— Lyn Stoesen and Paul R. Pace Several NASW chapters have recently made advances in promoting the social work profession in their states, including loan forgiveness, licensure restructuring, title protection and vehicle license plates with the "Help Starts Here" message. Pictured: Special license plates in Mississippi highlight "Help Starts Here." Image courtesy of NASW Mississippi Chapter NASW's New York City Chapter has worked successfully to secure funding in the New York state budget that doubles the state's social worker loan-forgiveness program, bringing it from $1 million to $2 million. &qu...

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— Lyn Stoesen, News Staff   Decisions have been reached in two legal cases for which NASW filed friend-of-the-court briefs, both favoring NASW's positions. The South Carolina Supreme Court overturned the conviction of a woman prosecuted for child abuse for continuing her pregnancy while abusing cocaine and delivering a stillborn infant. In North Carolina, an appeals court upheld a decision that awarded joint custody of a child to two women, former partners, who had been raising the child. South Carolina In the case McKnight v. South Carolina, Regina McKnight was convicted of homicide and sentenced to 20 years for the stillbirt...

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Apr. 2008 Board's Action Context Finances Received the financial report as of March 31, 2008 Revenues were reported at $12.4 million and expenses at $14.6 million, the difference due primarily to board-approved early booking of an Assurance Services Inc., transaction and, with the changes in the stock market, a paper loss on investments. Overall, actual expenses were under budget, and the associa...

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NASW Rhode Island Chapter Executive Director Rick Harris plans to pedal his way from his home state to Washington, D.C., to attend the upcoming NASW Delegate Assembly. Rick Harris at the Vermont State House in Montpelier. (Photo: Rick Harris) Taking back roads, he estimates he will endure about 1,000 miles of biking. And he will be doing it alone. Taking place Aug. 7-10 in the nation's capital, Delegate Assembly is the representative, decision-making body by which NASW members set broad organizational policy, establish program priorities and develop a collective stance on public and professional issues. It takes place every three years...

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From the President Thank you for electing me NASW president. I am humbled and enormously grateful to be selected by you, my colleagues, for this honor. To those who have gently and ably guided me through this orientation year, thank you for your time and patience. Early last year, the NASW News staff asked me to respond to a series of questions designed to inform the membership of my platform for candidacy. I replied that the key issue for the social work profession is promoting an up-to-date, educated and active social work culture by successfully implementing the Social Work Reinvestment Initiative. Furthermore, building upon the 2005 Soc...

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NASW's New York State Chapter has received $250,000 in the state's budget to establish a training program to help mental health services providers address the needs of veterans and their families. The Veterans' Mental Health Training Initiative will establish eight regional training sessions throughout the state for practitioners that will focus on the needs of veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq and their families. The sessions will include training in how to assess and treat combat-related mental health disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury and substance-use disorders. The sessions will...

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— Lyn Stoesen, News Staff   NASW recently presented an overview of social work workforce trends with a Lunchtime Series continuing education teleconference offered by NASW Center for Workforce Studies Director Tracy Whitaker. During the teleconference, Whitaker presented general demographic trends in the United States, discussed the status of the social work profession and noted several expanding opportunities for social workers. Those opportunities include the practice areas of aging, criminal justice, military and veterans affairs, health disparities, disaster planning and navigating cyberspace. "The data covered a range of a...

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— Lyn Stoesen, News Staff   National Professional Social Work Month, which takes place every March, focused on a central tenet of social work — building on strengths. Across the country, NASW chapters, schools of social work and individuals marked the occasion and celebrated the profession with special events, press coverage and recognition of social workers. "Social Work Month is always a good opportunity to bring attention to the incredible work that social workers do all year long," said NASW Public Relations Manager Allison Nadelhaft. "Many organizations also take this time to celebrate the accomplishments of the entir...

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— Lyn Stoesen, News Staff   The NASW Foundation presented the 2007 International Rhoda G. Sarnat Award to William C. Bell, president and chief executive officer of Casey Family Programs, at a ceremony and celebration in Seattle in April. NASW Foundation President Elizabeth J. Clark and William C. Bell (Photo: Jennifer Watt) The award is presented to an individual, group or organization that has significantly advanced the public image of social work with the aim of increasing public awareness and recognition of the value the profession. "For more than 25 years, William Bell has been a tireless advocate for the welfare of ch...

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The Social Work Reinvestment Initiative (SWRI) received extra support in April as Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md., upper right) introduced, and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich., lower right) cosponsored, legislation to help the nation's 600,000 social workers better serve families and communities. Mikulski and Stabenow, both social workers, championed the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr., Social Work Reinvestment Act (S. 2858) — on World Social Work Day, April 15 — to address a nationwide shortage of social workers. It is the companion bill to the U.S. House proposal (H.R. 5447) that was introduced in February. Both bills s...

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