Can you help re-elect a champion for social workers to the MN House?

Hi there! I'm Jess, and I have an undergraduate degree in Social Work from St. Kate’s (2018) and a masters in advocacy and political leadership.

After my internships, I couldn’t help but see all the barriers social workers face when trying to empower our clients while navigating an unnecessarily complex state and federal system. I wanted to do something about it to support social workers, and I knew macro work was where I belonged. I was elected to the MN House in 2020, and was honored to be named Policy Maker of the Year in 2022 by the NASW MN Chapter! I’ve also been endorsed by NASW-MN PACE every election.

If you would like to help send me back to St. Paul so I can continue to fight for Social Workers statewide, please contribute to my campaign! Donations of all sizes are meaningful to me! My average online donation is just $54, so I do not need much from everyone to meet my goal. Any amount meaningful to you is meaningful to me! I also will refund a donation if you fall on hard times, because we've all been there!

Did you know that you can get up to $75 of your donation refunded to you through the Political Contribution Refund program! You can learn more about that here.

A little about me - Since getting elected, I've personally carried and passed:

• Social work title protection – I believe county social workers must be licensed or at least educated in social work to use the title of “social worker.”
• Social work provisional licensing pathway – The provisional pathway to licensure means that licensure is no longer gatekept behind the licensure test that research tells us is racist and not a good measure of competency. 
• Trainee insurance reimbursements – When insurance companies tried to cut or eliminate reimbursements for services rendered by social workers practicing under supervision, I took action to stop them in their tracks and right the course. 
• Child protection IT system replacement - In a tied House, I secured the necessary funds to begin the move away from SSIS including raising awareness alongside Scott County social workers about the critical state of this ancient system and the stress it adds to our workers case loads.
• Permanent 988 funding
• Protecting social workers’ licenses from action due to non-work personal cannabis use.
• RISE Act to improve disability services on every campus in MN
• Campus sexual assault prevention and reporting that helps us better prevent sexual violence and relationship violence on campus.
• Extending waiver expirations for hospital or treatment stays up to 120 days as opposed to 30.
• Creating a third pathway for families who cannot afford mental health or substance use disorder treatment for their children which means fewer families are interacting with CPS when they are seeking expensive but necessary care for their child.
• Multiple bills to address the procedures behind child support hearings for people with orders for protection, safe at home addresses, and more.
• Better aligning how SSDI and RSDI benefits, unearned income, and other supportive services are calculated.
• Travis' Law to require 911 operators to dispatch mental health crisis teams to mental health calls.
• Increased wages for people who care for people with disabilities and are paid through the DWRS.
• Several bills that prioritize family preservation and require family search steps to be documented as a part of every case file
• PCA driving bill which allows PCAs to be reimbursed for the time they spend driving their clients
• Remote supervision expansion for clients with compromised immune systems
• FFPSA fixes to maximize the funds we collect to keep families together
• Expanded the FAIM program to reach more Minnesotans experiencing poverty

To continue this work, I have to get re-elected, and it takes money to win. Can I count on you to help me keep fighting for us in St. Paul?

Thank you for supporting me so I can fight for something that is so important to so many of us! I can't do this without you, and I am forever humbled and grateful to have the privilege of fighting for social workers in St. Paul!