Hill Briefing Explores Social Worker Safety Issues

Bill Introduced by Rep. Dennis Moore Seeks Additional Safety Measures in all States

Washington, DC -- New legislation in the House Committee on Education and Labor seeks to make the jobs of social workers and caseworkers much safer.  A bill introduced this May by Rep. Dennis Moore (D-Kansas) is named after a social work case manager who was brutally killed during a routine in-home visit with one of her mental health clients in Johnson County, Kansas, in 2004. The Teri Zenner Social Worker Safety Act, H.R. 2165, aims to establish a grant program to provide additional safety measures to protect social workers and other professionals who work with at-risk populations.

Provisions of the proposed bill will be discussed at a Hill briefing on Monday, July 16, from 3:00-4:00, at 122 Cannon House Office Building.  Speakers include U.S. Representative Dennis Moore; U.S. Representative Ted Poe, Dr. Elizabeth Clark, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers; Mr. Matt Zenner, husband of murdered social worker Teri Zenner; and Dr. Molly Davis, associate professor and director of BSW field education at George Mason University.

A disturbing trend of violence against social workers and other human service professionals was mentioned in a letter sent to legislators by the bill's sponsors. In April 2005, a woman in Texas fired a shotgun at two social workers visiting her home. In March 2006, The New York Times reported that Sally Blackwell, a social worker, was found dead in a field just outside of Austin, Texas. Throughout the investigation, her family said that threats were a daily part of Sally's life as a social worker investigating accusations of child abuse and neglect with the power to remove children from their homes.

Two surveys conducted by the National Association of Social Workers in the last few years have found that job-related violence and the threat of such violence are common. In a 2002 survey, among 800 social workers, 19 percent had been victims of violence, and 63 percent had been threatened. In a 2006 national study of the licensed social work labor force, 44% of 5,000 respondents said that they face personal safety issues in their primary employment practice.  

The current bill, H.R. 2165, would establish a grant program to provide for safety measures such as GPS equipment, self-defense training, conflict prevention, facility safety and more. It would also help with educational resources and materials to train staff on safety and awareness measures. The bill calls for Congress to authorize $5 million per year for the next five years and require states to provide 50 percent matching funds.

In practice areas such as child welfare, the risk of violence is increased.  The death of Kentucky social services aide Boni Frederick last fall captured national headlines and has since resulted in state legislation to improve employee safety precautions.  A study by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees found that 70 percent of front-line child welfare workers had been victims of violence or threats in the line of duty. A review of the 585 exit interviews found that 90 percent of former child welfare workers experienced verbal threats, 30 percent experienced physical attacks, and 13 percent had been threatened with weapons.

States such as California, New Jersey, Washington and Kentucky have all adopted safety guidelines for social workers and caseworkers to follow in an effort to reduce the incidence of job-related violence, but additional resources are needed to ensure that all such tragedies are prevented.

To date, the bill has 101 co-sponsors, including several social worker Members of Congress: Rep. Barbara Lee and Rep. Susan Davis from California, Rep. Allyson Schwartz from Pennsylvania, Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones of Ohio, Rep. Ciro Rodriguez of Texas, and Rep. Carol Shea-Porter from New Hampshire.