Mary Adams works full time as a bank teller for Wells Fargo and is a proud mother of six children, who range in age from 7 months to 23 years old. Her oldest son is in college, and Adams goes to church every Sunday, where she’s famous for her homemade banana pudding. She’s a positive and outgoing 40-year-old woman, and she radiates an enthusiasm for life that’s contagious. But Adams also is a single mother, who, despite having a steady job with benefits, was evicted from her townhome and is now homeless. She lives with her young son and 14-year-old daughter in a shelter run by Northern Virginia Family Services while her oth...

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In an attempt to prevent child deaths that result from abuse and neglect, Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, have introduced the bipartisan Protect Our Kids Act, along with companion legislation by Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas. The National Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths, of which NASW is an active member, advocated for the introduction of the legislation through its ongoing efforts. According to Joan Levy Zlotnik, director of the NASW Foundation’s Social Work Policy Institute, the coalition has consistently met with members of Congress to voice the need for providing better responses to help prevent the maltre...

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Carla Damron may have retired after working for 31 years as a social worker in mental health, but she is staying busy as an advocate and educator for the profession. Not only is Damron the executive director of NASW’s South Carolina chapter, but she also has started on her fourth mystery novel featuring fictional social worker and amateur sleuth Caleb Knowles, which she hopes to complete this spring. Damron said she writes to entertain readers as well as educate them about social work issues. As an NASW chapter leader, Damron said she hopes to reinvigorate members and rally them to fight state budget cuts that could hurt agencies th...

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Dr. Gilbert H. Friedell, right, with NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark, receives the 2011 Rhoda G. International Sarnat Award for Advancing the Public Understanding of the Social Work Profession. NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark presented Dr. Gilbert H. Friedell with the 2011 Rhoda G. International Sarnat Award for Advancing the Public Understanding of the Social Work Profession. Friedell received the award in November at a ceremony held at the NASW Washington, D.C., office. “I am very proud to accept this,” he said at the event. Friedell has devoted the majority of his career as a physician to pursuing t...

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Looking for proof that social work matters? Look no further than the 2012 Social Work Month Toolkit. It can help social workers convey the important role they play in society to employers, policymakers, the public and potential allies. March is National Professional Social Work Month and the theme this year is “Social Work Matters.” Helping social workers convey this message is vital, because so many social programs face setbacks due to reductions in federal, state and local budgets, while at the same time the number of people in need of such services grows. NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark noted that promoting the...

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The NASW National Committee on Nominations and Leadership Identification adopted the following slate for the 2012 election. Members eligible to vote must hold NASW membership in good standing as of Feb. 18, 2012. Voting will be entirely electronic, and your email address must be current in order to submit your vote. To update your email address, please contact our member call center at 800-742-4089. Candidates’ information will be published in the March issue of the NASW NEWS and on NASW’s website. Campaigns must be conducted in accordance with the NASW Elections Standards and Procedures for National Leadership. Board of Director...

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NASW and its Massachusetts chapter filed an amicus brief where the Defense of Marriage Act is being challenged in federal court. The case, Massachusetts v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is being heard in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. NASW and the chapter argue against the 1996 law that restricts the federal definition of marriage to that between one man and one woman. The brief highlights a body of research that strongly supports the conclusion that the federal government’s discrimination in denying benefits to married same-sex couples and awarding them to opposite-sex couples unfairly stigmatizes same-sex co...

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Mark Battle never shied away from conflict. “Mark fought for what he believed in,” said longtime social work colleague Betsy Vourlekis. “He was a firm believer in the power of good information.” Battle, who led NASW as executive director from 1984 to 1992, died Oct. 26 at age 87. In addition to his role at NASW, Battle’s path in helping others included educator, consultant, businessman and government leader. During his NASW tenure, the association’s membership grew and he heightened social work’s respectability by forging close relationships with other health and behavioral health organizations ...

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The military’s loss (Re: Armed Forces See Need for Social Workers, Jan. 2012) Though I applaud the armed forces for the opportunities that they are offering newly graduated MSW’s, I am disappointed that those of us with years of experience have not been afforded the same opportunity to join the military. In 2001 (when I was 48 years old), I applied to join the Army and Navy Medical Corps with the intention of working with soldiers in the field. I had 21 years of clinical experience with PTSD and other mental health and addiction issues. I had 15 years of clinical experience and requisite social work licenses and addiction cert...

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Thousands of social workers have signed up to provide mental health counseling, drug addiction prevention and other services for company employees through the National Association of Social Workers Assurance Services’ employee assistance network, and that number is forecast to grow as more members learn about the opportunity. “A little more than 3,000 NASW members have signed up,” Assurance Services Executive Vice President Tony Benedetto said. “We expect it to go to 5,000 to 7,000 when it matures.” Employee Assistance Programs offer employees resources to help them deal with personal problems that could harm ...

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