TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Those who provide comfort and protection for Floridians in crisis say they need more support.

March is National Professional Social Work Month, and in Florida, more than 21,000 social workers provide assistance in schools, hospitals, mental health facilities and social service agencies.

Jim Akin, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers in Florida, says social workers often are unrecognized and under-compensated for their work, and that people often are surprised when they realize that social workers are everywhere.

"In Florida, you'll find that social workers are licensed, so we do have social workers that are in private practice, entrepreneurial, self-employed,” he states. “Social workers work at hospitals, mental health centers. They contract with managed care, private insurance."

Akin adds that nationally, social worker pay lags behind other professions that perform similar duties. However, in Florida, the median annual salary for social workers is around $50,000.

Angelo McClain, CEO of the National Association of Social Workers, says the group’s campaign this year is called Elevate Social Work, an attempt to help people realize how social workers help elevate society while trying to mitigate the risks that come with the job.

"People don't realize it, but social work is one of the 10 most dangerous professions,” he points out. “Ninety-eight percent of our clients, we have good relationships with. We engage well with them. But there's that percent of clients, given the right set of circumstances, can become violent. Some social workers have been murdered in the line of duty."

Despite the risks, the social work profession is expected to see growth in the coming years, and Akin says the state is uniquely prepared to bring new career professionals into the fold.

"In Florida, we're very fortunate because we have 14 schools of social work that offer accredited programs, and they're scattered statewide so anyone who is really looking to get a bachelor's degree in social work, a master's degree in social work, schools are out there," he explains.

Congress is considering measures to better support the profession, including HR 1289, that would offer resources to recruit more social workers, and HR 1309, which calls for workplace violence prevention plans at social service agencies.


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California political analysts say inflation and voter confusion contributed to the failure of propositions to raise the minimum wage and allow stronger rent control.

Proposition 33 would have allowed local governments to pass strict new rent-control ordinances.

Christian Grose, professor of political science and public policy at the University of Southern California's Dornsife College and Price School of Public Policy, said voters may have found the measure to be overly complex.

"We did some polling on this back in September, and we found a lot of people were undecided," Grose said. "I think it's a confusing initiative for a lot of voters, and so often when people aren't certain what the effects are going to be, they'll just vote no."

Opponents of Prop. 33 argued that more rent control would discourage construction of new rental units, thus thwarting attempts to increase the supply of housing.

Proposition 32 would have raised the minimum wage to $18 an hour for companies that have 26 or more employees, and to $17 for smaller companies.

Grose called the defeat surprising, as California recently raised the minimum wage -- but only for fast-food workers.

"With inflation, there's some concerns about raising minimum wage will then lead to increased costs. So people who traditionally would support minimum wage maybe are opposed," he said.

Opponents of Prop. 32 warned it would have hurt California businesses and led to an increase in the cost of goods and services.

Keely O'Brien, policy advocate with the Western Center on Law and Poverty, said Prop. 32 would have helped the working poor at a time when poverty is the highest it has been in years.

"In early 2023, 31% of California residents were either poor or near poor, and nearly 76% of poor Californians lived in families with at least one working adult. So these are not, these are families who are working. They're often working really hard, and they're still not. They still don't have the resources that they need," O'Brien said.

Voters in Massachusetts have passed a first of its kind ballot measure allowing rideshare drivers to unionize as independent contractors.

Question 3 narrowly passed with just 54% of the vote after a yearslong grassroots effort to gain greater protections for these gig workers.

Roxana Rivera, assistant to the president of the Service Employees International Union 32BJ in New England, called it a historic win.

"This victory will set the stage for other rideshare drivers in other states to actually have a hope to potentially change their working conditions," Rivera explained.

Rivera pointed out the ballot measure now requires at least one-quarter of current rideshare drivers to vote in favor of creating a union, which would be managed by the state legislature, much like the state's home health care workforce. There are an estimated 70,000 rideshare drivers in the state.

A majority of rideshare drivers are immigrants and people of color and Rivera argued there is no greater time for them to unionize. She noted the return of former President Donald Trump to the White House in 2025 could potentially have dire consequences for gig workers, who she stressed deserve higher pay and safety on the job.

"The drivers will be able, once they build their union, to negotiate with the app companies around better pay, around a better process for deactivations, around the working conditions they face," Rivera outlined.

Rivera added the drivers with whom she spoke are "ecstatic" about the chance to unionize. The app-based companies, Uber and Lyft, however have remained silent.

The measure also divided the labor community with some of the largest unions in the state concerned organizing as independent contractors could eventually prevent workers from attaining full-time employee status.


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As Pennsylvania voters head to the polls Tuesday, a new report takes a deep dive into how the economic policies of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris would affect Pennsylvania families.

The report showed the two campaigns differ significantly on policies proven to affect inequality, like labor unions, the minimum wage and taxation.

Gillian Kratzer, deputy director of the advocacy group Better PA, said when comparing a possible Harris administration to a potential Trump administration, you have to consider Project 2025, as the Trump campaign has remained silent on many key policy issues, such as minimum wage.

"The Democratic platform, which Kamala Harris endorses, proposes to enact a federal minimum wage of $15 an hour by 2026," Kratzer pointed out. "The phrase minimum wage is not in the Republican platform. It's not mentioned by the Trump campaign, and it's not in Project 2025 either."

A recent Gallup poll showed 70% of Americans support labor unions. Kratzer noted while the Republican platform and Project 2025 do not address unions broadly, they advocate removing union rights for national security-related jobs and question the role of public sector unions altogether.

Kratzer added the report compares the tax policies of Trump and Harris, highlighting how extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts would benefit the wealthy, while higher import tariffs and a lower corporate tax rate would mostly burden Pennsylvania's everyday consumers.

"Kamala Harris supports tax proposals that benefit families and workers raising children to pay for health care and housing affordability," Kratzer observed. "She wants to reform Medicare to raise taxes on those with incomes over $400,000. Where Donald Trump, we're looking at, you know, policies that would help basically the top 5%."

The report also found the Democratic platform supports attaching strong labor standards, such as prevailing wage laws and project labor agreements, to federal infrastructure and climate investments. Meanwhile, Project 2025 favors eliminating prevailing wage laws and use of project labor agreements on federally funded construction projects.