Deep in thought during the early days of her college education, NASW Kentucky Chapter Executive Director Melissa Johnson pondered what social work really means. She said the profession fascinated her — how the culture and class of people went hand-in-hand with systematic issues, and she wanted to know why. Her curiosity combined with a natural desire to help those in her home state of Kentucky led her to pursue an undergraduate degree in psychology at the University of Kentucky, and then a master’s degree in social work at the University of Louisville. She is now a licensed clinical social worker. “When I think about th...

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Committee also meets with White House AIDS policy director Members of the NASW HIV/AIDS Spectrum: Mental Health Training and Education of Social Workers Project Advisory Committee broke into workgroups while meeting at NASW’s national office in May. From left are Evelyn Tomaszewski, Melissa Sellevaag, Jeremy Goldbach and Dianne Green Smith. (Photo by Paul Pace/NASW News) The Advisory Committee of the NASW HIV/AIDS Spectrum Project met in May to discuss curricula and webinar content updates, workshop schedules and the NASW chapter partnership initiative that supports the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. The review included the Train t...

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Association has supported War on Poverty, Civil Rights Act initiatives for past 50 years Mel Wilson, manager of the NASW Department of Social Justice and Human Rights, was a teenager when President Lyndon B. Johnson gave his first State of the Union Address. Johnson announced a War on Poverty, and the Civil Rights Act was signed into law a few months later — in July 1964. “It was an exciting period of time that changed America,” Wilson said. It wasn’t a coincidence that these two events happened so close together, he said. President John F. Kennedy advocated for civil rights during his presidency and Johnson cont...

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The 40th anniversary of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, a key piece of legislation that addresses child abuse and neglect, was recognized at the 19th National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect, held April 30-May 2 in New Orleans. The only federally sponsored national conference devoted to the issues of child maltreatment brings together social workers, other professionals involved in this area and key leaders who work to address the issue of child abuse and neglect. NASW CEO Angelo McClain and Director of the NASW Social Work Policy Institute Joan Levy Zlotnik spoke at the conference. McClain spoke during the opening ple...

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April 2014 Board's Action Context Finances Received financial statements as of March 31, 2014 Treasurer Mary McCarthy reported that as of March 31, 2014, NASW’s total asset position was $17 million. Total expenses as of March 31, 2014, were $11.6 million, $375,000 below budget. Approved the FY 2014-15 budget ...

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ACA mandates that treatment is offered through exchanges The Affordable Care Act has brought about a “huge opportunity” for behavioral care in the U.S., said Ron Manderscheid, co-chairman of the Coalition for Whole Health. All health insurance plans sold on the federal and state insurance exchanges must offer 10 essential health benefits, or EHBs, to their enrollees, including mental health and substance-use disorder treatment. EHBs are also required for all new individual and small-group plans sold outside the exchanges. Additionally, all plans must offer mental health and substance-use benefits in parity with medical and surg...

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NASW student member Daniel Ball was one of the success stories mentioned at North Carolina Central University’s graduation ceremony in May. According to an article on The News&Observer, the school had its largest graduating class ever, and Chancellor Debra Saunders-White singled out Ball, who received his bachelor’s degree in social work. Ball grew up in foster care in coastal North Carolina, the article says, and he battled substance abuse and depression. He was in prison as a young adult and when he was released, he headed straight to community college. He now plans to attend UNC-Chapel Hill for his master’s of socia...

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Audrey Morrissey remembers when she was hopelessly in love with her high school boyfriend. “I was a lonely little girl and I lived in a fantasy world,” she said. “My boyfriend was everything to me.” That’s one reason it was easy for Morrissey’s boyfriend to manipulate her into selling sex for money. The couple had a child by the time Morrissey was 15 years old. She said she believed her boyfriend’s promises that they would live together as a family, and she often stole money when he asked her to. It wasn’t long before he put her in Boston’s combat zone, an adult entertainment district...

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The opportunity to serve as president of our national association is a tremendous privilege and a great responsibility. Working with the board of directors and the national staff, and representing the association to multiple constituencies are clearly roles of the office. It is my sincere hope that I will execute these duties responsibly and consistently, thereby contributing to the position of the association and its members nationally and globally. For those who know me, you likely have experienced my great enthusiasm and passion for the social work profession. For those newer to my presence and style, let me say I am a social worker th...

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  Students from Touro College Graduate School of Social Work in New York City joined NASW and students and faculty from across the state on March 4 to participate in social work policy advocacy in Albany. They advocated for lawmakers to pass the “Dream Act,” which would allow undocumented students access to state financial aid and scholarships for higher education. They also urged an increase in the state budget that would broaden the current loan-forgiveness program for social workers. (Photo courtesy of Touro College Graduate School of Social Work)

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