About Us

The Minnesota Social Service Association (MSSA) supports health and human service professionals through education, advocacy, and member benefits. MSSA was established in 1893 as the Minnesota Conference on Corrections and Charities to share best practices from Minnesota and other states to improve care for clients. Today MSSA represents over 4,000 health and human service professionals from non-profit, for-profit, and government agencies. Our members work in all areas of human services including mental health, chemical health, aging, children's services, unemployment, homelessness, and more. 

Our mission: MSSA cultivates and mobilizes Minnesota's health and human service professionals, students, and volunteers to advance social justice through education, advocacy, and building connections.

Our Guiding Principles

Our guiding principles describe what we believe and how we put our core values of Social Responsibility, Equity, and Inclusion into action. Our guiding principles inform our priorities and shape our decision-making.

Social Responsibility

• As an advocacy organization, we strive to be progressive leaders on issues affecting human services in Minnesota.
• We recognize that the historical truths of the human service system in Minnesota simultaneously contains pain and pride.
• We understand the importance of human relationships and honor lived experiences of our membership and those we serve.
• As conflicts arise, we talk to each other with an open mind and address the material, relational, and symbolic aspects of the disagreement when determining what choices we will make.

Equity

• We strive to be brave and ferocious in pursuing social justice.
• We are committed to removing barriers and increasing access for people with marginalized identities.
• We challenge oppressive practices, systems, policies, and ideologies that discriminate based on individuals’ identities.
• We are committed to sitting in, and working through, our discomfort as we create shared meaning and understanding.

Inclusion

• We welcome people who have historically been excluded.
• We celebrate the diversity of identities, perspectives, and experiences of our members.
• We challenge binary thinking and perfectionism, and we value open-mindedness, responsiveness to new information, flexibility, and the continued evolution of the social service field in Minnesota.

1924 Minnesota State Conference and Institute of Social Work