UNO Project Examines Rural Nebraska Social Work Workforce

For rural communities, understanding workforce needs starts with listening. A new University of Nebraska at Omaha initiative is bringing social workers and community partners together to identify challenges and opportunities for strengthening Nebraska’s rural social work workforce.

➡️ What’s new

Beginning in spring 2026, a team from the Grace Abbott School of Social Work (GASSW), led by Susan Reay, Ed.D., partnered with Category One Consulting (C1C) in Omaha to assess current social work labor force conditions across rural Nebraska.

This ongoing project is examining workforce distribution, roles, and capacity, while also identifying gaps and opportunities to strengthen the system. C1C is supporting project planning, stakeholder engagement, data collection, and analysis, helping translate findings into actionable recommendations.

The team has already engaged over 100 stakeholders in education and practice through individual one-hour listening sessions and virtual interviews. These conversations will help to identify workforce priorities and community needs across the state.

💡 Why it matters

Rural communities face distinct workforce challenges, and understanding those challenges is an important step toward building a more sustainable social work workforce.

By combining community perspectives with quantitative and qualitative data and existing research, the project will provide a comprehensive look at Nebraska’s rural social work professionals and help identify strategies to improve recruitment, education, and retention.

🔎 Zoom in

The project has gathered insights directly from social workers and community partners across Nebraska through focus groups, listening sessions, and virtual interviews.

“This workforce study includes focus groups with social workers and community partners across the state to gather insights on the needs, challenges, and opportunities within rural communities,” Reay said. “Understanding rural workforce needs starts with listening. By engaging directly with social workers and stakeholders in rural communities, we’re gaining valuable insight into what’s working, what’s missing, and how we can better support both practitioners and the people they serve.”

Jaiden Davis, a GASSW graduate assistant, will support Reay on the project. Davis brings personal experience from growing up in a small town and a passion for increasing resources and attention for rural communities.

“I’m deeply honored to be considered a valuable piece in this project,” Davis said. “I’m looking forward to speaking first-hand to the lack of services in rural areas from my experience, as bringing resources and attention to rural communities is something I’m passionate about.”

Assistant Director Ellen Rice, Instructor Amy Browning, and Associate Professor Yiwei Zhang also will contribute their expertise to the project.

🌎 The big picture

The initiative reflects UNO’s commitment to strengthening communities through research, collaboration, and workforce development. By combining research and discovery with direct community engagement, GASSW is working to develop practical strategies that can support social workers and the communities they serve.

The project also aligns with UNO’s role as a metropolitan public research university focused on advancing social and economic mobility and serving communities through impactful research and partnerships.

⚡ What’s next

The GASSW team will continue collecting stakeholder perspectives and analyzing workforce data to develop recommendations for rural Nebraska.

The findings will position GASSW to inform future workforce development strategies and program efforts, with the goal of advancing a more sustainable and responsive social work workforce across the state.