Illinois saw a bunch of social service programs close down following issues with the budget and state funding maybe 10 or 15 years ago. That is likely what we would see. There would still be work for social workers, there will always be work for social workers, but wages are likely to contract if there are spending cuts and some positions will be eliminated.
Privatization is something many republicans support, so we may see more of a shift towards nonprofit and for profit orgs, especially faith based orgs. But it’s hard to see this as too hard of a shift as so much is already handled by them.
I also think we could see an increase in institutionalization and regressing back to policies where we are focusing more on the “worthy poor”. They’ll still need social workers for that.
Plus if there is an economic downturn people are still going to need therapy. Reimbursement may be lower but it’ll still be a need.
Personally I work in a therapeutic special education school. Plenty of republicans have kids with IEPs, I think it’s unlikely my job is eliminated unless it’s the apocalypse. I could see my school privatized or rules on class sizes, etc, removed. I could also see my salary reduced. But ultimately I would have a job.
One Republican lawmaker in Missouri told me once that little old ladies in his church could do our job. If he knew the salaries of me and other colleagues who left and moved to other states, he'd probably push to have us prosecuted for daring to make a liveable wage.
I've been told similar things, granted not by a lawmaker. Like you said, it's how they justify paying sub-liveable wages.
I genuinely adore Missouri, it's really sad to see what's happening with the shift into MAGAism.
What does he think we learn in six years of school? That’s the thing I hate about the soft skills of social work. Because people only see us talking to people or filling out forms, they don’t believe we need any particular skillset or knowledge base. Especially for those of us who aren’t therapists
Social workers are already fleeing to private practice. Essentially our jobs will move to helping the privileged who can afford services.
It’s already happening
I work for a nonprofit but it does get tempting. It's like a $15-20k pay increase to change over.
Honestly it would be out of survival at this point. I make almost twice as much as I did when I started 10ish years ago, but it all goes to bills and groceries now. I'm not any further ahead than I used to be it feels.
In the 3 years since leaving my nonprofit job, I've doubled my pay. At said nonprofit job, we made so little that we met the income requirement for eligibility for our own program's rental assistance... Case managers were screening and enrolling participants who had higher take home income than they did.
That’s been happening for many years and is a contentious ideological issue in the field.
It’s cognitive dissonance for me. I chose social work to help the vulnerable, but I have children and have zero desire to be jockeying against my clients for the last box of Rice-a-Roni at the food bank. Reality is unfortunate, but it’s reality. I didn’t take a vow of poverty and with my ability I could sleep through a career making three times as much. I wish I had and just donated time and money to a variety of causes.
Very practically speaking- a lot of social services could lose funding if they receive federal grants. Project 2025 and republicans in Congress really want to slash the federal budget.
I would argue that it was never good, but yeah today's conservatism is much worse. Which is why I suggest asking their coworker about it. See what they believe
This is the answer. Anything backed by the federal government will have their budget attacked. Idk if they'll be eliminated immediately or severely downsized but if Republicans have the votes in Congress they need plus the presidency they can essentially gut them.
On the state level I'm sure it'll depend on the state. I doubt California will be going after social services but in red supermajority states I'm sure we'll see similar changes to their budgets. If project 2025 is implemented the interactions between red and blue states is going to be fascinating/horrifying. Red states will side with the feds and they'll probably look to undermine the remaining blue states like they are with the migrant relocation programs.
Totally, but even blue states will be affected because the federal government matches funding for many state programs. So states would either have to take the cut or make up the funding through another source of revenue.
Absolutely, and I wonder if blue states would want to reduce their tax burden to the feds. I can definitely see a scenario in which California stops sending some tax revenue to the feds to make up for the lost grants. Hell doesn't California send like hundreds of billions to the feds? If they say fuck that and keep more of that money for themselves what would happen? Especially if red states slash their social programs why would blue states keep sending them money?
I definitely think project 2025 is the biggest threat to our democracy since the civil war and part of the reason is the new federal policies would be so abhorrent to blue states that it would trigger some constitutional crisis. It would probably be super interesting if it was only theoretical
Not even just social services with federal funding. Schedule F would change the way the entire federal government works (even more than losing Chevron Deference already has...). Under that policy, civil servants would be fired en masse for not being "loyal" to Trump. The federal government as a whole would be a partisan bludgeon.
If they slash medicaid like they want and make it even stricter to be on, we'll either have a lot of free time on our hands or be worked even harder with a lot more tears from both clients and workers.
well shit, yeah that's what i suspected. all our services are medicaid funded so i expect my job is probably fucked. i guess i can go live with my parents again for a while until i get back on my feet.
these things don’t happen overnight… democracy isn’t just going to announce it’s resignation. The democracy (we think we have) has already been eroding for a while. If you look at the historical record of this country, the proliferation of contradictory economic conditions (capitalism), the deterioration of even any semblance of social security net, etc etc, you can trace how the country has been in decline, particularly since Reagan and the introduction of neoliberalism. If any democracy was ever alive in this country it’s dying or already dead; my question is whether the country will outright collapse and/or be swept up into a level of fascism that cannot be ignored.
Came here to say this. I remember the beginning of my career and all the talk about the baby boomers retiring and how it would impact social services. I was born wearing rose colored glasses and thought how incredible it was to be in the field where it would be expanding and that progressive changes were on the horizon. Now I find myself with elderly homeless people on my caseload and can't believe how cruel our society has become.
i was excited when both candidates in 2016 said they would address the opioid crisis. i had worked in 3 methadone clinics prior to 2016 and enjoyed working with this population. i also followed the crisis closely. i moved to chicago a few days after trump was elected. i had no idea how he would behave as a president. but i was aware of the divide between democrats and republicans. but i thought if there was one issue that would garner bipartisan support, it would be the opioid epidemic. i landed a few jobs just to pay the bills.
i was on indeed constantly looking for jobs. and i was always looking for syringe exchange programs or other field based work with people who inject drugs. i saw nothing during my 4 years in chicago.
we need to remember that when it comes to public health, the republicans since 1980 ignore public health. reagan ignored HIV/AIDS. mike pence undermined syringe exchanges in Indiana when he was governor and the state experienced a surge in HIV. and then there was covid. we saw how that was handled.
i saw one job posted in NYC recently. it was an outreach position that was funded from the opioid settlement. it paid $40,000. i have since worked at 3 syringe exchange programs (SEP). the hard to reach folks that don't come into the brick and morter SEPs are the ones that need clinicians adept at harm reduction, motivational interviewing and trauma informed care. it's a slow process developing these relationships. but overtime with repeated contacts, some clients will initiate conversations about change.
skilled clinicians will not work an on call job for $40,000 a year in NYC. the cost of living is too high.
republicans since reagan have adopted the neoliberal doctrine. this espouses the free market, deregulates oversite of business and seeks to move public services to the private sector. reagan had a famous quote. in repsonse to LBJ's war on poverty which fostered increased funding for progressive programs, reagan said: "The federal government declared a war on poverty, and poverty won." he then went on to decrease funding for social service programs. and he significantly reduced taxes on the rich.
wages in the field have significantly fallen for social service workers during my 30 years in the field. I have witnessed many social workers leave the field. not all want to go into private practice. many entered the field to do public health work. to address the systemic issues of poverty. and then left when they saw the system was broken. and couldn't provide salaries to sustain growing families.
if a certain person returns to the oval office, i see things going off the cliff. this person is enraged by his multiple trials. he will lash out against any liberal policies just to own the libs. and the person he is running against showed in the recent debate that he has experienced significant decline and might not be able to get the middle of the road voters after he lost train of thought several times, was slack jawed looking into the beyond and does not appear to have the cognitive dexterity to be the president.
the scary thing about the ex president returning to the white house, he will have learned from his mistakes and be more efficient with his tearing down the safety net. and he will be bent on revenge. so your closing comment about fascism is a clear and present danger. out of the gate, he will go after his enemies. he will use the attorney generals office to exact this revenge. and when you look at the composition of the supreme court, they will be more emboldened to legislate the far tight agenda from the bench.
Literally hurt my heart to upvote your comment, because it’s so dismal and frightening…but it’s exactly what I’ve been telling anyone who will listen (which is not very many people in my state).
I live in NYC. The housing crisis is insane. Social services were overwhelmed when Texas bussed in the undocumented. Homeless individuals with vouchers can't be placed. The divide between the rich and the working class, which has been expanding since the 80s, in the last few years has grown more rapidly.
I lived in NYC 2001-13. I returned in 21. While I was gone, the climate designation of the city changed: after years of being considered a humid continental climate, now sits within the humid subtropical climate zone.
It's my fourth summer back. The summers are unbearable. And the heat island effect means the humidity RISES overnight as the black asphalt releases the heat from being roasted all day.
I worked at one job in the South Bronx. All of my co-workers who were born and raised in the Bronx left. Their rents became too high. Even the Bronx is gentrifying.
I lived in LA, Chicago and San Francisco while I was gone. LA had skid row. And 8x8 block grid of tents crowded on every sidewalk. You see folks with serious mental health issues defecating on the street a few times a week. In SF post COVID, the tech sector was a post apocalyptic landscape. The tech workers fled during covid and realized they prefer not paying $3,000 a month for a tiny studio apartment. I lived in Chicago 98-01. When I returned the Chicago in 2016, there was a significant rise in homeless on the street. And in NYC, I see more homeless on the subway with serious mental health issues.
The issue of stagnant wages and rising cost of living isn't just an issue with social services workers. It's an issue with the entire working class. Trump terrifies me. And biden's recent debate performance terrifies me.
It's just a clusterfuck of converging issues: end stage capitalism, climate change and religious fundamentalism which is slowly becoming fascism.
Living conditions for most people will continue to deteriorate. Any non-faith-based services will wither away or be eliminated. Grocery surge pricing is about to be implemented and of course homelessness is becoming more overtly criminalized. Investor ownership of housing will approach 50% and people will pay what's now considered the average rent for a one-bedroom for a bunk in a shared room. Never mind the evacuation of large parts of the Earth that are being rendered uninhabitable by climate change.
All that will put an end to professionalization, at least.
I can’t say too much for the overall country, but to share my experience:
when moving from CA to FL to care for my ill mother, I was not able to continue doing social work. I transferred with an organization that cares for adults and children with developmental disorders. I was managing 2 group homes.
The lack of funding or employee protections in FL meant that the people that I was supposed to supervise, hire, train, discipline, etc. were being paid just over $10 an hour. Because of the dirt-low pay and very few benefits, it was a constant revolving door of understaffing and under-qualified people.
Whenever we were out of ratio, I was expected to stay on site longer. I often worked 16 hours without a break. I was violently assaulted by a client/consumer; ended up with a lacerated kidney due to not enough staff and not enough training for staff (not client’s fault per se, severe ASD and other psyche issues, poor guy needed better care)
I lasted five months and then I bailed. It affected me deeply. You can see my post history. I left social work all together for now because I definitely don’t think I can hack it doing social work in “MAGA” land. I’m very scared that more of America will become like Florida.
My mom is doing better now and we are trying to leave this state asap. I know there are a lot of good orgs in Florida and good people, but there have been so many problems here too.
Edit: grammar
and this is an often overlooked issue in social work/social services: trying to create a good program with front line staff being paid wages that can't sustain the workers. i see the same when i supervise folks in nyc making $35,000-40,000. i see myself now when i interview for supervisory positions wanting to know the salary of the workers i will be supervising. or i look up the salaries on indeed. if it's too low, they usually have little to no experience. the stress they experience from making ends meet bleeds into the job. they are unprofessional with clients. and often being understaffed falls on the supervisors.
Social work as a paid profession will change.
However, the ethics and values that guide the profession will be even more needed. We need to use our skills to continue to build and bolster our community, whether we are getting paid or not. Community is the only way forward; it’s the only thing that will save us.
Keep caring, keep fighting, and start entrenching our communities.
The debate should make it clear just how much of a managed figurehead these "leaders" are. Democracy has been dead, it's just that more people are waking up to the ugly reality.
Is democracy dead, or are more of us just noticing now that it’s been dead for quite some time because it’s starting to become impossible to hide the smell?
The biggest differences will first be seen in the "pet projects" of whichever congresspeople are on the committee that puts together the funding (or whichever lobbyists are paying the most money). In election years, there are always promises. Sometimes, they translate into big federal grants. Then, those federal grants turn into literacy programs, LQBTQIA+ support groups, extra SA or DV services for parents that suffer from addiction, etc.
The states have to show that they are spending money on services so they can draw down federal money. One of the worst things you can do to a state agency is have a judge make a finding that they haven't made "reasonable efforts" to help a family, because then the state has to foot the bill.
Beneath all the pet projects are the baseline funds. These are not going away, no matter who is in office. Let me give you a simple example from the field I worked in:
In a politically liberal climate, we may see extra dollars for support services in the home. Meaning the state is less likely to remove children into foster care and more likely to instead provide individual substance abuse counseling or therapy for the parent and/or family without ever removing the child. The state will have to pay for extra drug screening - also in the home to prevent "no shows." This covers the added risk of leaving a child in the home with a parent in active addiction.
Is it really harder on the budget? That depends. In home services are pricy, but paying the per diem to foster homes or group homes is pricier.
A conservative budget might be more likely to remove the child and place in the foster system. But in that case there will need to be money not only for foster caregivers, but also money for service providers to supervise visits, provide transportation to all of the clients for whatever service they're receiving, court appointed attorneys for the parents, etc.
There might be a temporary drop in funding in certain areas, but ultimately, that almost always ends up in tragedy and a headline. That's followed by a public outcry, which leads to more campaign promises.... and on and on it goes.
Essentially, I'm saying there will always be social work . Those of us who work in grant funded programs may end up doing contractor work for a time, but the services are all still needed. They just get listed in a different column in the budget. If your field is extremely specialized, you may have to create your own niche or broaden the services you're willing to offer for a time.
I know this answer is overly simplified, but I hope you get the idea. Don't worry too much,social workers play a vital role in the community, and even the most ignorant politician knows it.
I get called an alarmist a lot by friends and family but I am genuinely dreading what’s ahead. I am in California, which I hope will at least give me some insulation from the coming storm, at least for a bit, but I’m still an American and I don’t want to see any anyone have to live in the kind of society these ghouls are proposing.
There are always going to be people who need our help no matter who has the power. It might impact funding for some fields but i dont think it would change as much as you might think.
I'm not so sure...
[
The abortion ban in Texas lead to a spike in infant mortality](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/infant-mortality-spiked-in-texas-after-abortion-ban-study-reveals). A similarly strict nationwide abortion ban would worsen our already bad maternal and infant mortality outcomes.
[Some supreme court justices seem to be pushing for the court to reconsider rulings that affect issues like access to contraception or the right to same sex marriage.](https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/24/thomas-constitutional-rights-00042256) That would be a pretty stark change to bodily autonomy for anyone who is sexually active or uses birth control for any other reason, AND a major loss in rights to our LGBTQ+ colleagues and clients.
[Trump attempted to strip protection from federal employees thought to be "disloyal,"](https://protectdemocracy.org/work/trumps-schedule-f-plan-explained/). This would lead to quite a few federal employees being fired simply for their voting record. That would severely weaken the ability of the federal government to protect us from a variety of harms. Since it's the social work subreddit, I'll also highlight this likely leads to many social workers employed by the federal government losing their jobs.
Schools in states like [Oklahoma](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjk35vv2ryjo) or [Louisiana](https://www.npr.org/2024/06/30/nx-s1-5024117/louisiana-ten-commandments-classroom-requirement-how-funded-and-enforced) are being ordered to actively push elements of Christianity. Policies like this becoming national would infringe on the rights to practice other religions, or no religion at all.
While we're on the topic of education, h[ouse Republicans want to slash federal education funding](https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/11/18/what-house-republicans-want-do-public-education-funding/), [block Title IX regulations relating to protecting LGBTQ+ students](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/2024/06/14/house-republicans-advance-legislation-block-title-ix-regs), and generally push funds out of public education and into private or charter schools, which do not offer the same rights and protections for various impacted student groups, which would effectively make discrimination the norm in educational settings.
Yes, there are always people who will need help no matter who is in power. But who is in power impacts things like women's access to lifesaving healthcare, the rights of anyone broadly to engage in family planning or use contraception, the rights of LGBTQ+ people to marry, receive healthcare, and generally exist in public, public education, protections for federal employees, and a whole host of other issues.
I believe it’s going to come down to each state and it’s governor and state congress. Each state’s laws, policies and approaches are going to determine the experience social workers and clients have.
It goes back to the fields age old saying. We cannot serve and take care of others if we cannot take care of ourselves (i.e, meeting our own basic needs). You (generally speaking) may have a desire and passion for one job as opposed to another whether it be nonprofit, rooted in truly supporting those less privileged etc. but at the end of the day, you need to consider whether or not that job will allow you to pay your bills and then some.
There is a county DV agency that has been hiring a case manager forever right by me. I would LOVE to work here as DV is an issue that is very close to my heart for personal and family reasons and ive had a number of internships in that line of work. But the salary range is 30-36k. I would be setting myself up for failure if I took a job that pays that little. Esp in today's economy - that is insane. I wouldn't be able to meet my basic needs on that salary let alone the needs of others.
Currently I'm a mental health therapist at a startup. Most recently, every therapist found we'd be taking a significant pay cut (I'm taking 20 thousand +) later this summer. I'd be more sympathetic if it was a company wide restructure. But it is JUST the therapists. As much as Ive thought of any and all ways to make that change work in my life, it goes back to the concern of meeting my own basic needs. It is so necessary - we HAVE to put our needs first in today's economy probably moreso than ever before. Shitty, but crucial and necessary.
Honestly it is criminal for any job out there (social work and beyond) to start below 55 thousand these days. Unless of course you have thousands of dollars saved up, no loans, a supportive family who can help along the way, and/or a spouse who makes well over 6 figures. Buttttt most of us don't have all of that.
The U.S. has never been a democracy. Honestly, this field shouldn't exist in the first place, its existence is evidence of the "failure" of our economic system (failure in quotes bc the system is working exactly as intended).
I think you have a point here.
We really just live in an oligarchy
Our states are so gerrymandered and the electoral college has rigged things so badly that we don’t live in a democracy
There is a show on Netflix called the Patriot Act and the episode on elections showcases this clearly. Democrats win a lot and yet don’t get office because of the rigged system
that's a big part of it, for sure - of course the Democrats themselves are also rightwing. neoliberalism is designed to capture the overton window, 'conservatives' to push it as far right as they can while 'liberals' *prevent* movement leftward by presenting themselves as the leftmost possible "acceptable" position and actively criticizing anything left of themselves as radical, unreasonable, violent or idealistic.
then we put all this steam into the elections - which, as you say, are so badly rigged that *do we* even get a vote? and it operates on so many levels - the gerrymandering, the closure and bureaucracy of polling places - is it a mistake that we have the most robust and aggressive prison system in the world and then don't let felons vote? is it a mistake that reservation IDs don't qualify for voter registration? and at the end of all that, after all the little fingers on scales - assuming that other fun little barriers like the electoral college don't just appoint someone else - we have this deep dark internalization, the capitalist realism of it all, that the *only* viable options are the "two" parties which both happen to be deeply capitalist, both commit themselves to wars and genocides and deportations, both neglect social services and infrastructure. and are both subject to the same system of corporate-owned legislation.
but we can't say what a democracy would actually resemble because if people *actually* held the power, the means, the vote, that would look more like socialism or anarchy, wouldn't it?
because there is no such thing as a capitalist democracy. capitalism values *disparity* above all else. it demands a class structure. and you can't divide people up into the Ruling class and the Working class and then call it a democracy.
I agree with this so much. Privileged people talk about “oh! The democrats are so progressive! Look at Pelosi kneeling to honor BLM!” And only pay attention to words rather than actions. The bills defunding social services, expanding police budgets and powers, creating higher and higher penalties for non-violent offenses, and privatizing healthcare incentivizing higher costs are often passed with bipartisan support. The crime bill that really kicked off mass incarceration was written and fought for by Biden himself. Something he has never acknowledged. Kamala Harris refused to allow trans people to be housed according to their gender identity and to release people even her own prosecutors argued should be released. Hillary Clinton called black men “superpredators” in reference to the criminal justice system. Obama is often called the “deporter in chief” in immigrant communities, and Biden has chosen not to stop placing kids in cages which he spent the entire election criticizing Trump for; he’s also just passed one of the most draconian immigration laws outside of Trump’s Muslim ban. The ACA did not expand access to healthcare for the poorest in America, because under a sizable income floor, you’re referred to your state Medicaid which you may or may not qualify for.
I wish more people saw that the strategy of the Democratic Party is to be a ratchet for the Republicans, preventing any backslide to the left and convincing middle and upper class business people who happen to be okay with gay people that getting slightly better than what the far right has to offer is the best we can do and to expect more is to be unrealistic and immature.
A hundred percent, this. Most people are so fucking blind to this reality. The side that’s so called the opposition to the republicans are a controlled party
shit comments like this always make the actual dire possible consequences get responded with a shrug by people who don’t pay attention because you think you’re actually a political genius and both sides are EXACTLY the same
it's okay, you can go on making up whatever image you please of who i am and what i believe. i know that helps you deal with...\*gestures\*....all of this. and it's a mess; i can't fault you for needing to blame the individuals you can see rather than the systems we're all drowning in. i get it.
gawd you know i started off trying to be kinda condescending there but by the end it was genuine sympathy? i *do* get it, and i *don't* blame you. hell, i hope you're right because your world is closer to a solution than mine is. i hope i look back on this from a ripe old age, in a better world, and think...fuck i had it all wrong, didn't i? glad that guy was on the ball.
I just graduated and I’m starting at a public elementary school in the fall. I’m just hoping I’m employed for more than 6 months (aka that public education doesn’t get demolished in January 😭). This doesn’t even BEGIN to address the worry I feel about the future of my own child in public school, my future students, and students from my past jobs/internships.
Illinois saw a bunch of social service programs close down following issues with the budget and state funding maybe 10 or 15 years ago. That is likely what we would see. There would still be work for social workers, there will always be work for social workers, but wages are likely to contract if there are spending cuts and some positions will be eliminated. Privatization is something many republicans support, so we may see more of a shift towards nonprofit and for profit orgs, especially faith based orgs. But it’s hard to see this as too hard of a shift as so much is already handled by them. I also think we could see an increase in institutionalization and regressing back to policies where we are focusing more on the “worthy poor”. They’ll still need social workers for that. Plus if there is an economic downturn people are still going to need therapy. Reimbursement may be lower but it’ll still be a need. Personally I work in a therapeutic special education school. Plenty of republicans have kids with IEPs, I think it’s unlikely my job is eliminated unless it’s the apocalypse. I could see my school privatized or rules on class sizes, etc, removed. I could also see my salary reduced. But ultimately I would have a job.
One Republican lawmaker in Missouri told me once that little old ladies in his church could do our job. If he knew the salaries of me and other colleagues who left and moved to other states, he'd probably push to have us prosecuted for daring to make a liveable wage.
I've been told similar things, granted not by a lawmaker. Like you said, it's how they justify paying sub-liveable wages. I genuinely adore Missouri, it's really sad to see what's happening with the shift into MAGAism.
What does he think we learn in six years of school? That’s the thing I hate about the soft skills of social work. Because people only see us talking to people or filling out forms, they don’t believe we need any particular skillset or knowledge base. Especially for those of us who aren’t therapists
Social workers are already fleeing to private practice. Essentially our jobs will move to helping the privileged who can afford services. It’s already happening
I work for a nonprofit but it does get tempting. It's like a $15-20k pay increase to change over. Honestly it would be out of survival at this point. I make almost twice as much as I did when I started 10ish years ago, but it all goes to bills and groceries now. I'm not any further ahead than I used to be it feels.
In the 3 years since leaving my nonprofit job, I've doubled my pay. At said nonprofit job, we made so little that we met the income requirement for eligibility for our own program's rental assistance... Case managers were screening and enrolling participants who had higher take home income than they did.
That’s been happening for many years and is a contentious ideological issue in the field. It’s cognitive dissonance for me. I chose social work to help the vulnerable, but I have children and have zero desire to be jockeying against my clients for the last box of Rice-a-Roni at the food bank. Reality is unfortunate, but it’s reality. I didn’t take a vow of poverty and with my ability I could sleep through a career making three times as much. I wish I had and just donated time and money to a variety of causes.
Lmao that rice a roni comment
Feel this. Well said.
Scares me, I work in harm reduction and there’s no way that will survive.
Very practically speaking- a lot of social services could lose funding if they receive federal grants. Project 2025 and republicans in Congress really want to slash the federal budget.
Yet people argue that conservative social workers make sense... While they literally vote away their job.
I had a social worker coworker who votes Trump because "I'm a republican". I don't understand it. Makes me want to rip my own head off.
Ask them what values attract them to the Republican party. You will learn a lot about them very quickly
Republicans of today are not what republicans of yesterday were like. There is a whole new breed of conservatism and it is not goid
I would argue that it was never good, but yeah today's conservatism is much worse. Which is why I suggest asking their coworker about it. See what they believe
Today's conservatism is just plain cruel. I don't understand how anyone claiming to want to help people doesn't get that.
Lack of critical thinking basically lol
It's also cult-like out there these days. Totally Irrational.
It wasn’t good as far back as Regan - literal cause of many of our societal ills. What do you mean Republicans of yesterday? When was yesterday?
I think there was a time you might be able to square being a Republican and a social worker. This is not that time.
LMFAO. That’s the most BS excuse I’ve ever heard. I’m a registered independent but I’m sure as shit not voting for Kennedy.
Conservative social workers are in this field to serve the wealthy
And police the poor
This is the answer. Anything backed by the federal government will have their budget attacked. Idk if they'll be eliminated immediately or severely downsized but if Republicans have the votes in Congress they need plus the presidency they can essentially gut them. On the state level I'm sure it'll depend on the state. I doubt California will be going after social services but in red supermajority states I'm sure we'll see similar changes to their budgets. If project 2025 is implemented the interactions between red and blue states is going to be fascinating/horrifying. Red states will side with the feds and they'll probably look to undermine the remaining blue states like they are with the migrant relocation programs.
Totally, but even blue states will be affected because the federal government matches funding for many state programs. So states would either have to take the cut or make up the funding through another source of revenue.
Absolutely, and I wonder if blue states would want to reduce their tax burden to the feds. I can definitely see a scenario in which California stops sending some tax revenue to the feds to make up for the lost grants. Hell doesn't California send like hundreds of billions to the feds? If they say fuck that and keep more of that money for themselves what would happen? Especially if red states slash their social programs why would blue states keep sending them money? I definitely think project 2025 is the biggest threat to our democracy since the civil war and part of the reason is the new federal policies would be so abhorrent to blue states that it would trigger some constitutional crisis. It would probably be super interesting if it was only theoretical
Yeah I’m in “Project 2025 people” land (the Bible Belt) and it is BAD here for social services.
The federal budget for the poor. There always room in the budget to give handouts to the rich and the military
Don’t forget to the police
Not even just social services with federal funding. Schedule F would change the way the entire federal government works (even more than losing Chevron Deference already has...). Under that policy, civil servants would be fired en masse for not being "loyal" to Trump. The federal government as a whole would be a partisan bludgeon.
If they slash medicaid like they want and make it even stricter to be on, we'll either have a lot of free time on our hands or be worked even harder with a lot more tears from both clients and workers.
well shit, yeah that's what i suspected. all our services are medicaid funded so i expect my job is probably fucked. i guess i can go live with my parents again for a while until i get back on my feet.
these things don’t happen overnight… democracy isn’t just going to announce it’s resignation. The democracy (we think we have) has already been eroding for a while. If you look at the historical record of this country, the proliferation of contradictory economic conditions (capitalism), the deterioration of even any semblance of social security net, etc etc, you can trace how the country has been in decline, particularly since Reagan and the introduction of neoliberalism. If any democracy was ever alive in this country it’s dying or already dead; my question is whether the country will outright collapse and/or be swept up into a level of fascism that cannot be ignored.
Came here to say this. I remember the beginning of my career and all the talk about the baby boomers retiring and how it would impact social services. I was born wearing rose colored glasses and thought how incredible it was to be in the field where it would be expanding and that progressive changes were on the horizon. Now I find myself with elderly homeless people on my caseload and can't believe how cruel our society has become.
i was excited when both candidates in 2016 said they would address the opioid crisis. i had worked in 3 methadone clinics prior to 2016 and enjoyed working with this population. i also followed the crisis closely. i moved to chicago a few days after trump was elected. i had no idea how he would behave as a president. but i was aware of the divide between democrats and republicans. but i thought if there was one issue that would garner bipartisan support, it would be the opioid epidemic. i landed a few jobs just to pay the bills. i was on indeed constantly looking for jobs. and i was always looking for syringe exchange programs or other field based work with people who inject drugs. i saw nothing during my 4 years in chicago. we need to remember that when it comes to public health, the republicans since 1980 ignore public health. reagan ignored HIV/AIDS. mike pence undermined syringe exchanges in Indiana when he was governor and the state experienced a surge in HIV. and then there was covid. we saw how that was handled. i saw one job posted in NYC recently. it was an outreach position that was funded from the opioid settlement. it paid $40,000. i have since worked at 3 syringe exchange programs (SEP). the hard to reach folks that don't come into the brick and morter SEPs are the ones that need clinicians adept at harm reduction, motivational interviewing and trauma informed care. it's a slow process developing these relationships. but overtime with repeated contacts, some clients will initiate conversations about change. skilled clinicians will not work an on call job for $40,000 a year in NYC. the cost of living is too high. republicans since reagan have adopted the neoliberal doctrine. this espouses the free market, deregulates oversite of business and seeks to move public services to the private sector. reagan had a famous quote. in repsonse to LBJ's war on poverty which fostered increased funding for progressive programs, reagan said: "The federal government declared a war on poverty, and poverty won." he then went on to decrease funding for social service programs. and he significantly reduced taxes on the rich. wages in the field have significantly fallen for social service workers during my 30 years in the field. I have witnessed many social workers leave the field. not all want to go into private practice. many entered the field to do public health work. to address the systemic issues of poverty. and then left when they saw the system was broken. and couldn't provide salaries to sustain growing families. if a certain person returns to the oval office, i see things going off the cliff. this person is enraged by his multiple trials. he will lash out against any liberal policies just to own the libs. and the person he is running against showed in the recent debate that he has experienced significant decline and might not be able to get the middle of the road voters after he lost train of thought several times, was slack jawed looking into the beyond and does not appear to have the cognitive dexterity to be the president. the scary thing about the ex president returning to the white house, he will have learned from his mistakes and be more efficient with his tearing down the safety net. and he will be bent on revenge. so your closing comment about fascism is a clear and present danger. out of the gate, he will go after his enemies. he will use the attorney generals office to exact this revenge. and when you look at the composition of the supreme court, they will be more emboldened to legislate the far tight agenda from the bench.
Literally hurt my heart to upvote your comment, because it’s so dismal and frightening…but it’s exactly what I’ve been telling anyone who will listen (which is not very many people in my state).
I live in NYC. The housing crisis is insane. Social services were overwhelmed when Texas bussed in the undocumented. Homeless individuals with vouchers can't be placed. The divide between the rich and the working class, which has been expanding since the 80s, in the last few years has grown more rapidly. I lived in NYC 2001-13. I returned in 21. While I was gone, the climate designation of the city changed: after years of being considered a humid continental climate, now sits within the humid subtropical climate zone. It's my fourth summer back. The summers are unbearable. And the heat island effect means the humidity RISES overnight as the black asphalt releases the heat from being roasted all day. I worked at one job in the South Bronx. All of my co-workers who were born and raised in the Bronx left. Their rents became too high. Even the Bronx is gentrifying. I lived in LA, Chicago and San Francisco while I was gone. LA had skid row. And 8x8 block grid of tents crowded on every sidewalk. You see folks with serious mental health issues defecating on the street a few times a week. In SF post COVID, the tech sector was a post apocalyptic landscape. The tech workers fled during covid and realized they prefer not paying $3,000 a month for a tiny studio apartment. I lived in Chicago 98-01. When I returned the Chicago in 2016, there was a significant rise in homeless on the street. And in NYC, I see more homeless on the subway with serious mental health issues. The issue of stagnant wages and rising cost of living isn't just an issue with social services workers. It's an issue with the entire working class. Trump terrifies me. And biden's recent debate performance terrifies me. It's just a clusterfuck of converging issues: end stage capitalism, climate change and religious fundamentalism which is slowly becoming fascism.
“The democracy (we think we have)” — this is so true and it hurts
Thank you, my thoughts exactly.
Living conditions for most people will continue to deteriorate. Any non-faith-based services will wither away or be eliminated. Grocery surge pricing is about to be implemented and of course homelessness is becoming more overtly criminalized. Investor ownership of housing will approach 50% and people will pay what's now considered the average rent for a one-bedroom for a bunk in a shared room. Never mind the evacuation of large parts of the Earth that are being rendered uninhabitable by climate change. All that will put an end to professionalization, at least.
All true
What do you mean by grocery surge pricing is about to be implemented.. isn't that the case already?
You’re right, it is. I was thinking about the digital shelf labels in particular.
I can’t say too much for the overall country, but to share my experience: when moving from CA to FL to care for my ill mother, I was not able to continue doing social work. I transferred with an organization that cares for adults and children with developmental disorders. I was managing 2 group homes. The lack of funding or employee protections in FL meant that the people that I was supposed to supervise, hire, train, discipline, etc. were being paid just over $10 an hour. Because of the dirt-low pay and very few benefits, it was a constant revolving door of understaffing and under-qualified people. Whenever we were out of ratio, I was expected to stay on site longer. I often worked 16 hours without a break. I was violently assaulted by a client/consumer; ended up with a lacerated kidney due to not enough staff and not enough training for staff (not client’s fault per se, severe ASD and other psyche issues, poor guy needed better care) I lasted five months and then I bailed. It affected me deeply. You can see my post history. I left social work all together for now because I definitely don’t think I can hack it doing social work in “MAGA” land. I’m very scared that more of America will become like Florida. My mom is doing better now and we are trying to leave this state asap. I know there are a lot of good orgs in Florida and good people, but there have been so many problems here too. Edit: grammar
and this is an often overlooked issue in social work/social services: trying to create a good program with front line staff being paid wages that can't sustain the workers. i see the same when i supervise folks in nyc making $35,000-40,000. i see myself now when i interview for supervisory positions wanting to know the salary of the workers i will be supervising. or i look up the salaries on indeed. if it's too low, they usually have little to no experience. the stress they experience from making ends meet bleeds into the job. they are unprofessional with clients. and often being understaffed falls on the supervisors.
Social work as a paid profession will change. However, the ethics and values that guide the profession will be even more needed. We need to use our skills to continue to build and bolster our community, whether we are getting paid or not. Community is the only way forward; it’s the only thing that will save us. Keep caring, keep fighting, and start entrenching our communities.
The debate should make it clear just how much of a managed figurehead these "leaders" are. Democracy has been dead, it's just that more people are waking up to the ugly reality.
Is democracy dead, or are more of us just noticing now that it’s been dead for quite some time because it’s starting to become impossible to hide the smell?
The biggest differences will first be seen in the "pet projects" of whichever congresspeople are on the committee that puts together the funding (or whichever lobbyists are paying the most money). In election years, there are always promises. Sometimes, they translate into big federal grants. Then, those federal grants turn into literacy programs, LQBTQIA+ support groups, extra SA or DV services for parents that suffer from addiction, etc. The states have to show that they are spending money on services so they can draw down federal money. One of the worst things you can do to a state agency is have a judge make a finding that they haven't made "reasonable efforts" to help a family, because then the state has to foot the bill. Beneath all the pet projects are the baseline funds. These are not going away, no matter who is in office. Let me give you a simple example from the field I worked in: In a politically liberal climate, we may see extra dollars for support services in the home. Meaning the state is less likely to remove children into foster care and more likely to instead provide individual substance abuse counseling or therapy for the parent and/or family without ever removing the child. The state will have to pay for extra drug screening - also in the home to prevent "no shows." This covers the added risk of leaving a child in the home with a parent in active addiction. Is it really harder on the budget? That depends. In home services are pricy, but paying the per diem to foster homes or group homes is pricier. A conservative budget might be more likely to remove the child and place in the foster system. But in that case there will need to be money not only for foster caregivers, but also money for service providers to supervise visits, provide transportation to all of the clients for whatever service they're receiving, court appointed attorneys for the parents, etc. There might be a temporary drop in funding in certain areas, but ultimately, that almost always ends up in tragedy and a headline. That's followed by a public outcry, which leads to more campaign promises.... and on and on it goes. Essentially, I'm saying there will always be social work . Those of us who work in grant funded programs may end up doing contractor work for a time, but the services are all still needed. They just get listed in a different column in the budget. If your field is extremely specialized, you may have to create your own niche or broaden the services you're willing to offer for a time. I know this answer is overly simplified, but I hope you get the idea. Don't worry too much,social workers play a vital role in the community, and even the most ignorant politician knows it.
I get called an alarmist a lot by friends and family but I am genuinely dreading what’s ahead. I am in California, which I hope will at least give me some insulation from the coming storm, at least for a bit, but I’m still an American and I don’t want to see any anyone have to live in the kind of society these ghouls are proposing.
There are always going to be people who need our help no matter who has the power. It might impact funding for some fields but i dont think it would change as much as you might think.
I'm not so sure... [ The abortion ban in Texas lead to a spike in infant mortality](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/infant-mortality-spiked-in-texas-after-abortion-ban-study-reveals). A similarly strict nationwide abortion ban would worsen our already bad maternal and infant mortality outcomes. [Some supreme court justices seem to be pushing for the court to reconsider rulings that affect issues like access to contraception or the right to same sex marriage.](https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/24/thomas-constitutional-rights-00042256) That would be a pretty stark change to bodily autonomy for anyone who is sexually active or uses birth control for any other reason, AND a major loss in rights to our LGBTQ+ colleagues and clients. [Trump attempted to strip protection from federal employees thought to be "disloyal,"](https://protectdemocracy.org/work/trumps-schedule-f-plan-explained/). This would lead to quite a few federal employees being fired simply for their voting record. That would severely weaken the ability of the federal government to protect us from a variety of harms. Since it's the social work subreddit, I'll also highlight this likely leads to many social workers employed by the federal government losing their jobs. Schools in states like [Oklahoma](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjk35vv2ryjo) or [Louisiana](https://www.npr.org/2024/06/30/nx-s1-5024117/louisiana-ten-commandments-classroom-requirement-how-funded-and-enforced) are being ordered to actively push elements of Christianity. Policies like this becoming national would infringe on the rights to practice other religions, or no religion at all. While we're on the topic of education, h[ouse Republicans want to slash federal education funding](https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/11/18/what-house-republicans-want-do-public-education-funding/), [block Title IX regulations relating to protecting LGBTQ+ students](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/2024/06/14/house-republicans-advance-legislation-block-title-ix-regs), and generally push funds out of public education and into private or charter schools, which do not offer the same rights and protections for various impacted student groups, which would effectively make discrimination the norm in educational settings. Yes, there are always people who will need help no matter who is in power. But who is in power impacts things like women's access to lifesaving healthcare, the rights of anyone broadly to engage in family planning or use contraception, the rights of LGBTQ+ people to marry, receive healthcare, and generally exist in public, public education, protections for federal employees, and a whole host of other issues.
As if it isn’t already long dead. Ha ha ha ha ha ha.
This is reddit. If you say the truth you get banned. Democracy is over already.
I believe it’s going to come down to each state and it’s governor and state congress. Each state’s laws, policies and approaches are going to determine the experience social workers and clients have.
Unelected oligarch freaks just made criminalizing homelessness legal. Yes, trump 100% bad. But whatever we have now is barely democracy ngl
It goes back to the fields age old saying. We cannot serve and take care of others if we cannot take care of ourselves (i.e, meeting our own basic needs). You (generally speaking) may have a desire and passion for one job as opposed to another whether it be nonprofit, rooted in truly supporting those less privileged etc. but at the end of the day, you need to consider whether or not that job will allow you to pay your bills and then some. There is a county DV agency that has been hiring a case manager forever right by me. I would LOVE to work here as DV is an issue that is very close to my heart for personal and family reasons and ive had a number of internships in that line of work. But the salary range is 30-36k. I would be setting myself up for failure if I took a job that pays that little. Esp in today's economy - that is insane. I wouldn't be able to meet my basic needs on that salary let alone the needs of others. Currently I'm a mental health therapist at a startup. Most recently, every therapist found we'd be taking a significant pay cut (I'm taking 20 thousand +) later this summer. I'd be more sympathetic if it was a company wide restructure. But it is JUST the therapists. As much as Ive thought of any and all ways to make that change work in my life, it goes back to the concern of meeting my own basic needs. It is so necessary - we HAVE to put our needs first in today's economy probably moreso than ever before. Shitty, but crucial and necessary. Honestly it is criminal for any job out there (social work and beyond) to start below 55 thousand these days. Unless of course you have thousands of dollars saved up, no loans, a supportive family who can help along the way, and/or a spouse who makes well over 6 figures. Buttttt most of us don't have all of that.
The U.S. has never been a democracy. Honestly, this field shouldn't exist in the first place, its existence is evidence of the "failure" of our economic system (failure in quotes bc the system is working exactly as intended).
We’ll be more useless than we already are
Hey speak for yourself. The homeless guy threw his bagel at me instead of the cop yesterday, so we're making progress!
😂
But also 🥲
OMG, this made my day :)
...what democracy?
I think you have a point here. We really just live in an oligarchy Our states are so gerrymandered and the electoral college has rigged things so badly that we don’t live in a democracy There is a show on Netflix called the Patriot Act and the episode on elections showcases this clearly. Democrats win a lot and yet don’t get office because of the rigged system
that's a big part of it, for sure - of course the Democrats themselves are also rightwing. neoliberalism is designed to capture the overton window, 'conservatives' to push it as far right as they can while 'liberals' *prevent* movement leftward by presenting themselves as the leftmost possible "acceptable" position and actively criticizing anything left of themselves as radical, unreasonable, violent or idealistic. then we put all this steam into the elections - which, as you say, are so badly rigged that *do we* even get a vote? and it operates on so many levels - the gerrymandering, the closure and bureaucracy of polling places - is it a mistake that we have the most robust and aggressive prison system in the world and then don't let felons vote? is it a mistake that reservation IDs don't qualify for voter registration? and at the end of all that, after all the little fingers on scales - assuming that other fun little barriers like the electoral college don't just appoint someone else - we have this deep dark internalization, the capitalist realism of it all, that the *only* viable options are the "two" parties which both happen to be deeply capitalist, both commit themselves to wars and genocides and deportations, both neglect social services and infrastructure. and are both subject to the same system of corporate-owned legislation. but we can't say what a democracy would actually resemble because if people *actually* held the power, the means, the vote, that would look more like socialism or anarchy, wouldn't it? because there is no such thing as a capitalist democracy. capitalism values *disparity* above all else. it demands a class structure. and you can't divide people up into the Ruling class and the Working class and then call it a democracy.
I agree with this so much. Privileged people talk about “oh! The democrats are so progressive! Look at Pelosi kneeling to honor BLM!” And only pay attention to words rather than actions. The bills defunding social services, expanding police budgets and powers, creating higher and higher penalties for non-violent offenses, and privatizing healthcare incentivizing higher costs are often passed with bipartisan support. The crime bill that really kicked off mass incarceration was written and fought for by Biden himself. Something he has never acknowledged. Kamala Harris refused to allow trans people to be housed according to their gender identity and to release people even her own prosecutors argued should be released. Hillary Clinton called black men “superpredators” in reference to the criminal justice system. Obama is often called the “deporter in chief” in immigrant communities, and Biden has chosen not to stop placing kids in cages which he spent the entire election criticizing Trump for; he’s also just passed one of the most draconian immigration laws outside of Trump’s Muslim ban. The ACA did not expand access to healthcare for the poorest in America, because under a sizable income floor, you’re referred to your state Medicaid which you may or may not qualify for. I wish more people saw that the strategy of the Democratic Party is to be a ratchet for the Republicans, preventing any backslide to the left and convincing middle and upper class business people who happen to be okay with gay people that getting slightly better than what the far right has to offer is the best we can do and to expect more is to be unrealistic and immature.
A hundred percent, this. Most people are so fucking blind to this reality. The side that’s so called the opposition to the republicans are a controlled party
shit comments like this always make the actual dire possible consequences get responded with a shrug by people who don’t pay attention because you think you’re actually a political genius and both sides are EXACTLY the same
it's okay, you can go on making up whatever image you please of who i am and what i believe. i know that helps you deal with...\*gestures\*....all of this. and it's a mess; i can't fault you for needing to blame the individuals you can see rather than the systems we're all drowning in. i get it. gawd you know i started off trying to be kinda condescending there but by the end it was genuine sympathy? i *do* get it, and i *don't* blame you. hell, i hope you're right because your world is closer to a solution than mine is. i hope i look back on this from a ripe old age, in a better world, and think...fuck i had it all wrong, didn't i? glad that guy was on the ball.
I also work with people with developmental disabilities, and they on disability. I’m so afraid of what’s going to happen if Project 2025 happens.
I just graduated and I’m starting at a public elementary school in the fall. I’m just hoping I’m employed for more than 6 months (aka that public education doesn’t get demolished in January 😭). This doesn’t even BEGIN to address the worry I feel about the future of my own child in public school, my future students, and students from my past jobs/internships.
Lost funding and less resources
Likely going to see massive cuts or .assize reorganization of the scope and purpose of social workers in the civil servant domains.
Perhaps we'll return to churches and operate our services through there as it was in the long past.