The National Association of Social Workers is the professional organization for social workers across the country. The New York chapter (NASW-NY) is responsible for advocating for the nearly 62,000 licensed social workers in the state as well as their clients. NASW-NY strongly supports Senate and Assembly bill (S9125/A10094), also known as the licensure incentives and fee-support for testing (LIFT) act.  

Social workers are vital in the mental health, health, and community pipeline. However, social workers across all demographics assert that salaries are low and not comparable to the work and skill set required to serve clients and program users. One of the core issues of low salaries for master-level social workers is grounded in compensation for the scope of practice. As the skill level of social workers increase, our research has shown that salaries stay stagnant. Furthermore, there are stark differences in salaries when comparing White social workers and social workers of Color. In the 2022 Social Work Salary Analysis Report, conducted by the former NASW-NYS, it was found that within individuals in the higher earning range of $60,000 to $70,000 a year, 16.3% identified as white, 6% identified as people of color, and 3.8% identified as Hispanic. 

The LIFT Act seeks to reduce financial barriers to attain licensure by establishing a voucher program to assist low-income individuals with the costs associated with the Licensed Master Social Work (LMSW) and the Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) examinations. MSW students are accruing at least $60,000 in debt and are required to complete a minimum of 900 hours of unpaid practicum/internship. There is a significant social work shortage and that is not because the profession is not ready to do their job, but because financial instability and an unsupportive road to licensure has driven them from pursuing this career to their fullest potential.