John C. Kidneigh, president of NASW from 1959 to 1961 is highlighted in the Children’s Bureau centennial celebration series, located at Children's Bureau Timeline.

In the timeline under 1958, there is a picture of Kidneigh and an entry noting that the 1958 amendments to the Social Security Act called for an Advisory Council on Child Welfare Services to report to Congress and to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

Kidneigh was chairman of the advisory council. One of its outcomes included a report to the HHS secretary recommending steps to address child welfare workforce shortages.

For the second consecutive year, NASW is observing World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, on June 15. The International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, features a resource library that anyone can use to help promote the campaign.

NASW plans to spread the message of WEAAD through its chapters and through MemberLink; SectionLink; blog posting; Facebook; Twitter; this website, and its consumer website, HelpStartsHere.org.

WEAAD raises awareness of elder abuse, which encompasses neglect and mistreatment, throughout the world.

This year’s observance includes a program at the United Nations — which has recognized WEAAD as a U.N. International Day since 2012 — on June 14, from 1:15 to 2:30 p.m. The program will address governmental and U.N. perspectives on elder abuse, and will be streamed live and archived at UN Web TV

Program hosts are the Administration for Community Living (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services); Human Resources and Skills Development Canada; the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs; the U.S. Mission to the U.N.; the U.N. NGO Committee on Aging; and AARP.

On a related note, the 2013 Physician Quality Reporting System includes a measure specific to elder maltreatment screening and follow-up planning.

NASW’s Practice Perspective, “Reporting PQRS Measures for Medicare in 2013,” is available online. {http://www.socialworkers.org/assets/secured/documents/practice/clinical/PRQS-PP 2013.pdf}

It highlights “Measure 181. Elder Maltreatment Screen and Follow-Up Plan.”

NASW member Chathapuram Ramanathan, center left, hands an NASW Memorandum of Understanding to K. Sekar, president of the Indian Society of Professional Social Workers, during a recent visit to India. The memorandum will facilitate the exchange of knowledge, resources and mutual interests between the two social work organizations.

NASW signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indian Society of Professional Social Workers in March.

The ISPSW is the oldest association of professional social workers in India. It was established in 1970 as the Indian Society of Psychiatric Social Work and was renamed with its present title in 1988, because of an increase in practitioners, trainers and researchers.

“NASW welcomes a professional collaboration with our social work colleagues from India,” said NASW CEO Elizabeth J. Clark. “We look forward to working together on issues of importance to both associations.”

ISPSW President K. Sekar said the memorandum will facilitate the exchange of knowledge, resources and mutual interests between the two social work organizations.

He said the ISPSW will strive to develop licensing procedures for practitioners in collaboration with NASW. One goal is for both organizations to set up joint research or projects that focus on emerging areas of professional social work. Sekar also hopes the associations will reciprocate accessing online social work material to foster the knowledge of social workers in both countries.

NASW member Chathapuram Ramanathan, who serves on NASW’s National Committee on Racial and Ethnic Diversity, helped initiate and facilitate the memorandum. He also is a member of ISPSW and is the organization’s North American representative.

Members of the Action Network for Social Work Education and Research met at the NASW national office in April to discuss an update on the Social Work Reinvestment Act; proceedings of the Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths; an update on the Council for Social Work Education Government Relations; information on the launch of the Congressional Research Institute for Social Policy, of which NASW is a supporter; and the proceedings of the Society for Social Work and Research and the NASW Social Work Policy Institute.

A discussion also took place on the Health Resources and Services Administration’s National Center for Health Workforce Analysis, which was established by the Affordable Care Act and which strives to determine future health workforce needs by collecting better information and performing analysis.

Angelo McClain also was announced as NASW’s new CEO. His first day was May 13.

ANSWER meets quarterly and comprises the Association of Baccalaureate Program Directors; the Council on Social Work Education; the Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education; the National Association of Dean and Directors of Schools of Social Work; the National Association of Black Social Workers; the Social Work Policy Institute; the Society for Social Work and Research; and NASW.

The Child Welfare League of America has released “The National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare,” which is the foundation for the CWLA standards of excellence and a framework for all children, youth and families to flourish. A 27-member committee — including Joan Levy Zlotnik, director of the NASW Foundation Social Work Policy Institute — worked on the blueprint. Zlotnik said the committee first met last February and then in the spring, with the purpose of creating a framework that would encompass of all of the CWLA national standards. The committee members included social workers, members of the Children’s Bureau, and directors and commissioners of state social services programs.

NASW leaders met with representatives from the Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute in April to help the institute establish necessary connections with non-physician clinicians. NASW also heard an update on PCORI’s activities, including information on the formation of several new work groups. PCORI was created through The Affordable Care Act as a semi-private entity to support Comparative Effectiveness Research. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Comparative Effectiveness Research is designed to inform health care decisions by providing evidence on the effectiveness, benefits and harms of different treatment options. The evidence is generated from research studies that compare drugs, medical devices, tests, surgeries, and ways to deliver health care.