NASW Foundation Local Chapter Programs
Learning Springboard Endowment

The Learning Springboard Project promotes school social work in San Francisco, California. Created in 2000, the purpose of the project is to support the salary of professional social workers in the San Francisco school system.

Learning Springboard was made possible by an initial generous contribution from Diana Ming Chan, her husband Clarence and son Dr. Harrison Leong. Mrs. Chan retired in 2000 after decades working with children and families, including a period as a school social worker. Anyone interested in supporting school social workers is encouraged to make contributions to the Learning Springboard Endowment.

The Learning Springboard is an endowment that was created to re-build the cadre of school social workers in San Francisco.  Before a 1978 ballot initiative severely limited public school spending in California, the San Francisco public schools employed school social workers in elementary schools. The social workers typically worked with children experiencing barriers to successful achievement and adjustment.  The ballot initiative, Proposition 13, caused many social services and school social work programs to be phased out. The goal is to reverse this trend over time by funding social workers to work in the school system.

Additional contributors include Janlee Wong, Executive Director, California Chapter NASW and Josephine Jackson.

Click here to read the article in NASW News.