Students Visit Tallahassee for Legislative Education and Advocacy Day

On April 3rd, 2019, 67 undergraduate and graduate students and two faculty members – Associate Professor LeaAnne DeRigne, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor Danielle Groton, Ph.D. – from the Sandler School of Social Work attended Legislative Education Advocacy Day (LEAD) in the Florida state capital of Tallahassee. This annual event encourages students and professional social workers to “stand up and speak out on important issues facing the social work profession in today’s legislative arena… supporting legislation that impacts our profession and our clients,” according to the National Association of Social Workers – Florida Chapter (NASW-FL), which represents approximately 4,500 social workers throughout the state.

This year’s legislative priorities included: 

• Increase funding and accessibility for mental health with a focus on school safety.
• Increase behavioral health services to address the opioid crisis in Florida.
• Promote and support legislative efforts and policies that are aligned with social, economic and environmental justice and oppose policies and actions that are not.
• Promote Telehealth and social work mobility licensure legislation.