When Anika Montgomery, a social work sophomore, first enrolled at ASU, she knew she wanted to dedicate her career to the service of others, but she didn't know she was only one of few taking the same path.
According to a recent study by the National Association of Social Workers, there is a sweeping shortage of licensed social workers across the country and Arizona is among the states in significant need, with only 24 to 45 licensed professionals per 100,000 residents.
Montgomery said the shortage of social workers in Arizona is very drastic, causing the existing workers to become swamped with work.
"I have friends who work in Child Protective Services and they always overwork," Montgomery said.
"We need individuals to step up and make a change in the social work field," she added.
Leah Hardesty, an ASU spokeswoman, said the School of Social Work is trying to attract more students to the program.
"Despite the steady rise of students pursuing a social work degree," Hardesty said, "we still need to educate the general public about this crucial need for more dedicated and passionate individuals to serve as ambassadors of social welfare."
Mary Gillmore, director of the School of Social Work at ASU Downtown, said the need for social work professionals is increasing across the country, but the lack of social workers in Arizona is critical.
Gillmore said that Arizona's Hispanic population is especially vulnerable due to the lack of social workers in the state.
"Arizona has one of the largest Latino populations in the country, but its social workforce is inadequate," she said.
"In the fall semester of 2005, for example, we had 507 social work students beginning their graduate studies, but only 14 percent of them were Latinos," she added.
Gillmore also said that because Maricopa County is growing substantially, the need for social workers tends to further increase.
According to Gillmore, the School of Social Work is taking several initiatives to provide its students with better competence to deal with Latino populations dispersed across the state.
Gilmore said the school is currently offering a Spanish course to help bilingual students refine their technical communication skills along with a graduate certification program in Latino studies.
Reach the reporter at amanda.soares@asu.edu
