February 2025

EPAS Competency 3: Engage Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADEI) in practice. 

The CSWE Center for Diversity and Social & Economic Justice is proud to announce a new initiative that will highlight one key 2022 Educational Policies and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) competency each month. This ongoing commitment aims to foster a deeper understanding and application of social work competencies in a way that supports social justice and equity across all areas of social work practice. We are especially pleased that the 2022 EPAS articulate a clear commitment of social work education to principles of anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion.  

The month of February 2025 we highlight EPAS Competency 3: Engage Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADEI) in practice. 

Among the amazing developments within the profession are the historic shifts towards the development, introduction and infusion into the social curriculum of content focused on anti-racist and anti-oppressive social work practice. As the nation pauses to observe Black History Month, we bring to mind the sacrifices of social work pioneers who took great personal and professional risks to ensure that each member of our society would be honored for their self-worth, and be treated with utmost respect and dignity. Each of us stands on the shoulders of the giants in the profession who came before us, and we strive hard each day to adopt a stance of cultural humility in the classroom and with our clients, constituents, and communities.  

We highlight this competency in February in order to especially honor Black social work pioneers and to promote dialog about how we can work together to engage diversity, equity and inclusion in practice. As you reflect on this competency, ask:  

• Who are the social work pioneers from whom you derive inspiration to engage in anti-racist and anti-oppressive social work practice?  
• What strategies/practices have you found most helpful to engage in critical reflection, self-awareness and self-regulation to manage the influence of bias, power, privilege, and values in education, practice and research?

 

CSWE asked its members to contribute literature, blogs, or other resources related to EPAS competencies. This month we highlight the following resources related to Competency 3: 

Blog Resource 
Intersections for One Person Facing Stage Four Cancer 
Submitted by Erika Gergerich  

As a Social Work Instructor of 15 years, I have tried to facilitate student appreciation for the concept of intersectionality in various ways. Intersectionality is such a beautifully layered concept, yet I have found that when prompted to describe how intersectionality pertains to a client case, students often respond by simply noting that a client is a person of color (without exploring implications for this), or by offering a laundry list of ways that the client is “diverse.” Frequently, client strengths are left unmentioned and surprisingly, students rarely delve into the unique intersection of key aspects of the client’s identity. To encourage students to more fully explore the concept of intersectionality, I’ve turned to using my own experiences as a stage four cancer survivor. At 40 years old, I decided to become pregnant through use of a donor with the Seattle Sperm Bank. At 38 weeks pregnant, I learned that I had breast cancer. My doctor recommended that my labor be induced early so I could heal and promptly begin cancer treatment. After my son was born, the cancer aggressively spread to my bones and liver. I had to move back to my home state to be close to my family. At that time, the pandemic demanded that everyone work from home, so I was able to continue working at a distance.  

I was very involved and assertive in my own treatment plan. I sought second and third opinions at Mayo Clinic and MD Anderson. I read research articles frequently as advances in cancer treatment were happening monthly and discovered that the FDA had approved a treatment that could be injected into the thigh, taking just 5 minutes, rather than sitting in a chair for four hours to undergo traditional chemotherapy. This saved me a great deal of time, allowing me to continue work. Having worked as a medical social worker, I was familiar with federal and workplace policies for sick patients struggling to work. I eventually sought and received formal accommodations, allowing me to continue teaching online from home. I say all this to note that my experience with cancer was a unique collage of strengths and challenges due to the intersections of my identity. Not just a woman with breast cancer. A young, pregnant, single woman with no partner, but with resources. A White woman that questioned her doctors, who in response, listened to her concerns. A legal citizen of this country, employed, with health insurance. A former medical social worker armed with a PhD and the ability to read and understand research articles. CSWE Competency 3 states that “Social workers understand that intersectionality means that a person’s life experiences may include oppression, poverty, marginalization, and alienation as well as privilege and power.” My story illustrates the ways that my own privilege likely helped keep me alive, as well as the ways that White supremacy is woven into the healthcare institution. Others have likely had dramatically different experiences at several different junctures on their journey through cancer care.