clinical social work association

The Clinical Social Work Association has been working for several months to assess and discuss diversity of our membership and our Board. Planning and discussion at the 2016 Annual Summit helped to launch a larger consideration of diversity within our membership. While it is beyond the mission of CSWA to alter the demographics of clinical social work, it is our responsibility to regularly assess our membership and evaluate the perspective we are representing. Our goal was simple: start a conversation about encouraging diversity of membership and Board representation, and continue this conversation by offering action steps and educational tools. In order to reach our goal, we disseminated a survey, created an ad hoc diversity committee, and incorporated the results into our strategic planning.

We are not alone in our commitment to assess and discuss diversity and inclusion. Several Societies have been facilitating these critical conversations for years. Others have begun to take action recently. We know that despite CSWA’s best efforts, there will always be room for improvement.  We encourage all state societies to promote through trainings and increased inclusion of diverse populations on Society Boards and in membership.  Additionally, CSWA encourages Societies to reach out to other clinical social work organizations to build bridges for more unified membership and advocacy efforts.  CSWA supports all attempts to create a clinical social work community that is inclusive and sensitive to the experience of all its members.

We are proud to send the following statement and reminder of the CSWA Code of Ethics that outlines our long standing commitment to cultural competency.

2017 CSWA Diversity Statement

The Clinical Social Work Association has long supported the values of diversity and inclusion. During these troubling times it is vital we create a welcoming and supportive environment for all our members and the people we serve. We firmly believe that we can best promote excellence within our profession by offering educational tools for dialogue and professional development, assessing our membership, and promoting our strong code of ethics regarding cultural competency standards. Further, we recognize the responsibility for excellence, diversity and inclusion lies within each of us who make up the clinical social work profession. CSWA encourages all members and affiliated societies to promote increased awareness of the meaning of diversity to all.