NASW chapters in Texas and Delaware were selected to receive monetary awards to further research projects that link social work practice and policy issues with relevant social issues.
Ruth Fizdale Chapter Research Grant
Each chapter will receive $2,000 in the 2013-14 Ruth Fizdale Chapter Research Grant program, administered through the NASW Foundation. The grant promotes opportunities for NASW chapters to conduct pilot research projects targeted to a specific emerging issue.
The Texas Chapter plans to use its grant to help support its Clinical Research Project, which focuses on clinical reimbursement for social work providers, according to the grant proposal.
The project is in its third year of a five-year plan and it has been successful in assisting social work providers and public and private insurance providers in resolving billing and reimbursement problems. For example, ongoing efforts have been dedicated to obtaining Medicaid reimbursement rates for clinical social work providers.
The project also aims to evaluate the impact of assisting providers to resolve practice-related issues.
This “will help tailor the goals and tasks of the project for the remaining one and-a-half years of the original plan,” the proposal states. It notes that a system will be developed to quantify outcomes.
“This evaluation is an important step to ensure that the advocacy efforts of the Clinical Reimbursement Project are effectively meeting the needs of providers and ultimately reducing the lack of access to mental health services in Texas,” the proposal says.
The NASW Delaware Chapter said it will use its Fizdale grant to examine social workers’ use of social media to promote social change.
Plans include developing a pilot research project to evaluate how Delaware social workers use social media to further their practice and policy initiatives.
According to the chapter’s proposal, social media tools are revolutionizing all areas of the social work profession. These tools can mobilize social action, such as disaster relief, outreach with difficult-to-engage clients, marketing, networking and sharing ideas and best practices.
The “quantitative and qualitative data will be compiled, summarized and analyzed to ensure the ‘voices’ of our social workers are being heard,” the proposal states. The results of the project will serve as a cornerstone of the chapter’s efforts to develop a more comprehensive and detailed research project, thus leading to beginner and advanced trainings.
Participants in the survey will include NASW members and nonmembers as well as social work students. The data will be analyzed and findings will be included in a final report.
Helen K. Rehr and other friends of Fizdale started the Ruth Fizdale Program in 1987 to honor her contributions to social work.
In addition, the NASW Foundation recently announced the 2013-14 winners of the Jane B. Aron Doctoral Fellowship; the Eileen Blackey Doctoral Fellowship; the Consuelo W. Gosnell Memorial MSW Scholarship; and the Verne LaMarr Lyons Memorial MSW Scholarship.
The Jane B. Aron Doctoral Fellowship
This fellowship is for social work doctoral students who are working on dissertation research in health care policy and practice, providing them with partial support.
The recipient is Patricia Yu, Boston College. The title of her dissertation is “Lives and Experiences of Foreign Home Health Workers.”
The Eileen Blackey Doctoral Fellowship
The recipient of this fellowship is Jacqueline Richardson-Melecio, University at Albany. The title of her dissertation is “The Integration of Cultural Competency in the Delivery of Mental Health Services to Latinos, A Social Work Perspective.”
The Verne LaMarr Lyons Memorial Scholarship
This scholarship is awarded to MSW candidates with a dedication to working in the African-American community who also have experience or a demonstrated interest in health and mental health practice.
The recipients are Allyson Black-Foley, Smith College; and Gilbert Nick, Columbia University.
The Consuelo W. Gosnell Memorial Scholarship
This scholarship is awarded to MSW candidates with a demonstrated commitment, or an affinity, for working with American Indian/Alaska Native and Hispanic/Latino populations.
The recipients are: Zachary Alti, Fordham University; Alexis Dominique Reyes Ball, Portland State University; Cynthia Gutierrez Bernstein, Rutgers University; Chenoa Marie Crowshoe-Patterson, University of Denver; Catherine Ann Faulkner, University of Chicago; Elisa Meza, University of California, Berkeley; Rebeca Ozuna Barge, The Catholic University of America; Morgan Vera Pardue, University of Maryland; Alina Perez, Touro College; and Nalleli Yadira Sandoval, University of California, Berkeley.
Get more information: National Association of Social Workers Foundation.