The annual conference of the National Council on Aging and the American Society on Aging drew thousands of participants to Washington, D.C., in late March, including many NASW members and other social workers. The conference, "Aging in America," gathered about 3,500 professionals in aging. It included hundreds of workshops, plenary sessions, symposia, poster sessions and networking meetings. During the conference, Robyn Golden ended her term as chair of the American Society on Aging Board of Directors, and Cynthia Stuen stepped into the position, which she will hold through 2010. Both are social workers and NASW members. Stuen, a former cha...

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— Lyn Stoesen, News Staff   NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark presented information about the role of social workers in providing psychosocial care for people with cancer during a congressional briefing held on March 31. The briefing was held to promote and discuss a report issued by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), "Cancer Care for the Whole Patient." The report, released last year, promotes an approach to care that addresses the psychosocial needs of patients with cancer [January 2008 News]. "This is an important report and includes valuable information for social workers," Clark told the News. "NASW supports its con...

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NASW has filed a brief in a case before the Supreme Court of Iowa addressing same-sex marriage. NASW is supporting a 2007 trial court's ruling that denying marriage to same-sex couples is unconstitutional. The case, Varnum v. Brien, originated in 2005 when Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit in the Polk County Court on behalf of six same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses in Iowa. Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people. The plaintiff couples argued that denying them marriage violates the equal protection and due process gua...

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Feb. 2008 Board's Action Context Finances Accepted the audit report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007 NASW received an unqualified or "clean" opinion on the consolidated audit including all related entities, including the Foundation, PACE, LDF and Assurance Services, Inc. Accepted the treasurer's financial report as of Dec. 31, 2...

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NASW has outlined its 2008 legislative agenda in a new report. Written by NASW's Government Relations staff, the document states that many issues important to social workers will be prominent during the federal-level races this election cycle. The Social Work Reinvestment Initiative (SWRI) will be emphasized, as well as health care topics such as universal coverage, care for veterans returning from Iraq, and Medicare. SWRI The report stated that NASW centered much of its political efforts on SWRI in the past year. The goal of SWRI is to secure federal and state investments in professional social work to enhance societal well-being. The Ac...

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Since I was a child, I have loved the month of May. Living in the north, May always seemed to be right on the edge of summer. By Memorial Day, school was all but over for the year. Three months of endless possibilities stretched ahead. May falls in the middle of spring. In the northern hemisphere, spring begins with the vernal equinox in March. It lasts until the summer solstice in June. Equinoxes and solstices are defined by the earth's tilt and the surf's positions. As the earth tilts towards the sun, the length of daylight increases. Primitive calendars were determined by cyclical movements in the heavens. Knowing seasonal transitions wa...

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An NASW report shows that "sandwich generation" women are ill-prepared for the challenges of providing care to aging relatives and find it hard to ask for help. The report, "Not Ready for Prime Time: The Needs of Sandwich Generation Women, A National Survey of Social Workers," explores the challenges faced by some 42 million American women sandwiched between the needs of their own children and their aging relatives through information provided by their social workers. The report was commissioned by NASW and the New York Academy of Medicine. In 2006, NASW released data from a survey of these women that highlighted some of the strains...

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A new report from the NASW Center for Workforce Studies shows that social work professionals often face challenges or obstacles that may cause them to feel overwhelmed and stressed. The report, "Stress at Work: How Do Social Workers Cope?" is based on data from a recent NASW membership survey. The report reveals that social workers providing direct services, particularly mental health and health care, may experience higher levels of stress due to their emotionally attenuating practice setting. Among respondents, 31 percent said that a lack of time to complete the necessary tasks of their jobs was a major issue. Heavy workloads were ...

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NASW Social Work Pioneer® and civil rights icon Dr. Dorothy I. Height was joined by Reps. Edolphus "Ed" Towns (D-N.Y.) and Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) in announcing the introduction of a milestone social work bill in the U.S. House of Representatives in February. The Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr., Social Work Reinvestment Act (H.R. 5447) is a significant initiative that, if enacted, will enable the nation's 600,000 professional social workers to better serve families and communities in need, said NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark. Speaking at a Capitol Hill briefing and press conference Feb. 27, Height...

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The Rev. Donald H. Moeser wrote an article for the Huntington Herald-Dispatch's observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Moeser's piece detailed his meetings with King. "As a clergyman and a social worker serving an interracial, inner-city Lutheran Church in Newark, N.J., I became involved in the civil rights movement as an advocate on behalf of my parishioners and other oppressed people in my community," Moeser wrote. Later, he stated that he, along with other clergy, attended the ceremony in Washington, D.C., when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into federal law. He was also fortunate at the last m...

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