Social Work Organizations

There are dozens of professional organizations in the field of social work. They range from very large organizations like the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), which has over 120,000 members, to smaller more niche organizations like the National Organization of Forensic Social Work (NOFSW). There are also social work organizations that focus on specific ethnic groups, like the Hispanic or African American communities, or have religious affiliations.

While every social work organization is different, organizations provide their members with a variety of resources that could include: professional development, continuing education, certifications, annual conferences and events, newsletters and journals, social networking, job boards, research, and more. In addition, many social work organizations act as an advocacy group on behalf of their members in order to promote their profession at the local, state and national levels.

We have grouped social work organizations by the following categories:

• General Social Work Organizations
• Social Work Organizations with a Clinical / Medical / Healthcare Focus
• School Social Work Organizations
• Social Work Organizations with an Ethnic Affiliation
• Social Work Organizations with a Religious Affiliation
• International Social Work Organizations
• Forensic Social Work Organizations
• Social Work Organizations with Job Boards

Click on the name of the social work organization to visit the site.

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Unlike the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), state-specific clinical social work organizations are not part of a larger national organization. Each state’s organization is independent from the organizations in other states. Some state organizations are affiliated with the Clinical Social Work Association (CSWA), but they are not a single organization like the NASW.

While each clinical social work organization has a different mission statement, in general, their focus is to represent and advance the profession of clinical social work. This could include:

In addition, many state clinical social work organizations have conferences or workshops for their members to attend. These are a great opportunity to network and meet other licensed clinical social workers.

For clinical social work professionals who are not already members of their state’s clinical social work organization, we have compiled a list of state specific organizations below. We definitely recommend contacting an organization if you have questions or want more information before potentially becoming a member.

The following table contains state-specific clinical social work organizations for which we could find websites. States not listed below may still have a clinical social work organization.

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International Association of Schools of Social Work  

International Association for Social Work with Groups   (formerly the Association for the Advancement of Social Work With Groups, Inc.)
Address: 101 West 23rd Street Suite 108 New York, NY 10011

International Federation of Social Work (IFSW)  
Address: Maiengässli 4, 4310 Rheinfelden, Switzerland

National Organization of Forensic Social Work (NOFSW)  
Address: 498 184th St. Osceola, WI 54020

Many of the NASW state chapters have job boards on their website. Some of these are free to the public while others require membership to view listings. View our NASW State Specific Chapters page to find the website of your state’s NASW chapter.

Information about social work organizations was updated in April 2020.

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