School of Social Welfare Students Spearhead Legislative Education Advocacy Day 2024

Jacob Schoff and Alexis Candodo pose for a photo behind a wooden podium in the NYS Capitol building. Both are smiling and wearing blue short sleeved shirts. The wall behind them is made of brown stone and green marble.
Jacob Schoff (left) and Alexis Candido (right) at the NYS Capitol on Legislative Education Advocacy Day. (Image provided)

By Erin Frick 

ALBANY, N.Y. (May 7, 2024) — Last month, social work students from across New York State convened at the Capitol for Legislative Education Advocacy Day (LEAD), an annual event that gives social work students a platform to speak directly to state legislators and advocate for bills with the potential to have a strong positive impact on the populations that social workers serve.  

University at Albany’s Alexis Candido and Jacob Schoff, both Master of Social Work (MSW) students at the School of Social Welfare (SSW), played leading roles in organizing this year’s event. 

“For over 20 years, social work students have gathered in the Capital to advocate for key legislative issues that are important to social work students and social work professionals,” Candido said. “Much of the social work profession — our careers, the future of our careers, and the communities we serve — is regulated by state policies. LEAD gives social work students a voice in legislation, which is important because we are the future of the field.”

Over 70 students and supporters attended LEAD 2024. Here, LEAD participants pour down a stairwell in the NYS Capitol during the April rally centering child welfare legislation. The walls are a tan stone and accent lights shine yellow.
Over 70 students and supporters advocated for legislation centering child welfare at LEAD 2024. (Image provided)

“Bringing people together to support a common issue is so important, and creating a like-minded front is crucial. The process of educating students on bills, teaching students how to communicate with legislators, and advocating for crucial issues can extend into so many different areas of social work practice. Everyone can be an advocate and we must use our power and voices as students to effect real change and progress.”

Schoff currently works with unhoused populations in Albany. He hopes to continue engaging with this kind of work post-graduation. 

“Through my work with Albany’s unhoused population, I have seen the systemic injustices and inequities they face. After graduating, I hope to work in supportive housing, that is, working with individuals to gain the housing rights they deserve. I hope to continue to learn and grow with this population, eventually moving into a position where I am able to enact policy change and eliminate barriers found in systems of health care and incarceration, that uniquely impact unhoused people. This is a population that has been repeatedly ostracized, and they deserve so much dignity and respect that has been taken from them.”