{"id":210274,"date":"2024-02-28T10:16:37","date_gmt":"2024-02-28T15:16:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=210274"},"modified":"2024-03-18T14:35:42","modified_gmt":"2024-03-18T18:35:42","slug":"uconns-campaign-school-for-social-workers-challenges-everyone-affected-by-politics-to-get-involved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2024\/02\/uconns-campaign-school-for-social-workers-challenges-everyone-affected-by-politics-to-get-involved\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn\u2019s Campaign School for Social Workers Challenges Everyone Affected by Politics to Get Involved"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cConsider yourself asked\u201d is the tagline and central message of the Campaign School for Social Workers, held this year on February 23 and 24 in Hartford. For two days every year, the Campaign School brings together students, social workers, faculty, and advocates with the goal of inviting them to engage in politics and campaigns as volunteers, advocates, and candidates.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolitics can feel like an insiders\u2019 game, so we work to give attendees the knowledge, skills, and confidence to participate. We want them to know they belong, and they are qualified to run for office,\u201d says Tanya Rhodes Smith, director of The Nancy A. Humphreys Institute for Political Social Work at the UConn School of Social Work (SSW).<\/p>\n

In a presidential election year like this one, national politics dominate the news and social media. But decisions that are made at the state and local level have just as much impact\u2014if not more\u2014on the daily lives of citizens. \u201cMany issues like clean water, education, economic development, policing and safety, environmental policy, and zoning are decided at the local level,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cHealthy democracies foster healthy people. When more people participate in civic life through voting and political engagement, there are significant benefits to communities and individuals, including better outcomes in areas like employment, education, and health,\u201d Rhodes Smith says. Through her work as Humphreys Institute director and an instructor in residence at UConn SSW, she examines voting as a social determinant of health, collaborates on research related to political participation and efficacy, and leads programs like the Campaign School for Social Workers that work to bring more people into civic life.<\/p>\n

What started as a small training in 1996 now brings together more than 120 students, social workers, and faculty from across the country as well as internationally. According to Rhodes Smith, more than a dozen schools, including Stonybrook University, Howard University, Michigan State University, the University of Tennessee, the University of Houston, and the University of Dusseldorf in Germany, send cohorts of students every year. This year, attendees represented 16 states and 25 colleges and universities. The Campaign School also welcomed UConn students, including from UConn\u2019s Leadership Legacy Experience<\/a> program, the School of Public Policy, and the new Civic Leadership Program through UConn\u2019s Office of Engagement.<\/p>\n

Political Social Work<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Humphreys Institute was founded in 1995 to increase the political participation and power of social workers, as well as the communities they serve. This vision of Nancy A. Humphreys, a former dean at UConn SSW, is a driving force behind the Campaign School, which is in its 28th<\/sup> year. At this year\u2019s event, UConn SSW Dean Laura Curran welcomed participants and acknowledged the lasting legacy of Humphreys.<\/p>\n

\"Panelists
Katrina Huff-Larmond, MSW, City Council member in Randolph, Massachusetts; Bianca Shinn, MS, MPH, League of Women State Board Member; former Bridgeport mayoral candidate Lamond Daniels, LCSW; and Ayesha Clarke \u201906 (CLAS) \u201918 MSW, executive director of Health Equity Solutions (Lianne Gumtang\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In her opening remarks, Rhodes Smith highlighted that social work was founded as a political profession. The first woman elected to Congress, Jeanette Rankin, the first female Cabinet Secretary, Frances Perkins, and the longest serving female Senator, Barbara Mikulski were all social workers. \u201cSocial work in Connecticut is different than in most other states,\u201d said Rhodes Smith. \u201cWhen we walk into our state Capitol, it\u2019s social workers we see throughout the building. We have eight elected social workers in the state legislature, which is the highest of any other state, and many more who serve on school boards, city councils and other offices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Day One of Campaign School 2024 focused on the nuts and bolts of electoral campaigns, including messaging, fundraising, and networking.\u00a0 \u201cThe skills you will learn today apply to any leadership practice,\u201d said Kate Coyne-McCoy, a lead trainer on Friday. Coyne-McCoy is a social worker who has trained more than 9,000 individuals to run for elected office, is a former candidate for Congress, and leader of the Harvard Kennedy School\u2019s From Harvard Square to the White House Program.<\/p>\n

Throughout the two days, the Campaign School brought together elected officials and former candidates for important conversations about what it\u2019s really like to work on a campaign, serve in office, and navigate barriers as people of color or other historically marginalized individuals. Rhodes Smith pointed out that nearly every one of the panelists is a social worker: \u201cThe Campaign School is taught through the lens of social work\u2019s professional values and Code of Ethics. This rises above party politics. We work to show them how their professional and personal values can help them navigate in a system that will challenge them every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connecticut State Rep. Anne Hughes, D-135th District (Easton, Redding, Weston), and Franklin Perry II, chief of staff for the Connecticut House Democrats, joined Coyne-McCoy to tackle the question, \u201cWhat\u2019s it really like on a campaign?\u201d Perry, who is a social worker and lawyer, said \u201c\u2026a social work degree is a degree that touches every single industry and that ranges from health care to education to government to the law.\u201d He shared a riveting story about how his longtime friend and colleague, Speaker of the House Matt Ritter, D-1st District (Hartford), won his first race by just two votes.<\/p>\n

During the panel Hughes recalled how she first got into politics after 2016. \u201cWe\u2019re social workers,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re comfortable knocking on people\u2019s doors.\u201d Despite being a first-time campaigner, she flipped a seat in her district and has held office ever since.<\/p>\n

Social Work and Democracy<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Day Two, State Rep. Kai Belton, MSW, D-100th District (Middletown); New York Duchess County legislators Cristin McCarthy-Vahey, MSW, and Barrington Atkins, MSW; and Bethany Board of Education member Shannon Lane ’09 Ph.D., joined a morning panel called \u201cInside the Studio.\u201d The panelists shared how they use their professional identities, training, values, and ethics to shape their agendas and lead. That discussion was moderated by MSW student Emmy Franklin and Bridgeport Board of Education member Jennifer Perez, who attended the Campaign School last year.<\/p>\n

Another theme of the Campaign School is the importance of representation in politics. \u201cDemocracy reflects the priorities of those who participate, so it matters who votes, who is elected to office, who shapes policy, and who is counted,\u201d says Rhodes Smith.<\/p>\n

\"All
The attendees of this year’s Campaign School (Lianne Gumtang\/UConn Photo).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Social workers are trained to look around to see who is missing from circles of power. Rhodes Smith points out that one of the most important and powerful discussions, \u201cRepresentation is Power,\u201d centered those voices and their experiences. Ayesha Clarke ’06 (CLAS) ’18 MSW, executive director of Health Equity Solutions, moderated the discussion with League of Women State Board Member Bianca Shinn, MS, MPH; former Bridgeport mayoral candidate Lamond Daniels, LCSW; and Katrina Huff-Larmond, MSW, City Council member in Randolph, Massachusetts, about how they navigate issues of racism and difference in politics, and how social workers can build and support a more representative, inclusive and responsive democracy.<\/p>\n

These issues could not be more important this election year. The growth and impact of the Campaign School \u2013 with more than 2,600 alumni from across the country and globe \u2013 are evident in the increasing number of Campaign School veterans who have gone on to serve as elected officials, leaders, advocates, and organizers.<\/p>\n

“Social workers are beautifully interwoven within the fabric of society in ways I had never considered. The Campaign School represented a chance for me to continue to explore my social work identity, commitment to social justice, and belief in being a change agent \u2013 now within the political arena,” said Yvonne Mbewe, LCSW, a Ph.D. student at UConn SSW and a Civic Leadership Program participant.<\/p>\n

To date, more than 15 schools of social work and chapters of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) have brought the Campaign School for Social Workers to their universities, including The Ohio State University and University of North Carolina Wilmington. There are two more Campaign Schools planned for March, one hosted by the University of Tennessee and another hosted by a consortium of 11 schools and the National Association of Social Workers (NASW)-PA in the Philadelphia area.<\/p>\n

The event was supported by Fairfield County’s Community Foundation Fund for Women and Girls, the Connecticut Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, and Jo Nol.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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