Black Social Workers in Georgia

Black population: 3.6 million (32.6% of the state)

Georgia has the highest Black population share of any state outside the Deep South core (32.6%), and metro Atlanta is the largest Black-majority metro in the country. Morehouse School of Medicine and Spelman College's pre-health pipeline are the country's most concentrated Black physician and life-sciences training infrastructure. Grady Health System in Atlanta serves one of the largest safety-net populations in the South. Black maternal mortality, sickle cell disease prevalence, and HIV incidence all run well above national averages in Georgia, and the state's Department of Public Health partners directly with HBCUs on workforce pipelines into clinical practice.

Social work has historically been one of the most Black-represented healthcare professions — roughly 22% of social workers identify as Black, against 14% population share. The National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW) is the country's largest Black-led professional association in any human-services field. Black social workers in healthcare settings — hospital case management, behavioral health, perinatal care navigation, oncology support — are critical bridges between clinical care and the social determinants (housing, food security, family services) that drive Black patient outcomes.

Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and MFTs issues LMSW and LCSW licenses. LCSW requires an MSW from a CSWE-accredited program, 3,000 hours of supervised clinical practice, and ASWB Clinical exam passage. Georgia honors social-work licenses from many states through endorsement when standards align.