Helen Cloud Austin, an NASW Social Work Pioneer®, was recently recognized for her contributions to Crosspoint of San Antonio through the naming of one of the buildings of the organization in her and another founder's honor. The Austin-Cullum Outpatient Center was dedicated last year. When the John F. Kennedy Comprehensive Community Mental Health Center of 1963 began implementation in San Antonio in 1969, Austin was at the forefront of developing the city's first halfway house for patients being discharged from the local state psychiatric hospital. From serving as the first board president to holding subsequent board and volunteer positio...

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— Lyn Stoesen, News Staff   Tyleen Caffrey (Photo — Steve Rouse) It's a teenage rite of spring: picking out the perfect prom dress for a magical night of dancing and romance. But for some girls, it's not as easy as just wandering the aisles and finding what strikes one's fancy. NASW member and social work student Tyleen Caffrey decided to do something about that. Caffrey, an MSW student at the University of Southern Mississippi, started a project that collected donated prom dresses to give to girls in foster care. After the project launched, it expanded to reach other youth as well. Altogether, the project has dis...

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NASW members still have time to review and comment on new proposed policy statements, proposed bylaws amendments and other items to be considered at this year's NASW Delegate Assembly. Taking place Aug. 7-10 in Washington, D.C., the Delegate Assembly is the representative decision-making body through which NASW members set broad organizational policy, establish program priorities and develop a collective stance on public and professional issues. It meets every three years. Attendees and members can visit the Website to join in the preliminary discussions, said Sue Jashinsky, senior chapter relations associate. Among the 23 policy statements a...

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— Lyn Stoesen, News Staff   NASW Senior Policy Adviser Leticia Diaz recently spoke at a briefing on Capitol Hill about the U.N. Peacebuilding Commission. The Quaker U.N. Office, the Friends Committee on National Legislation and the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) sponsored the briefing. Diaz also discussed the work of the U.N. Peacebuilding Commission before an audience at a luncheon held before the briefing. Diaz, NASW's senior policy adviser on human rights and international affairs, has served as chair of the Washington, D.C., Council of Organizations of UNA-USA., a coalition of U.S.-based...

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Trustees for NASW Political Action for Candidate Election (PACE) have made four endorsements for Congress. NASW members are being encouraged to visit the Website often in order to get the latest list of candidates who may be in their jurisdictions. NASW Senior Political Action Associate Brian Dautch said additional PACE endorsements can be expected in the coming months as more contested primary races are settled across the nation. Once the Democratic presidential contest is settled, PACE trustees are expected to announce their choice for a presidential endorsement as well, Dautch said. PACE is the political action arm of NASW. As a politic...

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NASW has been involved in several projects addressing women's mental health concerns. Senior Policy Associate Rita Webb attended a Women's Mental Health Roundtable meeting, and a report has been issued from a Surgeon General's Workshop on Women's Mental Health that NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark participated in. Roundtable Webb was one of 35 participants invited to attend the Women's Mental Health Roundtable in December. The American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychiatric Foundation hosted the event. It included four breakout sessions addressing advocacy, services, public education and research and training. The g...

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NASW is encouraging social workers to contact their representatives in Congress to support a bill that would put a one-year moratorium on new federal Medicaid reductions currently being implemented by the states. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued seven Medicaid regulations that will significantly cut Medicaid payments for social work and other services to vulnerable Medicaid clients, said James Finley, senior government relations associate at NASW. Since the cutbacks will affect state Medicaid budgets differently, Finley said, members should contact their NASW chapters to learn how the new rules could affect the...

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NASW's Lunchtime Teleconference series has proven to be popular among association members. The series was launched earlier this year to give members an opportunity to earn 1.0 continuing education unit (CEU) upon successful completion of an online test following each teleconference. The teleconferences are open to all members. Each one details a different subject that affects social work or social workers and is hosted by an NASW national staff member. The series was started as a way to let members know a little more about national office efforts, said Susan Rubin, NASW Specialty Practice Sections manager. The "Social Workers and the Legal...

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The alarmingly high number of foreclosures across the U.S. has lawmakers and financial experts scrambling to find solutions. Besides the financial woes a foreclosure can cause an individual or a family, social workers are taking note of the emotional implications when a person or family faces such a traumatic situation. Feelings of helplessness and despair are common among this group who, for whatever reason, find themselves unable to make their mortgage payments, say social workers. Melissa Greenlee is a social worker who now works as an attorney for a nonprofit agency in Dayton, Ohio, called the Predatory Lending Solutions Project at the ...

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— Lyn Stoesen, News Staff   In February, the Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research (IASWR) co-hosted a leadership retreat to address concerns that fewer underrepresented minorities are pursuing careers in science. The event was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation and led by the Consortium of Social Sciences Associations. More than 60 organizations were represented at the meeting. Joan Levy Zlotnik, IASWR executive director, said the event was an important step toward addressing concerns about diversity in the scientific workforce. "We were able to discuss wha...

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