Alice Cahill draws a mural of points discussed at the symposium “Children at Risk: Optimizing Health in an Era of Reform.” The meeting was held in November at the NASW national office in Washington, D.C. NASW’s Social Work Policy Institute, in collaboration with PolicyLab of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and contributing partner the University of Southern California School of Social Work, held an interdisciplinary symposium in November to discuss ways to better meet the health care needs of children served by the child welfare system and those at risk of involvement in the system. The think-tank symposium, ca...

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At an age when many people are considering retirement, Capt. Dan Grinstead was instead leaving for his first deployment to Afghanistan, according to an article on 9news.com, a website for Denver’s local NBC affiliate. Grinstead, an Iowa native in his 60s and a social worker for 35 years, felt that his services would be best put to use helping soldiers cope with the multitude of stresses they face during combat. “I just couldn’t imagine myself sitting down talking with soldiers in anything other than a uniform,” he told 9news.com. Leaving his family and being deployed with a team of 2,800 others, Grinstead helped his...

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From the President Social work was in the news late in 2011 when stories about efforts to compensate people in North Carolina who had undergone involuntary sterilization into the 1970s aired on a “Rock Center with Brian Williams” segment called “State of Shame” and appeared in the New York Times. Uniquely in North Carolina, it was state-employed social workers who decided which people — generally poor or in care as “impaired,” often African-American and more often women — would undergo these procedures. Based on interviews conducted in 1997, the recorded voices of social workers involved in c...

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Lisa Cox, left, and Nathan Linsk, members of the NASW HIV/AIDS Spectrum Project advisory committee, join the group’s discussion at its meeting in December. The program has received a contract modification of $334,000. The HIV/AIDS Spectrum: Mental Health Training and Education of Social Workers Project has been awarded a contract modification for $334,000 to support program goals during the third, fourth and fifth years of its contract. Funding was received through the Center for Mental Health Services, of the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, and will support efforts to accelerate a federal response to HIV/AID...

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From left, NASW Fund Development and Foundation Director Robert Arnold stands with NASW members Sherri Weisenfluh, Ellen Csikai and Gretchen Marcum Brown at the FHSSA event held during the NHPCO conference in San Diego in October. Arnold presented a check on behalf of the NASW Foundation to the Bernice Catherine Harper Social Work Africa Scholarship Fund. In early October, about 1,600 people involved in the hospice and palliative care field — including social workers, nurses, physicians, volunteers, spiritual and bereavement professionals, and educators — gathered in San Diego for the 12th annual Clinical Team Conference and Pe...

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In the aftermath of the global war on terror, officials say the number of enlisted social workers within the military has gone down and the need to rebuild those ranks is greater than ever. Soldiers experiencing mental health challenges — ranging from posttraumatic stress, depression, anxiety and personal problems — can face risks to their overall health, their relationships with family and friends, and their careers if the problems are left untreated. The stigma associated with seeking mental health services and assistance from professionals, including social workers, is slowly changing as efforts are being made to recruit mo...

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Encouraging newspapers, broadcast stations and online resources to help spread the word about the important role social workers play in society has been a tradition of National Professional Social Work Month, which is celebrated each March. The outreach effort relies on thousands of social workers from coast to coast to use local media resources to inform neighbors about the many ways social workers help people and their communities. Building on this year’s theme, “Social Work Matters,” NASW plans to highlight the best reporting and depictions of social work issues showcased by the media through its website, Social Worker...

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NASW extends its deepest sympathies to the family of former NASW Executive Director Mark Battle, who died Oct. 26. He was 87. As executive director, Battle demonstrated a pioneering leadership that stimulated the organization and the social work profession to broader areas of social concerns. “He was a social worker, educator, consultant, businessman and former government official,” said NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark. “Throughout his career, he blended expertise in management and labor issues with social work skills and knowledge.” Battle later co-founded the NASW Social Work Pioneers® and rece...

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‘Purge’ survivor Elizabeth Clark’s editorial made me stand up and applaud. I am one of the few “survivors” of the medical social work “purge” throughout the nation’s hospitals. Now, I am joyfully witnessing the resurgence of social work in our own hospital system here in Virginia. Ida Cannon, we are still flying your banner! Sherry S Parker, ACSW LCSW ACM Manager, Social Work Services, Sentara HealthCare   The moral compass I’m writing in response to the article, “LGBT Families Hurt by Misguided Policies,” that was published in the November 2011 issue. Shouldn&rsquo...

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The National Association of Social Workers Legal Defense Fund has a lot to celebrate during its 40th anniversary in 2012. During the past four decades, the LDF has assisted members in paying legal fees in cases related to their professional practice; filed hundreds of legal briefs to support the rights of marginalized groups, such as immigrants, children and LGBT individuals; put out reference publications that help social workers navigate complex legal issues; and offered online law and ethics training and continuing education programs for social workers. “We pride ourselves on the level of services and products we are able to provi...

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