I. PURPOSE

The Social Work Professional Advisory Group (SWPAG) of the Health Services Officers Professional Advisory Committee (HSO-PAC) shall consider discipline-specific professional issues and advise the Surgeon General through the HSO-PAC and Chief HS Officer regarding such issues.

II. OBJECTIVES

The SWPAG functions in a resource and advisory capacity to assist in the development, coordination, training and evaluation of activities related to the social work professional discipline in the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) with the specific objectives of:

A. Identifying issues of interest and facilitating the resolution of concerns as they relate to uniformed social workers;

B. Assessing personnel needs of USPHS as related to social work and assisting in meeting the needs relative to recruitment, retention, training, utilization and professional development;

C. Developing position papers, statistical reports, and/or guidelines where appropriate, to advise and comment on matters relating to the personnel issues, social work professionals and their practices;

D. Promoting cooperation and communication among and between other professional disciplines and health professionals; and

E. Promoting all aspects of social work throughout the agencies and programs of the USPHS.

F.  Assessing the professional development needs of social work officers and developing strategies and opportunities to meet them.  

III. MEMBERSHIP

A. Eligibility Requirement: Members shall be Commissioned Corps Social Workers in the USPHS.

B. Meetings will be open to all members. Any member may participate on a committee. 

C. Organizational representation: Participation shall be promoted from each of the DHHS Operating Divisions to provide the range of experiences and perspectives necessary to address issues before the SWPAG. Efforts will be made to have the broadest representation possible among all agencies including but not limited to the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and other non-DHHS agencies.

D. Geographic consideration: Participation shall be promoted from members whose regular duty station is geographically removed from the Washington , D.C. metropolitan area. Members will be actively solicited and provisions such as teleconferencing will be made so that Commissioned Corps Social Workers stationed outside the Washington , D.C. metropolitan area can participate in meetings

E. Diversity among officers of different cultures, race, ethnicity and gender shall be respected and participation welcomed.  Efforts will be made to ensure that participation of the SWPAG represents the ethnic and gender diversity of its officers.

F. Members will be solicited through Commissioned Corps publications and other appropriate means.

IV. SWPAG LEADERSHIP

The leadership of the SWPAG shall be composed of the Chair, a Chair-Elect and a Secretary. Each officer shall be elected by the members of the SWPAG prior to the end of the calendar year, for a term of office, as defined in the By Laws, beginning on January 1. In the event of a vacancy of the Chair, the Chair-Elect shall assume the responsibilities for the duration of the term. Vacancies in other offices shall be filled by appointment by the Chair for the remainder of the term.

Duties of the officers are the following:

A. Chair: Provides leadership to the SWPAG and provides liaison to the HSO-PAC. The Chair is considered an ex-officio member of the HSO-PAC and is expected to attend the HSO-PAC meetings and any other significant meetings affecting the SWPAG; the Chair may also designate a representative to attend such meetings. The Chair will serve as the official representative to the Uniformed Services Social Work Planning Committee.

Term of the Chair: The Chair will serve a 1 year term.

B. Chair-Elect: Assists the Chair and functions as the Chair when necessary

Term of the Chair-Elect: The Chair-Elect serves a 1 year term and then succeeds as the Chair the following year.

C. Secretary: Provides a written record of the activities of the SWPAG. The Secretary shall record the minutes of meetings, maintain reports and official documents of the SWPAG, and assist the Chair and Chair-elect in carrying out the duties associated with their respective offices.

Term of the Secretary: The Secretary serves a 1 year term.

V. OPERATIONS AND PROCEDURES

The SWPAG operations and procedures shall include the following:

A. Operational Year: The operational year for the SWPAG is the calendar year January 1 – December 31.

B. Frequency of Meeting: Meetings will be held at least once per quarter. Additional meetings may be called by the Chair as needed.

C. Agenda: A meeting agenda and appropriate background material will be made available to the SWPAG members.

D. Recording and Reporting: Minutes of each SWPAG meeting will be recorded, and approved by the SWPAG. The SWPAG Secretary will maintain a permanent file of official minutes and reports.

E. Voting and By-Law Amendments:  Members will receive nomination forms for chair-elect and secretary, will be notified of nominees thirty days prior to voting.  A Commissioned Corps officer who is not of the social work discipline selected by the SWPAG will tabulate votes.   Where voting is required, action will be determined by the simple majority of those members present. By-Law Amendments will be made by a simple majority vote of those members who are present. 

F. Operating Subcommittees: The SWPAG may have operating subcommittees to accomplish its objectives. These subcommittees will be organized and conduct business in a manner consistent with the SWPAG. The Chair of the SWPAG will appoint the Chair of each Subcommittee. The operating subcommittees may include but are not limited to: (1) public relations, (2) recruitment/retention, (3) career opportunities, (4) professional policy development, (5) membership, (6) awards and (7) SWPAG website update.  

G. Quorum: A quorum shall consist of 10 percent of the SWPAG membership.  The number of social workers extant within the Commissioned Corps determines the number of SWPAG members.  

VI. By- Laws Update and Approval:

The SWPAG shall review its By Laws every three years and recommend revisions to update its By Laws as needed. Any revisions to the By-Laws must be reviewed and approved by the Health Services Professional Advisory Committee (HSO-PAC). If in question, the SWPAG By-laws will be superseded by, and not conflict with, the HSO-PAC Charter and By-laws. SWPAG members voting either in person or by a valid proxy is acceptable by email using rules of time and date of vote submissions. A voting member can be a member of either group, but in no case can hold two votes. Issues requiring a SWPAG member vote but not reaching a quorum shall be brought to the HSO-PAC for resolution

Revised August 2003

LCDR Beth A. Henson, Secretary

2003 SWPAG