Social worker Aaron Bishop has been appointed commissioner for the Administration for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, within the Administration for Community Living. ACL is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Bishop has been serving as acting commissioner since November 2013, ACL Administrator Kathy Greenlee said in a statement.

“ … By making his appointment permanent, he will be able to continue to focus on directing the policy and day-to-day operations of AIDD with and on behalf of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities across the country,” Greenlee said. “With Aaron’s leadership, in collaboration with our partners in the Developmental Disabilities Network, we will continue to build momentum on these critical issues, especially in the areas of self-advocacy, access to community supports, diversity, and youth transitions.”

Bishop has nearly 20 years of experience working with and for individuals with disabilities in both the direct-practice and public policy sectors. He received a master’s degree in social work, with an emphasis in public policy, and two bachelor’s degrees in natural sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

NASW members Iris Cohen Fineberg (photo left) and Susan Gerbino (photo right) each received the Project on Death in America Career Achievement Award at the recent Social Work Hospice & Palliative Care Network conference.

The award recognizes social workers who have made an outstanding professional contribution to palliative care for at least 15 years and who have impacted the field nationally or internationally.

Fineberg is associate professor and associate dean for academic affairs at Stony Brook University’s School of Social Welfare, and she is president of the Association of Oncology Social Work.

Fineberg has taught social work and sociology to medical students and health professionals from numerous disciplines. She has worked at length in clinical and research ethics, serving on hospital ethics services and as chair-woman of the institutional review board at the School of Health and Medicine at Lancaster University, England.

Fineberg directed an intensive International Palliative Care Research summer program for health care and community organization professionals from more than 20 countries and 12 disciplines.

Gerbino is a clinical associate professor at the New York University Silver School of Social Work. She has held many leadership roles and has received numerous grants for her palliative care initiatives.

Gerbino is founder and director of the Zelda Foster Studies Program in Palliative and End-of-Life Care, named for the pioneering hospice and palliative care social work leader.

The program’s mission is to educate and mentor the next generation of social workers in palliative and end-of-life care.

Gerbino has contributed to social work practice in palliative and end-of-life care, working diligently to build nationally recognized MSW and leadership fellowship programs, while contributing to scholarships in this specialty area.

NASW announced that Elizabeth M. Felton is the new associate counsel for the NASW Legal Defense Fund.

Felton is an attorney licensed to practice in the District of Columbia. She is also licensed as a clinical social worker in the District and Maryland, and previously in New York and California.

Her law degree is from Howard University School of Law and her MSW is from Atlanta University School of Social Work. Her BSW is from SUNY College at Buffalo.

Felton has practiced law in the D.C. court system for the past six years as a court-appointed guardian in child abuse and neglect cases, where she advocated for the best interests of children and participated in trials and court-ordered mediation.

During the same time period she also acted as an independent contractor with Delany, Siegel and Zorn, assigned to investigate federal equal employment opportunity cases.