Social Workers Have a Head for Business
Profession's Skills Are Useful for Entrepreneurs
Social work business owners still identify with the profession.
By Lyn Stoesen, News Staff
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| Illustration: John Michael
Yanson |
It's no secret to anyone who has earned a social work degree
that it is a versatile and practical professional tool. A social
work education provides a theoretical framework and a set of real-world
skills that gives social workers the flexibility to work in a
wide range of settings with confidence and proficiency.
One professional realm that social workers are well-prepared
for is business. Many social workers who run their own businesses
are in private practice. In addition to private practice in mental
health, however, many social workers also use their professional
skills for other business ventures. Many have launched businesses
after years of professional practice; some also prepare themselves
through business and management degrees.
The NASW Center for Workforce Studies conducted a benchmark survey
of licensed social workers in 2004. That survey showed that among
active licensed social workers, about 17 percent work in private
practice, with 80 percent of those working in the area of mental
health.
Opening a mental health private practice isn't done overnight.
Social workers opening a practice must consider malpractice insurance
coverage, tax I.D. numbers, fees, whether or not to incorporate
their practice, and office space and management. They must also
determine how to build and grow their business through referrals
or advertising, what kind of insurance coverage to accept and
whether to become a Medicare or managed-care provider. Finally,
they must be familiar with licensing regulations and laws, which
may vary from one state to another.
These kinds of issues are also part of other business ventures.
One social worker who launched a successful business is Phyllis
Brostoff, who founded Stowell Associates Select Staff, Inc., with
social worker Valerie Stefanich. The company is based in Milwaukee
and provides private geriatric care management and elder care
services.
Brostoff had earned her MSW in 1970 and had begun specializing
in aging issues. After working on a national Medicaid waiver demonstration
project, she realized that even people who were not Medicaid eligible
needed assistance navigating the service system. She partnered
with Stefanich, who had been developing a therapy practice focused
on the elderly, and Stowell Associates opened in 1983.
"We didn't have a client," Brostoff recalled. "We
had to go and convince people that they should pay us. The idea
of paying money out-of-pocket [for geriatric care management]
— with no insurance or no subsidy from charity — was a shocking
idea.
"We explained that we are professionals," Brostoff
said. "Like you pay for an accountant or a lawyer when you
have a specialized problem, this is what we get paid for."
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From February 2008 NASW News. © 2008 National
Association of Social Workers. All Rights Reserved. NASW News
articles may be copied for personal use, but proper notice of
copyright and credit to the NASW News must appear on all copies
made. This permission does not apply to reproduction for advertising,
promotion, resale, or other commercial purposes.
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