The following social work professionals were asked to provide a summary of their background, primary work duties, policy activities, and why they believe social

workers should take an active role in public policy.

Allie Bones, MSWChief Executive Officer, Arizona Coalition to End

Sexual and Domestic Violence

Allie Bones began working in the anti-domestic vio-lence movement as an intern during her second-year master’s of social work placement with the Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Ms. Bones was a PAC student and knew that she wanted to work to reform systems, and was particularly interested in do-ing legislative advocacy. She could see that the daily grind of working with families and individuals who were experiencing similar social conditions was not going to satisfy her as a social worker – she needed to be involved in changing the systems that created the conditions in which poverty, inequality, violence, and injustice existed. Following her internship and gradu-ation from the MSW program, Ms. Bones stayed on with the Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Vio-lence as a full-time advocate, spending the majority of her time doing legislative advocacy and lobbying. She then went on to be the Executive Director of the Arizona Coalition to End Homelessness and learned that there was so much more to people being homeless

than just not having a home. As a social worker, she understood that people’s experiences as victims of do-mestic violence or being poor are due to the systems, structures, and communities that perpetuate these issues and cycles in our society. She has held a vari-ety of government and non-profit positions, spending her career working to address these issues and make systems work better for people. The work is challeng-ing, with successes often being very incremental and setbacks happening more often than not, but she finds that there are great rewards in knowing that the work you have done has the potential to impact a wide array of people and families who are struggling in our com-munities.

Kathleen Collins Pagels, MSWExecutive Director, Arizona Health Care Association

Kathleen Collins Pagels’ work has always centered on a desire to serve the older population. When she completed her Masters in Social Work Degree in 1981, she also completed a post graduate certification in ger-ontology. Ms. Pagels was one of the first graduates of the newly established University of Michigan program at that time. It was a very exciting time as the field of gerontology was in its early stages. There was a grow-ing recognition that the compelling demographic shift ahead would be accompanied by many social and po-litical changes as well. She began her career working for a newly established county commission on Aging in Michigan. After moving to Arizona, she worked in aging and human service programs in both the private and governmental sectors- moving slowly from clini-cal to administrative roles. She also taught courses in gerontology at the community colleges while raising her family. Perhaps the defining role in her career was that of Director of Public Policy at the Alzheimer’s Association, where she became a registered lobbyist

PROFILES IN PUBLIC POLICY

Beth Rosenberg, MSW, LCSWDirector of Child Welfare & Juvenile Justice,

Children’s Action Alliance

Beth Rosenberg has served as Director of Child Wel-fare and Juvenile Justice at Children’s Action Alliance

(CAA) since 1997. Children’s Action Alliance is an independent voice for Arizona children at the state capitol and in the community. CAA works to improve children’s health, education, and security through information and action.

Beth has worked in a wide variety of public and private agency positions influencing policy and imple-menting programs, primarily concentrating on those children who are abused, neglected and delinquent. Her work at CAA has included successful advocacy to establish and improve programming for homeless children, transitional independent living for foster chil-dren, subsidized guardianship and helping throughout these many years on Child Protective Services (CPS) reform efforts. (Yes, today’s crisis is not the first time the state is working on “fixing” CPS). She was also instrumental in helping to change state laws to require the criminal justice system to better respond to youth-ful offenders in an individualized and age appropriate manner.

Beth did not start her career thinking she would be involved in public policy and advocacy work. As with many careers, opportunities arose and her passion and dedication to public policy work evolved. When she started at University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Work, Beth envisioned working directly with vulnerable teens, providing them quality supports and opportunities they needed to succeed as adults. She caught the advocacy bug during her second year MSW internship with the ACLU in Philadelphia. After obtaining her MSW, she moved to the Pennsylva-nia state capitol where she was involved in juvenile justice reform efforts at the state legislature. Because of that experience, she eventually was recruited to staff a unique Juvenile Justice Study Committee at the Arizona State Legislature. It was in this environ-ment that Beth learned how critical it was for social workers to speak out, organize others and fight for the needs, resources and systems reforms on behalf of all the populations they touch. Beth believes that social workers do not work in a vacuum; what happens at the public policy level impacts every level of the profes-sion and those served.

Before joining the CAA team, Beth worked at the Department of Economic Security in a variety of management positions. When she left DES to work at CAA, a community colleague gave her a gift of a

and actively honed her community advocacy skills. It was in that capacity that Ms. Pagels truly came to appreciate the “power of one”, and the ability to affect social change.

As Executive Director of the Arizona Health Care Association for the last 12 years, Ms. Pagels is proud to currently represent both skilled nursing and as-sisted living centers throughout Arizona, and the many compassionate and capable care providers that serve Arizona’s frail and vulnerable elderly. Ms. Pagels works with a wonderful team of colleagues to provide legislative and regulatory support as well as education, quality improvement and best practices in long-term care service delivery.

Ms. Pagels writes: “Social workers are programmed to want to “fix” the system. We are advocates by nature. We see the need for change on the individual level, we witness what is broken, and we identify what works. We can only affect that change by being involved in public policy- understanding the political system, how laws are made and how they can be changed. I have witnessed this happening. I have seen change occur for the better when someone takes a stand. One person can change the world. One vote matters. I would en-courage social workers to get involved in the process. Start small, get to know the legislators in your district and tell your stories. Hold them accountable for their votes and make your own voice heard in matters that affect you and those you serve.”

policy where he could help eliminate the barriers that he had seen people run into when he was their case manager.

In 2009, Joshua joined the well established and highly reputable advocacy organization, Children’s Action Alliance (CAA), as their Research Associate. At CAA, he has had the opportunity to meet with Congressio-nal staff to advocate for a federal budget that protects working families and their children. He has learned the ins and outs of creating effective legislation at the state level and how to mobilize the community to help achieve this, something he first gained training on at the ASU School of Social Work.

Joshua Oehler, MSWResearch Associate,

Children’s Action Alliance

Joshua Oehler is a native Phoenician who began serv-ing his community as an AmeriCorps Promise Fellow in 2000. As a Promise Fellow he worked on behalf of the Colin Powell initiative, America’s Promise, to make sure all youth in Maricopa County had access to the Five Promises (Caring Adults, Safe Places, A Healthy Start, Effective Education, and Opportunities to Help Others). He achieved this by providing sup-port to a variety of different community organizations and service providers throughout Maricopa County. Following his AmeriCorps experience, Joshua worked at Homebase Youth Services in Phoenix, Central Ari-zona Shelter Services (CASS), and was a lead trainer and customer support specialist for the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) in Maricopa County. He graduated from Arizona State University with his Masters in Social Work in 2008.

While studying for his Masters in Social work, Joshua interned at the Governor’s Office of Children, Youth and Families. Later, after several years of direct ser-vice work, he was ready for the transition to public

poster with a funny but unforgettable message: “To get anything done at DES is like mating elephants – it takes two years to see the results.” Similarly, the legislative process is incremental and challenging, but definitely worth the effort. Beth says that the one advantage of doing advocacy work at the legislature is that, unlike other aspects of social work, it has a beginning and an end. Each year when the legislative session ends, you know whether you won or lost. The losses are hard but you can start again during the next session. And the policy victories…well, they’re great.

Shannon Rich, MSWPublic Policy Manager, Arizona Coalition to End

Sexual and Domestic Violence

Shannon earned a Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degrees in Social Work from Arizona State University. During her Master’s program she focused on public policy and completed her internship with the Arizona Chapter of the National Association of Social Work-ers. Throughout school and after graduating she has worked in the direct service primarily with families who were struggling financially and individuals who were chronically homeless. Shannon recognized that change needed to happen at the top to better serve those in need around her.

In pursuing her true passion and area of study in the realm of policy, she began working at the Arizona Co-alition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (ACES-DV) where she is now the Public Policy Manager. In her role at ACESDV she manages a public policy team that advocates on behalf of victims/survivors of sexual

Angela Shultz, MSWSenior Caseworker,

Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09)

Angela Schultz earned her BSW from Eastern Michi-gan University and worked for several years with at-risk youth and homeless families. Angela quickly became aware of budget cuts and policy changes that were causing extreme harm to the populations she worked with, as well as making it difficult to provide direct services.

Angela went back to school at Arizona State Univer-sity and earned her MSW-PAC degree. Since then, she has worked for the Department of Public Health, implementing policy changes to create healthier living environments for all, and Arizona Community Action Association, where she collaborated with anti-hunger advocates to alleviate hunger and advocated against SNAP (food stamps) cuts.

Recently, Angela joined Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema’s District Office as the Senior Caseworker. In this position, Angela assists constituents with prob-lems they are having with federal agencies and helps identify trends voiced by constituents that could help shape policy. Angela also serves as the NASW-AZ PACE Chair, the political action arm of the NASW that endorses state-level candidates whose views sup-port the NASW’s policy agenda.

and domestic violence and the programs that serve them through a variety of ways that include; analyzing state systems, providing information and education about public policy issues related to sexual and do-mestic violence to the community, and by lobbying at the Arizona State Capitol.

Are you interested in an advocacy career or career in shaping public policy?

Please consider serving on the NASW Ari-zona Chapter Public Policy Committee or volunteering to help with Arizona Political Action for Candidate Election (AZ NASW PACE) Committee with events.

To find out more, go to:http://www.naswaz.com

Special thanks to our Public Policy Committee and Social Work Day at the Legislature Planning Subcom-mittee volunteers for compiling the information for our “Profiles in Public Policy,” first rolled out in 2013.