Comparative social welfare or comparative social policy may be defined as the comparative study of welfare states, policies, and programs. Social workers have been instrumental in the development of the field of comparative social welfare and continue to make significant contributions to its international knowledge and practice base. With roots in Europe and the United States in the 1960s, comparative social welfare research evolved from descriptive case studies of welfare programs to causal and quantitative studies, all aimed at understanding and improving domestic social welfare policy through comparison with other nations. The 1990s marked a significant increase in the number of studies on comparative social welfare motivated largely by interest from the European Union, though the field has benefited from contributions by a global community of scholars since then. Although the field continues to evolve, comparative social welfare can roughly be split between theoretical studies of welfare state development and empirical studies of welfare policies, programs, and outcomes. Studies in comparative social welfare can be classified by their method of comparison, nature of comparison, and level of comparison.

The special education system in the United States serves youth with disabilities in the public schools. After decades of marginalization and oppression, federal and state policies established in the 1970s created a complex policy and service delivery system that serves more than 15% of youth in schools. Under federal law, disabled youths are entitled to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive setting. At the federal level, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the guiding policy for special education. Under IDEA, key features of special education include the identification and evaluation of disabled youths, the least restrictive environment, Individualized Education Plans (IEP), procedural safeguards, and shared decision-making. To be eligible for services, a youth’s disability must directly and adversely impact their education as demonstrated by a comprehensive evaluation. Following the evaluation, a student will receive an educational placement in the least restrictive environment meaning the student must be included with students who are nondisabled to the maximum extent possible. The student will also receive an IEP, or a written document that specifies how the school or district will provide FAPE for the student as well as measurable annual goals. Students and their families should be involved throughout this process, and procedures are in place to ensure that any disputes are resolved. Vast inequities and disproportionalities have been identified within the special education system. Specifically, inequity spans the identification, evaluation, and discipline of youths with disabilities. Some youths are overidentified in special education, while others are underidentified. Black, Native, and Hispanic youths are more likely to be identified for special education services and are more likely to be placed in restrictive and segregated settings. Disabled youths, especially racialized youths, are also at increased risk of exclusionary discipline (e.g., suspensions and expulsions). Policy changes identify and rectify disproportionality in special education. States and districts are required to report on disproportionality and those that have significant disproportionality by race or ethnicity must provide early intervening services to eliminate the disproportionality. Debate persists on whether the current special education system can truly be equitable though continued advocacy, policy changes, and innovation to ensure that special education practices meet the needs of all students.

Dennis Michael Dailey (1938–2023) was a scholar, prolific writer, educator, practitioner, change agent, and passionate advocate. As a social work practitioner and educator, Dailey’s pioneering contribution to the profession was to educate and help bring balance between the social work practitioner’s personal and professional conceptualization of masculinity and femininity.

Much of the trauma experienced by individuals, families, and communities, especially in historically marginalized areas, has been created by a series of social phenomena such as structural oppression, racism, and discrimination. Public-serving systems are uniquely positioned to counter the perpetuation of retraumatization that disproportionately impacts oppressed groups. Therefore, trauma-informed care (TIC) and trauma-responsive care (TRC) must evolve through the conscious application of an antiracist and antioppressive approach, thereby preventing the further harming of already marginalized groups. Macro accountability is established by analyzing power systems through a culturally responsive lens rather than blaming and pathologizing individuals impacted by historical and persistent racialized trauma. Applied to TIC and TRC, the SHARP framework renders more effective social work services at the personal and individual, professional and organizational, and political and societal levels more just and humane. A compare and contrast analysis of adverse childhood experience studies, summarizing TIC and TRC, and a case study of the application of the SHARP framework to human services work may shed light on guiding public-serving systems and promoting opportunities for posttraumatic growth and transformative change necessary for dismantling policies, protocols, and practices that increase vulnerability and long-term adverse outcomes in socially disadvantaged communities.

The integration of psychosocial support into emergency responses is a recent development. In the 1990s, the need to address the mental health and psychosocial well-being of individuals and communities affected by emergencies became clear following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia (1991–1992) and the Rwandan genocide (1994). Prior to this, mental health in emergencies was primarily addressed in clinical settings. However, the humanitarian field was divided between the medical sector, which asserted that psychiatric clinical intervention was best, and many nonmedical actors, who preferred a person-in-environment approach. The need for consensus resulted in the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) working group’s establishment of the framework of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), which combined both approaches. The IASC Guidelines on MHPSS in Emergency Settings, published in 2007, are widely recognized as explaining how best to administer psychosocial support in emergencies. This ended decades of tension between mental health and psychosocial experts in emergency and humanitarian settings.

The phrase “Black Lives Matter” has become an identifiable phrase across the globe. Accelerated by social media in an online platform and social action, it is marked by a mass of not only Black folks, but a multiracial collective that has also manifested in direct action protests against police violence toward Black people. Initially a hashtag, #BlackLivesMatter, the phrase emerged into one of the most significant social movements in modern times. The Black Lives Matter Movement, along with the term Movement for Black Lives (M4BL), has centered on the historically ignored killings of Black men, women, and youth at the hands of state-sanctioned violence in public discourse, and offers an inclusive approach to organizing for social change.

William Neal Brown (1919–2009) was a social work educator who began his professional career after service in World War II as a Tuskegee Airman. The son of an African American father and Native American mother, in 1956 he became the first black professor at Rutgers University, where he taught in the School of Social Work for the next 33 years.

Reparations are a form of redress for harms or wrongdoings committed against individuals and their descendants in the interest of justice and individual and collective healing and restoration. Reparations entail material and non-material restitution. A framework for effective and equitable reparations includes comprehensive, targeted, and backward- and forward-looking measures that are corrective, restorative, and evidence-based. Various arguments in opposition and support of reparations exist. Most of the arguments relate to liability, practicality, and public support. In the United States, those who oppose reparations argue that current citizens are not financially liable for past injustices, reparations are unattainable due to statute of limitations and enslaved people are no longer living, and reparations remain divisive. In contrast, reparationists assert that taxpayers are responsible for the acts committed the by government, the U.S. government has a history of paying reparations and compensation which are indicative of practicality, and public division does not negate government accountability in interest of justice. Advancing reparations aligns with the mission of social work to enhance human well-being and achieve the goals of justice, human rights, and dismantling systemic and structural inequities.

Mildred “Mit” Joyner, DPS, MSW, LCSW (1949–2023), the former president of the National Association of Social Workers, the Council on Social Work Education Board Chair, and Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors (BPD), was a champion for justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion for more than three decades. She was a visionary who served extensively across various social work organizations domestically and internationally. She was also a champion of peace and justice at the community level.

Linda S. Moore was an inspirational and impactful social work educator and leader, particularly in the area of undergraduate social work education. Throughout her 39-year career as a faculty member in Texas Christian University’s Department of Social Work, she held multiple leadership roles, including program director, director of field education, and department chair. She also held multiple national leadership roles, including serving as president of the Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors. In 2020, she was the recipient of the National Association of Social Worker’s Social Work Pioneer Award. She will be largely remembered by the hundreds of social work students she influenced through her dedication and commitment to social work and social justice.