Panel will examine state of end-of-life care in the United States Four social workers are among the members of a newly formed Institute of Medicine committee that will examine the state of end-of-life care in the U.S. The Committee on Transforming End-of-Life Care is charged with developing a consensus study and technical report on the current state of end-of-life care. The IOM activity report for the committee states that “the time is ripe for a new examination of how individual values and preferences can be aligned while assuring compassionate care focused on the needs of individuals approaching death in an affordable and sustaina...

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Congresswoman also reintroduces the Social Work Reinvestment Act NASW hosted an event on Capitol Hill to mark the relaunch of the Congressional Social Work Caucus in the 113th Congress as Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., takes over as chairwoman of the caucus. Former caucus chairman and former Rep. Edolphus “Ed” Towns, D-N.Y., officially handed the caucus key to Lee during the event. Towns, who retired at the end of the 112th Congress, created the caucus two years ago. “(Ed) has always been a proud social worker and we felt so lucky to work with him all these years,” said NASW CEO Elizabeth J. Clark. As a social wor...

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Congresswoman also reintroduces the Social Work Reinvestment Act NASW hosted an event on Capitol Hill to mark the relaunch of the Congressional Social Work Caucus in the 113th Congress as Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., takes over as chairwoman of the caucus. Former caucus chairman and former Rep. Edolphus “Ed” Towns, D-N.Y., officially handed the caucus key to Lee during the event. Towns, who retired at the end of the 112th Congress, created the caucus two years ago. “(Ed) has always been a proud social worker and we felt so lucky to work with him all these years,” said NASW CEO Elizabeth J. Clark. As a social wor...

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was in the fifth grade when she realized the importance of the mind-body connection, she tells the Wilmette Life, a Chicago Sun-Times publication. “My friend’s mom had cancer and she always had this positive outlook, always had her wig on and her makeup on, and she lived much longer than she was expected to,” Janus says in a recent article. “I took that with me, and when I went to college and started studying psychology. That story always made me think about the way we process things and how our emotional state drives everything else in our lives.” Janus, an NASW member, is a licensed clinical social worker w...

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Social work students from the University of Greensboro/North Carolina State A&T University Joint MSW program wait to talk with state Rep. Alma Adams, D-58th District. The students participated in the NASW North Carolina Chapter’s biennial Social Work Lobby Day at the North Carolina General Assembly in March, as part of Social Work Month. From left, Liz Leon, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Lesley Niemczyk, UNC Greensboro/North Carolina A&T State University; Summar Corley, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Jessica Wyngaarden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Carson McRae, UNC Greensboro/North Carolin...

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My tenure at NASW has covered almost 12 full and fulfilling years. I leave my role as chief executive officer with renewed pride in our profession, and with appreciation to all of you members who work every day to make our world better. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to both the national and chapter staff and volunteer leadership. I have had the opportunity to co-lead NASW with six different presidents — Ruth Mayden, Terry Mizrahi, Gary Bailey, Elvira Craig de Silva, Jim Kelly and Jeane Anastas. There have also been 12 different national board configurations. Each president and each board put their own, unique stamp on our associati...

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Ashley Varner, an oncology social worker at the DeCesaris Cancer Institute at Anne Arundel Medical Center, speaks about recruitment and retention during the “Strategies for Strengthening Health Care Social Work” meeting, which was held recently at NASW’s national office. As health care in America explores new territory with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, social workers need to stake a claim to their roles as part of the health care team. That sentiment was consistent among social work leaders from various health care settings who recently participated in a meeting called “Strategies for Strengthenin...

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A student member of the NASW California Chapter is doing her part to promote inclusion of Native Americans into the field of social work and to the association. Merris Obie is a BSW student at Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif., and serves as the student director, north representative, for the chapter’s board of directors. Obie is a member of the Yurok Tribe and a descendant of the Karuk Tribe, and was born and raised on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation in Northern California. When Obie began her role with the chapter board, she said she noticed the lack of Native Americans in social work and decided to do something abou...

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Several staff members from NASW’s national office, along with NASW members and social work students from the University of Alabama School of Social Work and George Mason University, rallied outside the U.S. Supreme Court in February to support a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. NASW joined 20 other national organizations in the rally to raise awareness and support for keeping Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act intact. The court heard oral arguments Feb. 27 in Shelby County, Alabama v. Eric Holder. The case is an attempt by Shelby County to greatly modify or eliminate Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. NASW is advocating that ...

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NASW joined California mental health professional associations in filing an amicus brief in the 9th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals in the case Pickup v. Brown. The brief supports the recently passed California law (S.B. 1172) that bans the use of “sexual orientation change efforts” by licensed mental health professionals who treat minors. The trial court refused to strike down the new law and NASW supports an affirmation of this decision by the appeals court. The brief states the the District Court was correct in concluding that S.B. 1172 is a valid exercise of California’s power to regulate mental health professionals wit...

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