Vice President Joe Biden talks with Michigan social worker Ram Ramanathan. Vice President Joe Biden hosted the White House Diwali celebration in the Eisenhower Executive Office building on Nov. 9, and among the invitees was Michigan social worker Ram Ramanathan. Ramanathan presented Biden with a copy of a forthcoming text about social work that he co-authored. Biden “was keen to know about the book and was intrigued that social workers are interested and actively engaged in global issues,” Ramanathan said. Diwali, also known as the festival of lights, is a holiday observed by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists. Presid...

Read More

Richard Jones, CEO of Metropolitan Family Services: "We have to work hard to maintain our leadership role in an ever-changing world." A significant portion of the social work workforce is comprised of small-business owners — mostly mental health social workers who run a private practice — and administrators who lead for-profit and not-for-profit social services agencies. Despite their numbers, many have little or no formal business management education. Acknowledging that some social workers lack the necessary business, financial and technical skills to build and grow small businesses, secure new funding sources for programs ...

Read More

Former NASW Executive Director Mark Battle was recognized with a retrospective of his life and work in social work. The NASW Social Work Pioneers® hosted their sixth annual meeting in Washington in October, featuring two keynote speakers and the recognition of several people who help make the program a success. The morning keynote was given by Pioneer Nancy Humphreys, a past president of NASW and founder and director of the Nancy A. Humphreys Institute for Political Social Work at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work. Her speech was titled, “The American Dream: Is it Obtainable and Sustainable in the Second Deca...

Read More

Asua Ofosu, NASW senior government relations associate, presented “Public Health Social Work in the 21st Century: Linking Policy and Practice” at the American Public Health Association’s 138th annual meeting and exposition, held Nov. 6-10 in Denver. Ofosu told public health social workers how social work and public health intersect and, to a certain extent, overlap. NASW and the APHA, for example, are both committed to the United Nations’ millennium development goals and the ONE Campaign to end extreme poverty and preventable disease. Also, both are involved in public education campaigns to bring more attention to th...

Read More

Soojung Kim, far left, greeted colleagues from Korea at an NASW visit in November. Amy Bess, far right, senior practice associate for human rights and international affairs at NASW, led the group on a tour of the office. On the other side of the world, shortly after the sun rises over the Korean peninsula, staff of the Korea Association of Social Workers in Seoul, South Korea, arrive at work to conduct much of the same type of business that NASW staff will work on in Washington about 13 hours later. The associations share a common purpose: to improve the quality of the social work profession in their respective countries, enhance the pro...

Read More

NASW’s HIV/AIDS Spectrum Project unveiled a Spanish-language version of its free WebED course “Understanding HIV/AIDS: The Social Worker’s Role” just in time for last year’s World AIDS Day, Dec. 1. The course is divided into four 30-minute lessons. The first lesson provides an overview of AIDS and HIV, including how the virus is transmitted, strategies for preventing HIV/AIDS, treatment options, related health and mental health conditions and its national and global effects. The second lesson details the biological, psychological and social aspects of living with HIV/AIDS for people infected with and affected ...

Read More

Social workers who develop the skills to serve as expert witnesses in legal proceedings say the job is challenging, but it can also be extremely rewarding. Johnnie Hamilton-Mason, a professor at Simmons College School of Social Work, takes pride in knowing her social work skills can play a vital role in furthering justice for people. She said social workers have the training to offer clinical assessments and treatment for those who may become entangled in the legal system. “This is a way we can expand our roles,” she said. “I like the fact that I can work with people in an advocacy role to help them right a wrong.” ...

Read More

Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y. NASW’s prospects of moving ahead with its legislative agenda are unclear now that Republicans control the House of Representatives. Even under Democratic control, progress on several fronts — immigration reform, social work safety, student loan forgiveness and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families reauthorization, for example — moved at a glacial pace. With power wrested from the Democrats in the House and seemingly little inclination for compromise, some predict the political machinery in Washington may come to a halt altogether. That’s not to say NASW won’t press ahead, or t...

Read More

NASW also sent a letter to Mary Wakefield, head of the Health Resources and Services Administration, about home visitation. Recent advocacy efforts by the NASW national office have called for mental health treatment for those adversely affected by the Gulf Coast oil disaster. NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark, on behalf of the association, stated in a letter to Kenneth Feinberg, administrator of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, that NASW was deeply disappointed by his intention to exclude mental health and substance use conditions from coverage by the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. “Mental and addictive illnesses, includ...

Read More

Joan Levy Zlotnik, left, and Dawn Hobdy, right, were among NASW staff at the CSWE conference in Portland, Ore. “Promoting Sustainability in Social Work” was the theme of the Council on Social Work Education’s 56th annual program meeting in Portland, Ore. The October event featured presentations by NASW staff as well as an NASW Press exhibitor booth. Joan Levy Zlotnik, director of the NASW Foundation’s Social Work Policy Institute, presented “Enhancing the Child Welfare Workforce: A View from Washington” to more than 100 attendees who specialize in child welfare. She highlighted policy and legislativ...

Read More