"Join more than 2,000 social workers, like-minded professionals, and social work thought leaders at NASW’s 2024 National Conference. Take advantage of unparalleled opportunities in professional development, continuing education, and networking. Engage in thought-provoking conversations tackling the most pressing issues facing the social work profession across the world.

Experience the latest education and insights from leaders in the social work field
Earn CE Credit toward licensure
Engage with peers in the profession
Explore cutting-edge products, programs, and services in the Exhibit Hall

Review the Conference program and registration costs here!

Upcoming Events

An Activist Training Program: Voter Registration
Presented by the League of Women Voters of New Jersey
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
6:00 - 7:30pm
**Virtual**

"The first step towards increasing voter turnout is registering voters. Join this training to learn the ins and outs of setting up voter registration events, best practices for capturing data for GOTV follow-up, and the most common questions that new voters will have for you. "

Click here to register!

Compensating Care: How U.S. Policy Can Support Unpaid Family Caregivers
Presented by the Center for the Study of Social Policy, Global Women’s Strike, and Women of Color/GWS
Thursday, May 2, 2024
2:00 - 3:00pm
**Virtual**

"Today, 53 million people provide uncompensated care for a person with disabilities or older adult, and unpaid caregiving of young children, especially by mothers and other family members, is ubiquitous. But many who do this essential work experience severe economic hardship and insecurity because policymakers have ignored or failed to support caregivers.

"This webinar...will bring together grassroots campaigners, policy analysts, and caregivers to discuss the policy options for compensating caregivers to ensure their essential labor is respected and rewarded.

"For more information about how policy can compensate care see the Center for the Study of Social Policy’s March 2024 report, Strategies to Compensate Unpaid Caregivers: A Policy Scan "

Click here to register!

Demand Rutgers Social Work Students are Paid for their Labor!!

Sign the Petition!!
To learn more, follow the Rutgers Payment4Placements chapter and the Payment4Placements movement on Instagram: @rutgersp4p @p4pnational

National Updates

How Immigrants and Their U.S.-Born Children Fit into the Future U.S. Labor Market
The Migration Policy Institute (report)
“[The report] notes that the country’s 47.6 million workers who are immigrants or the U.S.-born children of immigrants already play a vital role in meeting U.S. workforce needs, with large numbers well positioned to meet future demand. Immigrant-origin workers accounted for 29 percent of the overall U.S. workforce in 2023, up from 19 percent in 2000. With U.S. birthrates falling, immigrants and their U.S. born children accounted for the entire growth of the prime working-age (25-54) population between 2000 and 2023—a population that otherwise would have shrunk by more than 8 million people.”

The FTC votes to ban employment noncompete agreements
Axios
“The Federal Trade Commission voted 3-2 on Tuesday to ban noncompete agreements, which prevent workers from taking positions with competitors for a period of time after they leave a job. The ban could be a win for workers, particularly at the low end of the income scale.”

Biden pardons 11 people and shortens the sentences of 5 others convicted of non-violent drug crimes
The Associated Press
“Biden said in a statement Wednesday that April is Second Chance Month and that many of the individuals getting clemency had received “disproportionately longer” sentences than they would have under current law…An Associated Press analysis of Justice Department data shows that Biden has granted 129 commutations, more than any predecessor in their first term, dating to Richard Nixon. Nixon issued the most pardons at 691.”

New Legislation Would Expand Access to Disaster Relief, Provide Help With Titles for Large Number of Black Landowners
ProPublica
“Federal lawmakers introduced a legislative package on Tuesday that would expand heirs’ property owners’ access to disaster relief and provide assistance in clearing titles. Heirs’ property refers to land that has been passed down informally within families; without clear titles, owners can be ineligible for government aid and their land vulnerable to forced sales.”

Local & Regional Updates

We need a deeper conversation about drug prices
NJ Spotlight News (Op-Ed)
“No one should struggle to pay for the medications they need to preserve their health. That is why we should pursue proven policies that work, such as requiring PBMs to pass drug rebate savings on to patients in lower out-of-pocket costs and reducing patient cost-sharing for prescription medicines, not ones that sound good in a political ad but won’t make a difference for patients and risk serious harm to jobs and the economy.”

From Oregon to N.J., policymakers’ genius plan to solve homelessness is to say, ‘Go somewhere else’
New Jersey Monitor (commentary)
“No doubt there are places in New Jersey, like Grants Pass, Oregon, that see a lot of homelessness. Newark and Paterson had the most unhoused people by far in their respective counties last year, per an annual count. But does anyone running these cities think passing laws that bar them from living in tents or limit how much people can give them will do anything to make a homeless person not homeless?”

Pa., N.J. to receive millions for solar energy projects that will benefit residents with low income
WHYY/NPR
“Households with low income in PA, NJ and Delaware will get more access to solar power in the coming years. That’s the promise of the Biden administration’s Solar for All grants, announced Monday to mark Earth Day.”

NJ’s literacy challenge by the numbers
NJ Spotlight News
“Fewer than half of New Jersey’s third graders scored what is essentially a passing grade on the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment (NJSLA) English Language Arts (ELA) test last spring. That’s roughly the same as in the spring of 2022 and remains lower than the pre-COVID-19 results. The tests were not given in 2020 or 2021 due to the disruptions of the pandemic.”

Documentary (by RU Students!)

A Narrative on Camden's Resiliency: The Unspoken Housing and Environmental Issue
On April 22, the Student Housing & Environmental Advocacy Group (SHEAG) at Rutgers—Camden released a film titled "A Narrative on Camden's Resiliency: The Unspoken Housing and Environmental Issue."

According to SHEAG: "Camden is a city in southern New Jersey characterized by its troubled history of industrialization and disinvestment. Today, its minority population faces many challenges, two of the most prominent being housing and environmental conditions. [The documentary] amplifies the voices of Camden residents and affiliates as they share their experiences with housing and environmental conditions within the city. The documentary gives context to the history of Camden, explores personal narratives, and integrates the future aspirations of the city as shared by its residents."

The screening of the documentary was covered by local NPR station, WHYY:

"The documentary features interviews with multiple members of the Camden community, including prominent environmental and social justice advocates Roy L. Jones, executive director of National Institute for Healthy Human Spaces and Kevin Barfield, former president of Camden County’s NAACP...Camden’s residents are also affected on an economic level by the city’s legacy of pollution. Johnson, the Rutgers’ alum featured in the film, noted that the prevalence of brownfields and Superfund sites, properties with various levels of contamination by toxic substances, inhibits investment once potential developers learn how expensive it would be to clean up the land."

Watch the documentary by clicking here.

Social Policy Network Newsletter: April 26

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