Grand Challenges for Social Work and Society

The grand challenges are an effort—led by the social work profession—to address 12 major challenges for American society with innovative, evidence-informed, and socially-focused approaches. In essence, this volume offers a social agenda for America—one that begins with understanding that social factors are fundamental to the progress of humanity and that development of civil and peaceful social relationships have been the basis for human progress. These social factors also help explain the challenges that we now face including homelessness, major health disparities, family violence, social isolation, climate change, massive incarceration, extreme economic inequality, unequal opportunity and justice, and long lives that too often lack productivity. This volume bring analysis of these challenges but, more significantly, also brings ideas about how to make measurable progress in a decade and how we can better bring existing advances to scale. The Grand Challenges emphasize bringing different professions together to work on these problems and to help create innovative new interventions that will bring greater social cohesion; development of individuals, families, and communities, and social responses that foster society’s strength.