Legislative Casework: Where Policy and Practice Intersect

Authors

Larry Ortiz, University of Maryland
Cindy Wirz, Director of Constituent Services - San Antonio, TX
Kelli Semion
Ciro Rodriguez, Congressman - San Antonio, TX

Keywords

Congress, casework, policy practice, community work, politics

Abstract

Legislative casework is an ongoing activity in many state and federal legislative offices. Although the activity carries the implication of being a social work activity, there is little evidence from the literature, or in the field, that social workers are more than marginally employed in these positions. Reasons for the lack of professionally educated social workers in this important area of practice and politics are not clear. This paper explores the field of practice known as legislative casework, its history and purpose, and presents generalist social work examples from a Congressional district office wherein which professional social workers are employed. In conclusion the authors encourage social work presence in legislative casework and suggest increased attention to this field of practice in social work education at both the BSW and MSW levels

Recommended Citation

Ortiz, Larry; Wirz, Cindy; Semion, Kelli; and Rodriguez, Ciro (2004) "Legislative Casework: Where Policy and Practice Intersect," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 31: Iss. 2, Article 4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15453/0191-5096.2983
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol31/iss2/4