I n late March 2020, U.S. citizens grappled with unprecedented changes to their daily lives as transmission of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) began to spike and mandatory ‘‘shelter-in-place” orders were implemented in all but eight states. ‘‘Essential services” were largely exempted from shelter-in-place orders, including a range of health and social service agencies. Within these essential services, many social workers are putting themselves, and their loved ones, at risk of infection as they continue to perform their work with clients and organizations. Yet compared with coverage of other helping professionals, the media has reported almost no information about social workers’ risk, access to personal protective equipment (PPE), or professional responses to the pandemic. We believe that social work is more vital than ever, and as such, social workers’ experiences on the frontlines of the pandemic warrant deep attention. We write this commentary to inform the field— and the public—about what social workers are doing, how they are coping with their own risks, and how social work as a profession is anticipating the needs of communities who will be left particularly vulnerable as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As leaders of two public social work programs, we shared a sense of urgency and responsibility to gather social workers’ lived experiences. We also believed that in shining a light on what social workers are doing and seeing during a time of crisis, we might uncover ideas for what a more equitable future might look like. The stories that form this commentary are based on 16 videotaped interviews with MSW alumni of the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Houston, conducted between late March and mid-April 2020. We recognize that these interviews do not constitute a traditional qualitative research study. Nevertheless, we sought to interview alumni in a variety of settings and involved in direct services, organizations, and policy work during the height of the pandemic.

中文翻译：

---

来自前线的声音：社会工作者面对 COVID-19 大流行

2020 年 3 月下旬，随着新型冠状病毒 (COVID-19) 的传播开始激增，除八个州外，所有州都实施了强制性的“就地避难”命令，美国公民努力应对日常生活中前所未有的变化。“基本服务”在很大程度上不受就地庇护令的约束，包括一系列卫生和社会服务机构。在这些基本服务中，许多社会工作者在继续与客户和组织合作时，将自己和亲人置于感染风险之中。然而，与其他帮助专业人士的报道相比，媒体几乎没有报道社会工作者的风险、获得个人防护装备 (PPE) 或对大流行的专业反应的信息。我们相信社会工作比以往任何时候都更加重要，因此，社会工作者在大流行前线的经历值得深切关注。我们写这篇评论是为了让该领域和公众了解社会工作者正在做什么，他们如何应对自己的风险，以及社会工作作为一种职业如何预测社区的需求，这些社区将作为一个特别脆弱的社区COVID-19 大流行的结果。作为两个公共社会工作项目的领导者，我们有着共同的紧迫感和责任感，以收集社会工作者的生活经验。我们还相信，通过了解社会工作者在危机时期所做的和所看到的，我们可能会发现更公平的未来可能是什么样子的想法。构成本评论的故事基于对加州大学洛杉矶分校 MSW 校友的 16 段录像采访，和休斯顿大学，在 2020 年 3 月下旬至 4 月中旬之间进行。我们认识到这些访谈并不构成传统的定性研究。尽管如此，我们还是试图在各种环境中采访校友，并在大流行的高峰期直接参与服务、组织和政策工作。