Using the VSW Experience to Close the “PAWS Gap” in Social Work Training and Practice: Room A

The VSW experience has made remarkable progress. But fewer than 3% of U.S. Schools of Social Work include human-animal interactions in the curriculum, and VSWs represent only .05% of the total U.S. social work profession; these figures are undoubtedly even lower in other countries. We need to close this “PAWS Gap” by having more social workers and schools address People and Animals’ Wellness and Safety. We can do this through nine emerging opportunities based on the VSW model that can make pet-inclusive social work training and practice more widely accepted. By using the lessons learned from VSW, social workers can apply “the 3-Rs” – Recognition, Response and Referral – to address The Link between animal abuse and human violence and other human-animal considerations impacting clients’ well-being, risk and resiliency factors, decision-making, and quality of life. This presentation will describe six reasons why all social workers should be cognizant of human-animal relationships. It will discuss ways to put these concepts into practice in such fields as child welfare, domestic violence, animal shelters, clinical practice, public policy advocacy, and social work with older populations and individuals who are disabled or homeless. Species-spanning social work – in the veterinary clinic and beyond – holds tremendous promise for expanding the profession’s legacy in social and environmental justice, advocacy, facilitating collaborative community change, and protecting the most vulnerable members of society.