About 10,000 members, nonmembers and stakeholders completed an online NASW membership survey, which was distributed by email in May. NASW CEO Angelo McClain said the survey results enable the association to better tailor benefits, services, products and activities to members’ expectations. “It was very gratifying to know that the goals within our 2014-2017 strategic plan are in alignment with the survey findings,” McClain said. “We’re delighted that nearly 10,000 folks took the time to respond to the survey. It provides us with real-time information regarding what our members need from the association.” ...

Read More

Jennifer Scott, right, recipient of the NASW Foundation Eileen Blackey Doctoral Fellowship in Welfare Policy for the 2014-15 academic year, discusses her poster presentation at the NASW National Conference with NASW member and conference attendee Helen Woodbury, from Johns Creek, Ga. Scott is a social work doctoral student at the University of Texas-Austin. The NASW Foundation has chosen the 2014-15 recipients of its scholarship, fellowship and chapter research grant programs. Social work and NASW chapter candidates were selected for the Jane Baerwald Aron Doctoral Fellowship Program; the Eileen Blackey Doctoral Fellowship; the Consuelo W...

Read More

Committed Christian is also a committed social worker I want to thank you for the excellent article in the July 2014 NASW News, “Theology a Natural Fit for Some Social Workers.” I am a committed Christian and a committed social worker. It has been difficult to read many issues of the primary news magazine of my professional organization due to NASW’s liberal stance on so many issues. However, I have forged forward to serve both my God and my profession as a caring, committed social worker since 1985. Again, thank you. I know there are many Christians like myself who are social work professionals and committed Christians. Ric...

Read More

NASW, through its Legal Defense Fund, signed on to amicus briefs in a number of precedent-setting cases that urge support of same-sex marriage. In Baskin v. Zoeller, an amicus brief was filed in the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in two cases joined for review, one addressing Indiana’s and the other Wisconsin’s laws banning same-sex marriage. In Latta v. Otter, NASW signed on to an amicus brief filed in the 9th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals that challenges Idaho’s same-sex marriage ban. The briefs similarly argue that the same-sex marriage bans impose a disadvantage to same-sex couples and create an institutional stigma...

Read More

NASW Social Work Pioneer® Elaine Brody, who died on July 9 at age 91, is being remembered as one of the first social work practitioners to simultaneously conduct research of clients. Her efforts helped launch the specialization of aging studies. Brody’s research at the Philadelphia Geriatric Center in the 1950s eventually led to one of her most popular books, called “Women in the Middle: Their Parent Care Years,” in 1990, which brought to light the challenges women faced in building their careers while simultaneously caring for their children and aging parents. She explained that her in-house study of aging clients at ...

Read More

Honoring the people in hospices, hospitals, health care systems and long-term care facilities who collectively work to improve palliative and end-of-life care is what the Circle of Life Awards, co-sponsored by NASW, are all about. “Winning this award means that the program has achieved the very high standards that the American Hospital Association, NASW, and other supporting organizations set,” said Stacy Orloff, an NASW member who served on this year’s Circle of Life Awards committee. Award criteria include implementation of the National Consensus Project’s “Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative C...

Read More

June 2014 Board's Action Context Finances Received the financial report for the period ending April 2014 As of April 30, 2014, total assets were $16.7 million, and total liabilities and deferred income were $13.7 million, resulting in total net assets of $2.9 million. Programs ...

Read More

A young migrant boy is hoisted onto a freight car as Central Americans board a northbound train in Ixtepec, Mexico, on July 12. The number of unaccompanied minors detained on the U.S. border has more than tripled since 2011. Children are said to be crossing with their parents in rising numbers as well. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) Social workers can be instrumental in helping unaccompanied, undocumented minors find legal representation and other services once they cross the border into the United States. Tens of thousands of minors have arrived at the U.S. border within the last few months, fleeing from extreme violence and turmoil in their...

Read More

Social workers can aid millions of Americans in signing up for health care coverage as the next open enrollment period for the Health Insurance Marketplace, under the Affordable Care Act, takes place Nov. 15 to Feb. 15, 2015. NASW and other social work organizations are partnering with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, to develop a toolkit for social workers on what they need to know about connecting people to coverage. “We are enthusiastic to be partnering with NASW and see huge potential for our collaboration,” said Angelica Gutierrez, a social worker and special assistant at the CMS Office of Communica...

Read More

Depression sufferers need a strong support system to draw out hidden, raw feelings, says NASW Member Marcie Dimenstein, a licensed social worker at The Connection in Middletown, Conn. Dimenstein is quoted in an article on News 8 WTNH.com that talks about Carlos, who is in rehab and lives at the Recovery House at The Connection, a nonprofit agency providing community-based services. Carlos sought treatment after admitting to his substance abuse, addiction to opiates, and mental issues that he said turned him into another person. Dimenstein says in the article that someone who is very depressed has the same lack of hormones as someone who ha...

Read More