Social workers power the smallest and the largest of the social service nonprofits and I’ve often thought of them as the tip of the spear in the fight against the myriad social ills confronting the world.

They’ve released a video that advocates for social workers. You can order it here. Here’s a clip:

Yup — social workers on YouTube. This should put the lie to the myth that social workers can’t use technology in their work. Those of you who think that web site statistics aren’t going to be a part and parcel of the work of social services nonprofits are now on official notice!

Plenty of technologies can be used for social workers but of the Web 2.0 technologies out there web-based instant messaging tools such as Meebo would be a great start. If you are a nonprofit techie working with social workers, consider teaching them to use Meebo and LinkedIn so that they can establish an informal online network that can be used for quicker and better referrals. Another possibility would be the establishment of a Web-based mashup that would be a directory of social services providers that would be analogous to the one that NYC Coalition Against Hunger did for hunger and food resources.