Social Workers: Uplift. Defend. Transform.

The 2026 Social Work Month theme honors the prime mission of the Social Work profession – to enhance human well-being, meet the basic human needs of all people, and put special attention on the needs and empowerment of people are vulnerable, oppressed and living in poverty.

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. That is because our nation is experiencing a period of deep cultural, political, and economic divide.

Social safety net programs such as Medicare and Medicaid face budget cuts. Voting rights are being rolled back in several states. Discrimination against certain populations, including transgender people and people of color, is on the rise. And our nation continues to face a mental health crisis, with suicide rates rising 36 percent between 2000 and 2022.

Social Workers are on the front lines, helping individuals and communities so they can overcome personal and societal challenges and even thrive. Social Workers are also adept at bringing people and communities together – no matter their political affiliation – so they can find common ground and work to improve the welfare of all.

There are more than 810,000 Social Workers in the United States and it is one of the fastest growing professions in the United States, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Social Workers are in all areas of our society – with veterans, in schools, in social service and child welfare agencies, in adoption and foster care, in mental health care and health care, and in local, state, and federal government to name a few.