Near the turn ot this century， Jane Addams and her colleagues envlslonecl<br >profession that would make social activism integral to its work. This bold visio:<br >challenged the members of the fledgling profession to expand their wor<br >beyond interpersonal transactions. Unlike professions like medicine， law， nurs<br >ing， or psychology， social work has retained this vision， even through ensuin<br >conservative periods and in the face of pressures to make counseling the e~<br >clusive focus of the profession.<br > This idealistic vision has endured; however， it has not been consistentl<br >reflected in the school curricula or in the professional work of social worker<br >in ensuing decades. Although many factors have contributed to this situatior<br >I believe that the vision of Addams is not outmoded; indeed， many feature<br >of contemporary society--persistent patterns of inequality， major social prok<br >lems like AIDS and homelessness， and attacks (such as funding cutbacks) o<br >prerogatives of the profession--make the vision as compelling as it was nearl<br >a hundred years ago.<br > The settlement-house leaders provided a vision but did not provide<br >detailed methodology for implementing it. The social work profession need<br >a framework in order to provide strategies and skills for reforming policies <br >This framework must be simple enough for a wide variety of practitioners t<br >understand， yet complex enough to avoid suggesting that social change ca<br >be reduced to a few steps. It must be relevant for a range of professional，<br >including direct-service staff. In addition， the framework must be readil<br >applicable to agency， community， and legislative settings. Rather than bein<br >limited to a single skill or style， the framework should include analytic， pol<br >tical， interactional， and value-clarifying skills; these skills reflect the actm<br > work of those who strive to change policies. Further， the framework shoul<br > bely the widespread impression that policy practice can be understood onl<br > by specialists， but it should also lay the groundwork to allow some soci;<br > workers to enter policy-specialized positions. Finally， to be true to Addams <br > vision， the framework must emphasize advocacy for the powerless an<br > nnnrpq~~rl<br >