POLICY
Advances in the Grand Challenges have come not only from educating students, social work
practitioners, and our interdisciplinary colleagues, but by working toward policy changes at the
local, state, and national levels. There has been a variety of activity on the policy front over
the last five years, including:
• The annual Social Work Day on the Hill brings
together students and practitioners to Washington,
DC, to discuss current social work-related policy
issues and learn skills to become better advocates.
The GCSW has also co-sponsored several
legislative briefings.
• Members of the Grand Challenge to Build Financial
Capability and Assets for All are leading a
statewide policy experiment testing universal child
development accounts (CDA), and findings have
informed design and implementation of CDA policies
in several states.
• In advance of the 2020 election, the Grand Challenge
to End Homelessness released a comprehensive
policy brief to educate state and federal officials on
the issue.
• Members of Grand Challenges networks have
contributed to several reports from the National
Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and
Medicine (NASEM).
• Members of the Grand Challenge to Ensure Healthy
Development for Youth have participated in
creating the Colorado Statewide Strategic Plan for
Primary Prevention, and have worked to promote
the infrastructure necessary to increase the use
of tested and effective preventive interventions in
Colorado, Utah, Massachusetts, and Delaware.
• Research by members of the Grand Challenge to
Promote Smart Decarceration contributed to
passage of the First Step Act (2018) prison reform bill.
• Members of our networks have provided
congressional testimony related to several of
the Grand Challenges.
COVID-19 AND THE
GRAND CHALLENGES
The coronavirus pandemic raging in the United
States - and the world - reminds us that
there has never been a time when the Grand
Challenges' commitment to "social progress
powered by science" was truer. Similarly, the
message of the Grand Challenges that the
"social is fundamental" is clearly paramount as
we address this crisis. As we engage in fighting
the pandemic, we also hope to prevent
"social distancing" from counteracting the
importance of our profession's commitment
to social integration, social science, and
social justice as we attempt to mend the fault
lines in our society that this virus is cracking
open. Visit the Grand Challenges for Social
Work website for COVID-19 related resources
we hope will help social workers and others
during this time.