Honoring gay pride month, NASW is reflecting on its efforts this year to advocate full equality under the law for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people around the world. “It’s been an important year for the LGBT community,” said Evelyn Tomaszewski, NASW’s senior policy adviser on human rights and international affairs, who staffs the association’s National Committee on LGBT Issues. “However, social workers’ job to advocate for equality and nondiscrimination is never done.” NASW has been among the international chorus of organizations and governments calling on the Republic of Uganda&r...

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Forge Networking Links It is hard to overstate the importance of social work at this point in history. Social workers carry a banner that says things can be changed for the better. We are that great spark of transformation. Dr. Elizabeth J. Clark declares we’re a global society and social work is a global profession that is aiming for the betterment of society (From the Director, May News). In support of her words, let’s forge networking links that add meaning to name counts. Good listening, a trait tied into social work, must be open to values we share as well as ideas we may deplore. As therapists know, one cornerstone of all ...

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NASW honored the remarkable life and ongoing legacy left by Dr. Dorothy I. Height, who died April 20 at age 98. “I think we have lost a giant leader,” said NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark. “She was a remarkable woman who worked for not only civil rights, but also women’s rights in general.” Height was most widely known as the longtime president of the National Council of Negro Women and the godmother of the civil rights movement, and for helping to integrate the YWCA. She was also a proud social worker and NASW Foundation Social Work Pioneerw. She was honored recently with the association’s L...

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NASW applauded President Barack Obama’s creation of a task force to address the nation’s childhood obesity woes, noting that it has long advocated for efforts to prevent and treat childhood obesity. The association sent the White House a letter dated March 26 in response to the task force’s solicitation of public comments to assist it in making recommendations on public and private sector actions that can be taken to end childhood obesity within a generation. The solicitation appeared in the March 16 Federal Register. The task force’s agenda “is ambitious but urgent,” the letter said. “If left unad...

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April 2010 Board's Action Context Finances Received the financial report as of March 31, 2010. As of March 31, NASW’s total asset position was $15.3 million. Assets have increased by $1.5 million from the same time last year, attributable to the increased value of investments due to continued financial market recovery. With regard to liabilities and deferred revenue, this is an overall incr...

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Keynote speaker Diana Aviv, president and CEO of Independent Sector, said that in order to be credible, nonprofits need to demonstrate that their work has made a positive difference. Despite setbacks attributable to the recession and other causes, NASW has been pressing ahead with its advocacy agenda with success, NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark assured chapter executives at the 2010 Annual Leadership Meeting, which came on the heels of the Social Work Congress in Washington. In her presentation, Clark highlighted some of the association’s recent successes, including encouraging lawmakers to pass the 2009 Lilly Ledbetter...

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From the President The 2010 Social Work Congress was held April 22 and 23 in Washington and I am so proud of what hundreds of social workers from across the country were able to accomplish during those two days. First, this event brought together social workers ranging from new to seasoned professionals, from every state and U.S. territory, representing numerous cultures and organizations. We were pleased to be joined by direct practitioners, community organizers, social work educators, clinical social workers, social workers involved in policy and politics, directors of agencies and associations and hundreds of other social workers doing am...

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Geoffrey Greif was quoted in a Wall Street Journal column by Jeffrey Zaslow about male friendships. The author quoted Greif, a professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Social Work, who has studied how 386 men made and nurtured friendships. Men might not be as physically or emotionally expressive as female friendships, Greif said in the article, but men derive great support from them. Researchers say women’s friendships are face to face: They talk, cry together, share secrets. Men’s friendships are side by side: they play golf and go to football games, the story stated. “For several years, I’ve report...

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NASW supported the Hospice Foundation of America’s 17th annual Living with Grief teleconference, “Cancer and End-of-Life Care.” Each year, HFA hosts an expert panel teleconference that is observed by 100,000 social workers, nurses, physicians, therapists and clergy to discuss issues involving death, dying and bereavement. Moderator Frank Sesno noted that 38 percent of hospice patients have cancer-related illnesses, a primary reason for hospice admission. The teleconference included taped personal interviews with cancer survivors, family members and health and mental health professionals who assist clients and families w...

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The Case Management Society of America in March released a newly revised version of its Standards of Practice for Case Management, which NASW helped revise as part of an interdisciplinary task force. The CMSA Standards, introduced in 1995 and first revised in 2002, are voluntary practice guidelines for case managers of multiple disciplines working in a variety of health and behavioral health settings. Among other things, they address case managers’ qualifications; assessing clients’ physical and psychosocial health; planning and monitoring goals and evaluating outcomes; termination of services; adhering to legal and ethical princ...

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