The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) initiated National Professional Social Work Month in 1962 to honor us as professionals and to raise public awareness about the many tasks we perform. It was Ronald Reagan who officially designated March as National Social Work Month in 1984.

Indeed, social work has evolved significantly since Mr. Reagan publicly endorsed our month of recognition, and there is much for social workers to celebrate. According to NASW, "The Bureau of Labor Statistics says social work will grow more than expected [for other occupations] over the next 8-10 years. Salaries for social workers seem to be on the rise and the outlook is good."

Despite these encouraging statistics, the reality is that many organizations employing social workers cannot get adequate funding to appropriately serve clients or employees, and in some areas, social workers still do not make a living wage. I imagine that Rodney Dangerfield could empathize with social workers, some of whom "don't get no respect." The good news, however, is that things are beginning to change.

Kicking Off a Novel Campaign

While we, as social workers, know firsthand about the meaningful difference we can make in people's lives, we could accomplish our goals as a profession on a much broader scale with a larger base of public support.

As a profession, we have traditionally emphasized the fact that we are well-intentioned "helpers" in our public relations efforts. While this may indeed be the case, it is exactly the type of vague message that so easily eludes public consciousness.

This year's theme for National Social Work Month is "Do you know me? I'm the new face of social work." Adopted from the New York State NASW Chapter, this slogan reflects the growth of diversity and opportunity within the profession, and is a distinctive break from "touchy feely" slogans, such as 1999's "helping people help themselves."

This year's campaign represents a much more savvy approach to marketing the significance of the work we do. After all, before we can expect people to appreciate how we help, we need to establish who we are, what we do, and then why it's important.

Who Are We Anyway?

Social work has achieved an extraordinary professional diversity that cuts across many boundaries and touches many people's lives. Unfortunately, not enough people are aware of the wide-ranging activities performed by social workers. This regrettable reality makes this year's theme particularly well-suited to a profession attempting to make its mark on the public consciousness.

The fact is that social workers can be found in government, health care, academia, business, private practice, and a host of other professional environments. It is precisely this professional diversity that makes social work so meaningful, so far-reaching, and yet, so fragmented and so hard to understand.

Image Problems

In the minds of some people out there, social workers are the ones who take children away from their parents, a disturbing stereotype perpetuated by word-of-mouth and today's media.

Let's face it: there remains some intangible stigma attached to being a social worker – even if you don't buy into it. While there may be many factors contributing to this state of affairs, a general lack of public knowledge about who social workers are and what we do is certainly a primary one. The fact that NASW has a "Social Work Myth Busters" fact sheet on its Web site says it all!

Adding to the misunderstanding is the fact that some social workers don't even refer to themselves as such, instead opting to go by such titles as "therapist" or "advocate" … anything but a social worker.

I recently came across an NASW pamphlet urging professionals to "say you're a social worker." I can think of few other professions where what you call yourself would even be an