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| Legislative Education and Advocacy Day |
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LEAD 2026
Tuesday, March 24th
Sponsorship or advertisement opportunities also available below.
Schedule for LEAD: Meet at City Island - 9 am March to Capital - 9:30 am Rally - 10 - 11 am Meetings with Legislator - 11 am - 3 pm *The rally will be held outside in March. Please plan accordingly. The event is rain or shine but the rally will be canceled if there is rain/snow.
*IMPORTANT INFORMATION* * Scheduled appointments with legislators will correspond with your Universities' address Schools that would like to pay for multiple students please contact info.naswpa@socialworkers.org. Price is $15 per an attendee. Parking information: Parking available on City Island https://parkharrisburg.com/destinations/pennsylvania-state-capitol/ What is Legislative Education and Advocacy Day?
Legislative Education and Advocacy Day (LEAD) is an annual event hosted by NASW-PA, at which nearly 1,000 social work students and professionals gather to advocate for legislation that is relevant to the social work profession. Attendees visit their legislators throughout the day and tell them why such legislation is important and how it will serve the Commonwealth. NASW-PA will schedule all legislative meetings, so attendees don't need to worry about doing so. Just make sure you know who your state legislators are! You can look them up using this link. What to Expect: Legislative Education and Advocacy Day (LEAD) is for social work students and professionals. We expect student attendees from PA schools of social work as well as professional social workers from all across the Commonwealth. This is a great chance for you to experience legislative advocacy as well as the law-making process. This is also a great chance for professionals, experienced in the legislative process, to come show their support for the social work profession. What We Advocate For: NASW-PA advocates for legislation that benefits the social work profession and clients throughout the Commonwealth. Our legislative agenda – which is available on the NASW-PA website – provides an expansive view of the legislation that we advocate for, covering issues ranging from practice protection and licensure to discrimination in health care. 2026 Bills of Focus:
Creates interstate portability for social work licenses by authorizing Pennsylvania's participation in the interstates social work licensure compact. Social workers licensed in Pennsylvania would be able to practice as licensed social workers in every state that has passed the compact.
House Bill 1549 amends the Minimum Wage Act of 1968 to increase the minimum wage set in Pennsylvania statute, which has been a statewide rate of $7.15 per hour since July 1, 2007. In 2009, the federal minimum wage of $7.25 superseded Pennsylvania’s minimum wage.
As artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being used in mental and behavioral health care settings, the potential risks associated with providing inaccurate, biased, or inconsistent medical recommendations can undermine patient care, resulting in substandard services and possible harm to the patient. Mental health care requires a personalized approach based on human emotion, education and professional experience, as well as standards of ethics. At this time, no AI chatbot has been approved by the FDA to diagnose or treat mental health conditions.
LEADing up to LEAD Training Information: These will be recorded and posted on Youtube for you to watch at a later time. Monday, March 16th 12:00-1:00 PM: LEAD Kick Off Session
Tuesday, March 17th at 11:00am-12:00pm: AI in Mental Health Bill (Rep. Shusterman & Jennifer Pyc)
Wednesday, March 18th at 11:00-11:45am: Social Work Compact Bill (Rep Abney)
Wednesday, March 18th at 12:00-1:00pm for the Lunch N' Learn Focus on LEAD Training View Recording *No CE credit for viewing*
Thursday, March 19th at 11:00am-12:00pm: Minimum Wage Bill (Ryan Beaston, Executive Director, Labor & Industry Committee, staffer to Chairman Rep. Dawkins)
Friday, March 20th at 6:00-7:30pm: Poster Making Party! https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82880821499?pwd=s66NN7067q71WSAB6Pcb9E8AWpPSVA.1 Look Up Your Legislators If you need help figuring out who your legislators are, you can use this link to look them up!
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