy to clients, the practical outcome is preventing qualified social workers from expanding the services they offer. By passing this legislation and replacing the exam with a practice-based approach, Michigan can open the door for more trained social workers to meet their clients’ needs.

Michigan has also taken steps to lighten the heavy financial burden that social workers carry. With MSW programs costing anywhere from $12,000 to $26,000 per year and the average annual salary less than $55,000, social workers often struggle to pay off high debts on low salaries. Michigan has allocated millions of dollars toward offering social workers scholarships and stipends in exchange for working in the public system. These efforts aim to bring 150 more social workers a year and channel much-needed help to the state’s highest-need areas.

This progress is encouraging, but there is much left to do. Michigan can continue to lead the effort to reverse the shortage by prioritizing burnout prevention. With more than half of social workers experiencing burnout, addressing the issue before it starts is vital to a healthy profession. 

Teaching students and social workers about the importance of self-care and robust burnout prevention plans can help mitigate burnout. Supervisors who are trained and equipped to spot its indicators and help social workers work through difficulties are a key part of any strategy to combat burnout. Promoting simple steps that can relieve stress and risk from social workers – such as professional liability insurance – will help keep social workers focused on the goal of serving clients.

Making long-term improvements for social workers must include increasing awareness of their contributions to society. Too often, non-social workers simply don’t understand what it is that social workers do. Many immediately think of child welfare workers and don’t realize that social work touches almost every aspect of life. 

Social workers do everything from serving as mental health counselors to working with police on domestic violence cases to engaging with local homeless populations to working with the elderly. Change starts with highlighting what it is that a social worker actually does, and highlighting success stories and anecdotes that allow people to understand why they are so essential to a healthy society.

Michigan is taking real steps to improve the situation for social workers. The state is enabling more people to join the profession without being crippled by debt that eventually forces them to leave in search of a more lucrative job. While there is more to do, Michigan has put real money behind its commitment to social workers and the people they serve. Now is the time to keep the momentum going. We will always need social workers – so we must keep prioritizing them.