March is National Social Work Month, and we are proud to celebrate the vital role social workers play across the Mailman Center and the broader University of Miami community. This year’s theme is Social Work: Uplift. Defend. Transform. and it reflects the profession’s mission to enhance human well-being, meet the basic human needs of all people, and put special attention on the needs and the empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty.
Social workers provide clinical and psychosocial services to children, young adults, and families. These essential services include case management, counseling, crisis intervention, and long-term support. As key members of interdisciplinary teams, they work on the front lines to strengthen families, protect rights, and improve community well-being. Margaux Herrera, a LEND graduate who practices social work privately, states, "It is a privilege to be able to assist adults with disabilities in achieving autonomy in whichever ways sense for them. I could not imagine more impactful work."
Social work is embedded in numerous clinics and programs across the Mailman Center, including 18 professionals at the following locations:
o Special Immunology and Infectious Diseases Clinic
o Social Work Care Clinic
o Family Navigator Program
o Familias Unidas Program
o PATH Clinic (Progression Across Transition in Healthcare)
o Linda Ray Intervention Center
o School Health Initiative
o Children’s Hearing Program (UHealth Ear Institute)
o Pediatrics Genetics Clinic
o CARD (Center for Autism & Related Disabilities)
Social workers are trained in a strength-based perspective instead of a pathology focus and use the person-in-environment framework. Shelly Baer, a social worker in the PATH clinic, feels gratified when a family member expressed: “Finally, a clinic where my adult child with ID/DD is fully seen. I have been searching for a clinic like this for a long time.” Social workers think outside the box, are creative problem-solvers, and empower their clients to discover their own internal strengths and resources. Self-determination is a core value of social work.
Sophia Torres, a social worker in the Children’s Hearing Program, reports, “We are like a bridge between the physician and the patient; we develop a rapport and connection with the patient and their family and often have more time to develop a relationship.” In addition to serving as a bridge, the social worker often creates a safe space for the family and provides a warm handoff to other members of the interdisciplinary team. Vivian Arnold-Garica, a former SW LEND trainee who now works at Hebrew Home of Greater Washington, stated: “It is an honor to work collaboratively with a client, their family, and interdisciplinary team in the interest of bringing meaningful change one family at a time.”
Social work is the fastest-growing mental health profession. The ability of social workers to uplift, defend, and positively transform the millions of people they work with each day is needed now more than ever. The work is challenging yet rewarding, and both the Mailman Center and the broader UM community value and witness the profession's impact on our families.
“Given the importance of social and economic drivers of health, social workers are critical partners both in the clinic and at the policy table,” says Dr. Jeff Brosco, Senior Advisor, Mailman Center for Child Development.
This month, we recognize and thank our social workers for their compassion, expertise, and unwavering commitment to the families and communities we serve.
