A seat at the table: UDC professor brings social work issues to the White House Office of Public Engagement
A seat at the table: UDC professor brings social work issues to the White House Office of Public Engagement
Dr. Angela Henderson’s commitment to creating a national dialogue about the challenges and needs of social workers and their clients helped create a seat at the table for her as a Black Community Stakeholder with the White House Office of Public Engagement. Henderson, assistant professor of social work in the College of Arts and Sciences, was selected after a successful “Social Workers for Biden-Harris” virtual event, which she organized in October 2020. She now participates in weekly or bi-weekly meetings with White House officials.
“I feel a responsibility to bring the profession to the table—the issues and the success stories,” Henderson said. “Social workers are on the front lines addressing issues that impact our clients, including affordable housing, employment, hospice care, immigration and social justice.”
Henderson and other Black Community Stakeholders meet virtually with White House Senior Advisor for Public Engagement Trey Baker and various administration leaders, including a conversation with Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden’s Senior Advisor and Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement Cedric Richmond. The meetings cover a broad range of topics, including support for HBCUs, the Child Tax Credit, Haitian refugee treatment at the border and infrastructure issues.
The Office of Public Engagement at The White House is responsible for creating and coordinating direct communication between the Biden-Harris Administration and diverse population segments for inclusive and transparent accountability.
“The speakers will bring various topics of interest to us,” Henderson said. “We discuss whatever is going on at the time. It means a lot to me to represent the social work and Black community and make sure we are abreast of topics that impact different aspects of our lives.”
Henderson believes in sharing the access that she’s gained with students and colleagues. During White House discussions about Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, she engaged UDC social work, political science and law students to provide questions to take back to the meetings.
“They were excited about getting questions from students to gain a different perspective,” Henderson said. “I’m looking forward to meeting in person and having the opportunity to bring some of my students to the White House with me.”
As a Black Community Stakeholder, Henderson shares information with her mailing list of 4,000 people and uses social media to provide facts and statistics from meetings with senior staff and experts about issues impacting the Black community.
“I share information with the social work community and others on social media to ensure that people have as much information as possible from a policy perspective,” Henderson said. “Social workers are the ones carrying out the policies. If we can reach the child who experiences trauma before becoming an adult, we will have a greater impact.”
Henderson said her initial involvement began after recognizing that political candidates have reached out to teachers, police unions and other groups to understand their issues, but social workers were often overlooked.
“The work for social workers never stopped during Covid,” she said. “Social workers had to go into homes and check on children and the elderly even when there was a PPE shortage. They are also the ones dealing with family issues and providing counseling support for the bigger societal issues while serving in one of the lowest-paid professions.”
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), professional social workers are the nation’s largest group of mental health services providers. There are more clinically trained social workers—over 200,000—than psychiatrists, psychologists and psychiatric nurses combined.
Henderson has dedicated her life to advocating for social and environmental justice. She has held various roles ranging from casework to advocate. She is the CEO of Asher Services, where she provides political analysis, research services, and legislative drafting and solutions. Henderson is also co-founder of the Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy (CRISP).
In 2016, Henderson participated in a call to action with the Obama Administration and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to discuss the leadership of the Social Work Community in preserving the Affordable Care Act. In 2018, she was appointed to the Virginia Board of Conservation and Recreation.
Henderson is a member of the National Association of Social Workers; Emerge, which works to recruit, train and connect Democratic women to run for elected offices; the IVYinc SOARers and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. She has a passion for educating youth and has served as a mentor to numerous students.
