Documenting our national gathering, public education, and collective response to the proposed 2029 standards.
The proposed 2029 CSWE Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards raise urgent questions about the future of anti-racism, social justice, and accountability in our profession.
Following our October 20 national gathering, NCRJI-SW is mobilizing a coordinated national response. Together with our National Steering Committee for Social Work Education and Institutional Accountability, we are bringing students, educators, practitioners, scholars, organizations, and community advocates together to share evidence, shape a collective response, and sustain action.
This is more than a conversation. It is an opportunity to organize, collaborate, and shape the future of our profession. We welcome collaboration with existing and emerging organizing efforts.
NEW: Social Work Has a History of Resistance. Each featured infographic now includes an authentic archival portrait and a short history lesson about people who organized against injustice with fewer legal protections. Students, educators, practitioners, and allies: join NCRJI-SW in sharing one infographic each day. You can download the image, open it full-size to save or screenshot, and add your own professional perspective. Every graphic retains its QR code linking back to this resource hub.
Each morning, October 26–30, find that day's graphic below. Suggested release time: approximately 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
Post anytime that day on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, or your professional networks. Add your own reflection, question, or example.
Use our campaign hashtags, invite students and colleagues to engage, and link to this site for further reading and participation.
Monday, October 26 · Professional Credibility. Download the infographic below, copy this optional caption, and paste both into a LinkedIn, Instagram, or Facebook post. Add your own perspective or edit the wording to make it yours.
History spotlight: Whitney M. Young Jr., a social work dean and National Urban League leader, advanced racial equity as part of professional responsibility.
Conversation starter: What do explicit anti-racist standards say about our professional identity?
History spotlight: Lugenia Burns Hope organized Black communities to demand better schools, public services, and civic power.
Conversation starter: What preparation do school social workers need to recognize and challenge inequity?
History spotlight: Bertha Capen Reynolds challenged racism, poverty, and institutional oppression through radical social work.
Conversation starter: How do social workers confront medical racism and structural health disparities?
History spotlight: Ida B. Wells-Barnett fought lynching and created a Chicago center offering social services.
Conversation starter: How do we prepare practitioners to recognize bias and support family preservation?
History spotlight: George Edmund Haynes helped establish the National Urban League and confronted racial discrimination in labor policy.
Conversation starter: Why are structural analysis and community advocacy essential social work skills?
Save or screenshot: select “Open full size” under any infographic. On a phone, save the image using your browser's image controls or take a screenshot; on a computer, right-click to save. For the clearest version with the original QR code intact, use “Download PNG.” Please preserve NCRJI-SW attribution and the QR code when resharing. Archival photos are credited on each framed graphic; historical context is provided for public education. Important: the proposed standards are not final; this campaign raises questions about professional preparation, not claims that jobs or licenses will automatically disappear.
National Virtual Student Teach-In · Thursday, October 29, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. Eastern. Meet students and student leaders from across the country to share concerns, perspectives, and ideas for collaboration.
REGISTER FOR THE STUDENT TEACH-IN ↗Follow the public work of NCRJI-SW in response to the proposed 2029 EPAS. Our numbered updates document completed gatherings, educational resources, publicly documented actions, and confirmed opportunities to participate.
Our inaugural update documents the October 20 national gathering, public actions at the CSWE Annual Program Meeting, the launch of the EPAS resource hub, and the upcoming national student teach-in.
Read the complete update in the publicly shared Google Doc.
Future numbered updates will be archived here as verified developments are ready for public release.
Social work has a long history of both challenging and participating in systems of oppression. What we teach about that history—and what our accreditation standards require—matters.
Through NCRJI-SW, we are bringing people together to examine the proposed 2029 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS), share evidence, and organize a collective response. This page documents the work as it develops.
Founded and directed by Dr. Crystal M. Hayes, NCRJI-SW brings together scholars, educators, practitioners, students, and organizers to advance reproductive justice, political education, and collective action. Under Dr. Hayes’s leadership, the Collaborative convened the October 20 national gathering and launched its ongoing response to the proposed 2029 EPAS.
Audre Lorde's words are a reminder that silence has never protected those who are most harmed by unjust institutions. They also call us to examine our own responsibilities when the institutions we belong to retreat from their stated commitments.
The proposed 2029 EPAS raise a question that goes beyond accreditation language: what are we prepared to defend when anti-racism and anti-oppressive practice become politically inconvenient? We cannot ask future social workers to challenge oppression while allowing the explicit language of that responsibility to disappear from the standards used to educate them.
Speaking up carries risks, especially for those who have historically borne the costs of institutional retaliation. That is precisely why our response must be collective. No one should be left to take those risks alone while others remain silent.
The National Collaborative for Reproductive Justice, Innovation, and Political Education in Social Work (NCRJI-SW) was founded in 2024 by Dr. Crystal M. Hayes, a Black feminist social worker, scholar, former prison-based doula, and educator.
We bring educators, students, practitioners, scholars, and community members together to question what social work teaches, whose knowledge is valued, and how we can organize for change. Our work is grounded in reproductive justice, abolition, Black feminist thought, and the belief that education should help us confront—not reproduce—systems of harm.
NCRJI-SW creates opportunities for research, political education, dialogue, and collective action that connect reproductive justice to social work education, policy, and practice.
The proposed standards raise urgent questions about anti-racism, social work’s history, and what institutions can be required to teach and demonstrate. Our response brings those questions into a national public conversation.
We are building a sustained organizing effort through our National Steering Committee, sharing evidence and resources, and inviting students and colleagues to help shape collective action.
Founded and directed by Dr. Crystal M. Hayes. The October 20 national gathering and continuing EPAS response are NCRJI-SW initiatives developed through her leadership and strengthened by the contributions of our Co-Director, steering committee, Collaborative members, and organizing partners.
A two-page visual overview of the changes, accreditation-related educational protections, and our call for a transparent process. Includes clickable supporting links.
VIEW CLICKABLE PDF →
What the current EPAS name explicitly, what the draft changes, and why the language of the standards matters for social work education.
VIEW FULL IMAGE →
Nearly 500 people registered and close to 300 attended our October 20, 2026 gathering. Explore the slides and opening discussions.
VIEW PRESENTATION SLIDES →
Upcoming • Virtual student gathering
Thursday, October 29, 2026 · 6:30 PM Eastern
Students from social work programs across institutions are invited to discuss what accreditation means, how the proposed 2029 EPAS could affect their education, and ways students can make their voices heard.
We'll also discuss how to submit individual comments to CSWE before the November 20, 2026 deadline and how students can participate in shaping the response.
Sponsored by NCRJI-SW. All social work students are welcome. Advance Zoom registration is available now.
History • Accreditation • Accountability
Colleagues are raising an urgent historical question: if explicit commitments to diversity and anti-racist education are weakened, how far back are we moving? One concern shared in our organizing network points to the 1965 and 1971 accreditation standards as important reference points.
CSWE's own historical archive includes accreditation standards from 1965, 1971, and other years dating back to 1928. We encourage educators and students to examine those documents alongside the current 2022 EPAS and the proposed 2029 draft. The concern about a rollback is an interpretation that should be evaluated through the actual language of the standards—not a claim that the proposed draft is identical to the 1965 edition.
The debate over the proposed 2029 EPAS cannot be separated from what is already happening in states with restrictions on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Some universities and states have found ways to preserve required educational content, including through accreditation-related exceptions. Below are documented examples and the evidence behind NCRJI-SW's call for a public, state-by-state impact analysis.
Chancellors at 14 UNC System institutions granted exceptions for certain degree requirements, often citing professional accreditation and licensure. Appalachian State requested a waiver from CSWE's anti-racism-related accreditation requirements; CSWE declined, and the university's chancellor granted an institutional exception instead.
Inside Higher Ed reporting ↗ · UNC System waiver reporting ↗
Boise State reports that the Idaho State Board of Education approved exemptions covering its BSW and MSW programs, including online and advanced-standing pathways. Those programs can continue requiring DEI-related courses under the state's exemption process.
Kentucky's 2025 HB 4 imposes restrictions on DEI activities at public colleges. The University of Louisville's published implementation guidance identifies limited exceptions, including programs required for institutional accreditation. This identifies a possible protection, not a verified count of social work program exemptions.
CSWE states that DEI-related accreditation standards are not ordinarily waiver-eligible. It also instructs programs to explore institutional exceptions, consider legal context, and work with their accreditation specialist. Its guidance describes flexibility in documenting compliance while maintaining accreditation expectations.
A tracker verified October 14, 2026 counted 17 states with statewide restrictions through laws and one through an executive order. These restrictions vary considerably; they are not all blanket bans on DEI courses. We do not have a verified national total of states, campuses, or social work programs that have used accreditation exceptions, adapted language, or obtained institutional waivers.
NCRJI-SW's demand: CSWE should publish a state-by-state analysis documenting the restrictions actually affecting accredited programs, the accommodations and protections already available or used, and what could be lost if explicit standards are weakened nationwide.
State-by-state tracker (verified October 14, 2026) ↗ · State law examples and links ↗
Source descriptions reflect publicly available reporting and institutional guidance as of October 22, 2026. Counts depend on how restrictions are defined, and the presence of a statutory exception does not establish that a specific program has received one.
A short political education video series from NCRJI-SW, connecting lessons from the Black Freedom Movement to our organizing around the proposed 2029 CSWE Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards.
Dr. Crystal M. Hayes opens the series with Ella Baker, whose commitment to grassroots leadership helped shape the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Her organizing offers an important lesson for the current EPAS debate: we do not have to wait for institutions to give us permission to organize. We can build power together in our schools, agencies, and communities.
Who are you bringing into this work? Join NCRJI-SW in helping shape a coordinated national response—and submit your own public comments to CSWE.
Remarks by Dr. Martell Teasley during the October 22 and 23, 2026 actions at the CSWE Annual Program Meeting in Atlanta.
These additional recordings feature Dr. Martell Teasley speaking on the second day.
Our October 20 gathering was an important beginning, but one meeting—and one letter to CSWE—are not enough. We want to hear from you whether you attended the gathering or not.
What concerns you about the proposed 2029 EPAS? What can our profession's history teach us? And what are we prepared to do together?
We welcome different perspectives, disagreements, and difficult questions. Your feedback will help inform NCRJI-SW's collective response and continued organizing.
SHARE YOUR FEEDBACK →The form asks for your full name and email address. Your contact information will be used for administration and optional follow-up; comments may be shared in anonymized summaries. Please read the full participation and confidentiality information before submitting.
NCRJI-SW's EPAS work grows from the Collaborative's commitment to reproductive justice, political education, and collective action. We want to recognize the people who have helped make this national conversation and organizing possible.
Dr. Hayes founded NCRJI-SW and leads its national organizing, political education, and advocacy around the proposed 2029 EPAS, including convening the October 20 national gathering and initiating the National Steering Committee for Social Work Education and Institutional Accountability.
Dr. Goldblatt Hyatt serves as Co-Director of NCRJI-SW, contributing to the Collaborative's reproductive justice work, educational efforts, and collective organizing.
We are grateful to Dr. Simone Snyder, Nakita Joseph, and Marissa Aitken for their support of the October 20 gathering, and to Jessica “Danuwoa” Pelletier for behind-the-scenes support as a graduate assistant.
Our invited opening speakers were Dr. Justin S. Harty, Dr. Martell Teasley, and Dr. Suzanne Pritzker. Their historical and policy contributions helped ground the national conversation. Their contributions helped ground the national conversation. Steering committee members are identified separately below.
NCRJI-SW is establishing a National Steering Committee for Social Work Education and Institutional Accountability. This next phase brings together scholars, educators, students, practitioners, and organizers to help shape national strategy and connect people working for change in their own institutions and communities.
Our goal is to move beyond one gathering or one public comment period toward sustained political education, coordination, and collective action. All seven members listed below have accepted invitations to serve.
National Steering Committee — Founding Members
This page is a public record of our ongoing work. We'll continue adding resources and updates as our national response develops.