From left, symposium attendee Anastasia Mukami; NASW member and member of the NASW Spectrum Advisory Committee Nathan Linsk; and symposium attendee Hailemichael Tesfahun talk during a break at the recent Global Social Service Workforce Alliance symposium. — Photo by Rena Malai/NASW News The Global Social Service Workforce Alliance held a symposium in April that brought together experts to discuss the importance of strengthening the social service workforce worldwide. The NASW Foundation was one of the co-hosts of the event, called “Supporting Families, Building a Better Tomorrow for Children: The Role of the Social Service Wor...

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NASW member Douglas Brooks in March was appointed director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy. As the director of ONAP, Brooks will lead the Obama administration’s work to reduce new HIV infections, improve health outcomes for people living with HIV, and eliminate HIV health disparities in the United States. A leading HIV/AIDS policy expert, Brooks most recently served as senior vice president for Community, Health and Public Policy at the Justice Resource Institute. “Douglas’ policy expertise combined with his extensive experience working in the community makes him uniquely suited to the task of helping t...

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An Ohio legislative bill that grants title protection and other professional advances for practitioners throughout the state has been passed, with Ohio Gov. John Kasich signing H.B. 232 in April. NASW Ohio Chapter Executive Director Danielle Smith said the bill was voted out of the state House of Representatives in early November. As it headed to the Senate in January, the chapter called on members to take action before legislators recessed in mid-April. Smith said members answered the call with thousands of emails, phone calls and letters to the Senate Medicaid, Health and Human Services Committee and to their own state legislators. NAS...

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A little bit of peer pressure turned out to be a good thing for NASW-Texas Executive Director Miriam Nisenbaum. During her undergraduate studies at the University of Texas-Austin, she chose a major in government but still felt undecided until someone suggested that she look into the social work field. “A friend persuaded me to try a social work class,” Nisenbaum said. “She told me I’d like it, and I did. Social work ended up being my minor.” Nisenbaum said she’s always loved studying human behavior and quickly saw social work as a good fit for herself. “Human behavior is so wildly unpredictable,...

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Other fields do not have to establish hiring preferences I am responding to the article "Agency agrees to give hiring preference," from the first page of the May 2014 NASW News. I am glad on the one hand that several Department of Family and Children’s Services are giving hiring preference to social workers for social workers' positions.What is wrong with that statement? No other profession has allowed individuals to assume the professional title and actual job of someone that is degreed and licensed in their field. It saddens me to think that so many states have not stopped the civil service exemption when it comes to an ...

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NASW, through its Legal Defense Fund, joined in filing an amicus brief with other mental health organizations in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the case Bostic v. Rainey. In a similar case, NASW, through its LDF, filed an amicus brief in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the case Obergefell, et al. v. Himes. Each brief argues the law banning recognition of same-sex marriages creates an institutional stigma for same-sex couples. The “avowed purpose and practical effect of these laws are to impose a disadvantage, a separate status and so a stigma on same-sex couples,” each brief argues. In Virginia and Ohio, the...

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NASW President Jeane Anastas delivers opening remarks at NASW’s 2012 Hope Conference. This year’s national conference will be held July 23-26 in Washington, D.C. Photo by Kea Taylor/Imagine Photography Social workers can play a vital role in informing their aging clients about the importance of HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. There is an uptick in the number of people in the aging population — those 50 and older — with HIV, said Cynthia Harris, special assistant for academic and student advancement and assistant professor at the Howard University School of Social Work in Washington, D.C. One potential reason is...

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It’s expensive to live in New York City, especially if a salary doesn’t keep up with the cost of living. And social workers who can’t afford to live where they work could get frustrated and move on, leaving behind a deficit of qualified professionals. These are a couple of the driving forces in developing the NYC chapter’s equitable salaries campaign, said Emily Foote, program and communications associate at NASW-New York City. Through the campaign, which began in January with a petition [now closed] on Change.org, the chapter is working toward raising social work salaries so what their members earn financially matc...

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The NASW Texas Chapter has announced findings from a survey that was sent to some of its members last June to evaluate the outcome of the chapter’s Clinical Reimbursement Project, which began in 2010. Charlotte Cooper, the project’s director, said the Clinical Reimbursement Project began after chapter members who are licensed clinical social workers expressed concerns about decreasing reimbursement rates and policy issues that affected their practices. “Rates have steadily decreased since the 1990s, with an increase in overhead due to inflation and additional requirements of practice, such as computers, programs, mobile ...

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Staff members from Boston Medical Center were among the social work departments that the NASW Massachusetts Chapter honored for their service following the Boston Marathon bombings last year. Social workers played a critical role in helping the victims, their families and friends, and the community heal in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings last year. The NASW Massachusetts Chapter — during its 13th Biennial Social Work Symposium — honored the social work departments of seven trauma centers in Boston for their extraordinary service following the attacks that killed three spectators and injured more than 250 others....

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