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Critic calls training ‘ideological formation’
The University of Maryland, Baltimore is set to host a training series on “anti-oppression” for social workers to “repair the trauma effects in the lives of Black/African and Latinx individuals and families” in May and June.
The 12-session SHARP Framework Workshop Series is centered on “deconstructing the human services sector by exploring U.S. history of institutional racism and how it impacts all levels of society,” according to UMB’s publication, The Elm.
It aims to “support child and family systems with adopting anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices.”
The series was developed in partnership with Baltimore Racial Justice Action, an anti-racism advocacy organization, and the SHARP Framework team. SHARP stands for “Structural Oppression, Historical Context, Analysis of Role, Reciprocity, and Power.”
Maryland currently requires licensed social workers to complete three hours of Category I continuing education credits focused on anti-oppressive social work, which must be obtained through live, structured formats, according to state Department of Health requirements.
UMB’s workshop series is specifically designed to meet this requirement. The workshop is open to all human service professionals, not just licensed social workers.
Beyond the state of Maryland, the accrediting body for social work requires institutions to actively advance DEI curriculum. Its updated guidelines list “Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” as one of its competencies, as The College Fix previously reported.
UMB spokesperson Alex Likowski told The Fix that “the School of Social Work offers professional development opportunities designed to support effective, ethical, and client-centered practice across our communities.”
When asked about the essentiality of such programs, he said that “thorough and well-rounded professional development has always been essential to us.”
Likowski did not respond when asked whether the workshop was driven by accreditation requirements or if UMB would have offered it regardless of those standards.
The spokesperson also said he is not aware of any concerns regarding UMB’s programs. However, critics argue that the initiative reflects ideological bias.
Ryan Williams, president of The Claremont Institute, told The Fix, “It should be pretty obvious that this programming is not ordinary professional development but ideological formation.”
“The training takes the work of serving children and families and reframes it through structural oppression, power, and racial grievance,” he said.
Williams added that this is the inevitable result when the guiding principles of a profession are DEI and demands for conformity to a political ideology.
“Social workers should be trained to serve clients well. Why are our institutions attempting to form them to see their clients, their work, and the country itself through the lens of oppressor and oppressed?” he said.
Williams also expressed grave concern over requiring social workers to adopt an anti-racist ideological framework, highlighting tension between DEI requirements and American principles.
He said, “Licensing can require competence, ethics, and lawful conduct, but neither the state nor state-backed professional bodies should require citizens to accept a perverted and anti-American ideology as the price of entering a profession.”
He added that “the American system rests on the natural rights of the American people and government by consent. The Constitution protects the freedoms of speech, religion, and conscience necessary to sustain that order.”
Williams pointed out that the Trump administration addressed this issue in its April 2025 Executive Order, which states that requiring accreditation-seeking institutions to engage in unlawful discrimination under the guise of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” initiatives violates federal law.
However, the federal government needs to “make clear that accreditors cannot use their gatekeeping power to impose DEI requirements or ‘anti-racist’ ideological commitments,” Williams told The Fix.
The focus of social work education needs to shift back to professional competence, ethical practice, and equal treatment under the law, rather than ideological indoctrination, he said.
