Describing the National Social Work Data Sources
Investigators: Brianna Lombardi, PhD, MSW, Lisa de Saxe Zerden, PhD, MSW, and Erin Fraher, PhD, MPP
Rapid growth of social work degree programs, along with a diverse array of social work practice areas makes it is difficult to describe and count the social work profession. This project examines the data sources that could be used to enumerate the overall number of social workers in the United States and compares the ability of these data sources to identify social workers engaged in direct clinical behavioral health services. All available data sources have strengths and limitations that should be detailed when used in studies to allow stakeholders to understand the direction and magnitude to which the data may under or overestimate social worker supply.
- Lombardi BM, Zerden LD, Fraher EP. 2024 June 12. Varying estimates of social workers in the United States: Which Data Source to Use? Medical Care Research & Review.
- Lombardi BM, Fraher E. 2022 June 17. Describing the National Social Work Data Sources. Rapid Response Brief. Carolina Health Workforce Research Center, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, UNC-CH.