ANN ARBOR—Reflections on the past will join a discussion of the future at the University of Michigan School of Social Work‘s 80th anniversary symposium on Sept. 20. Social work experts from various U.S. schools will sit on a panel that focuses on the future, mirrored by a “historical” panel of emeritus deans and faculty who will center on the past.

The symposium will also feature a keynote address and 2001 Fedele F. and Iris M. Fauri Lecture on Child Welfare titled “The Right to Health Care: Has the Time Come?” presented by former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop; and a kickoff address by former U-M President Harold Shapiro.

The daylong schedule of activities begins at 9 a.m., taking place on the U-M campus in the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, Michigan League.

[Central Campus map, Michigan League #15, near center]

Changes in society will mean changes to what social work connotes in the future, according to the symposium organizers. Today, with an increase in the life expectancy of the average adult living in the United States, “post-retirement quality of life” rather than “death and dying” has become a focus of society. More and more individuals are spending additional time in school and retiring at younger ages.

By 2050, the dependency ratio on working-age individuals could mean a dramatic increase in the roll of social services within society. Experts predict there will be only 275 working age persons per 100 elderly persons. (In 1995, there were approximately 478 working age persons per 100 elderly individuals.)

As social and economic inequalities increase resulting from advances in computer technology and literacy, growth of multinational corporations, global competition, cheap foreign labor, and retraining the unemployed and underemployed, the reliance of older, decaying cities on tax revenues will allow for fewer resources for society as a whole. Gaps in services and opportunities are expected to widen, the symposium organizers say.

In the next 50 years, experts project that the majority of U.S. workers will be Hispanic and other persons of color; the elderly will constitute nearly one-fifth of the U.S. population; the number of U.S. children will shrink to less than one-fourth of the entire population—nearly one-fifth of these will live only with their mothers; and the decrease in working-age population size will increase per capita social welfare expenditures. Because of the increasing volume of individuals requiring physical and mental health assistance as well as those dealing with substance abuse, interpersonal violence and other medical concerns, the boundaries between public and private human services are expected to shift. The need will increase for social workers and agencies familiar with psychopharmacology, medication side effects, life sciences technology, biochemistry of dependency, and other health risk factors.

Other 80th anniversary symposium speakers include U-M President Lee C. Bollinger and U-M School of Social Work Dean Paula Allen-Meares. For more information about the schedule of activities, visit the School of Social Work’s Web site at www.ssw.umich.edu/anniversary/.

The U-M School of Social Work, which began in 1921, is ranked first nationally and is one of the largest schools of social work in the United States.

School of Social WorkFedele F. and Iris M. Fauri Lecture on Child WelfareCentral Campus mapLee C. Bollinger