Presented by the Barnard Center for Research on Women

Mandated reporting to supporting

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) code of ethics' primary mission is to ensure that social workers: "Enhance human well-being and help meet the basic needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty." Yet, the profession's mandated reporting practices, rooted in a history of anti-Black racism and influenced by racial biases, leads to unnecessary investigations of many Black, Indigenous, Latine, and poor families, and creates a culture of fear for both families and social workers. Mandated Supporting is a framework that shifts our profession away from positions of surveillance and fear to that of agency and humanity; moves our profession away from responding with punitive measures to reflecting the true responsibility of social workers as supporters to the families and communities we serve. ⁠