Two longtime social workers, Jacqueline Steingold and Joseph Walsh, who generously served in leadership roles at the NASW chapter and national levels, have died. Steingold, who served on the NASW national board of directors and the NASW Michigan Chapter board of directors as president, died on Feb. 25. “Jacquie was one of the most dedicated NASW Michigan members I have known,” said Maxine Thome, executive director of the Michigan chapter. “Not only was she active in NASW Michigan, but her life spanned years of involvement in the civil rights movement and as a strong activist for social justice. She was a true mentor for ...

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(Photo right) Chris Herman, left, senior practice associate at NASW, and Nora OBrien-Suric, senior program officer at the John A. Hartford Foundation, stand next to the NASW poster presentation of the Hartford-NASW Supervisory Leaders in Aging initiative at Aging in America 2016, the annual conference of the American Society on Aging. In March, NASW staff participated in the annual conference of the American Society on Aging, Aging in America. The conference presented abundant opportunities to share NASW’s work in aging, network with social workers and other professionals, and to learn about the latest developments in practice and ...

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NASW once again promoted the value of advance care planning on National Healthcare Decisions Day, which is celebrated every year on April 16. NASW Senior Practice Associate Chris Herman posted a detailed Practice and Professional Development entry about NHDD on NASW’s blog. The blog was promoted through the association’s social media channels in April. Herman noted that efforts to promote advance care planning need not be limited to one day. This year’s NHDD’s theme —“It Always Seems Too Early, Until It’s Too Late”— can be used as a catalyst for initiating advance care planning educati...

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From new ways of caring for veterans to hearing what’s on the minds of young social activists to running a successful private practice, attendees at NASW’s national conference this month will find countless opportunities to grow professionally and find new inspiration. The conference theme is based on what social workers do best: Leading Change, Transforming Lives. It all takes place June 22-25 in Washington, D.C. The keynote speakers will be social worker and U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz.; Robert A. McDonald, secretary of Veterans Affairs; Soledad O’Brien, award-winning journalist frequently seen on CNN; Nancy Lublin...

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Dawn Ellis-Murray is proof that education is the key to success. She said her family instilled in her the value of education as she was growing up in Vicksburg, Miss., and she has carried it with her all the way to her current role as executive director of NASW’s Alabama Chapter. “My family had a great deal of regard for education,” she said. “And it was one of those things that was understood: I would do well in school and I would graduate. There was no question if I would go to college, but what I would do once I got there.” Ellis-Murray has a bachelor’s degree in economics, a master’s degree in...

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Why is the Association undertaking a modernization and revitalization initiative? The primary driver behind modernizing the Association’s structure is long-term in nature. The current business model was designed in the 1970s and reflects the economics, technology, and best practices of that time. The impetus for this initiative was the recognition that we needed to update our business practices and structure based on current technology and best practices, to position the Association for continued financial viability and to better serve our members in the decades ahead. What is the goal of the initiative to modernize and revitalize the...

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June is LGBT Pride Month. While great strides have been made in LGBT rights, some states have passed laws that negatively impact that progress. In April, NASW posted a statement on Social Work Blog, denouncing the legislative actions by Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee to deny equal treatment of LGBT individuals and families. “NASW believes that these laws, passed under the guise of ‘religious freedom’ or to ‘protect children,’ must be vetoed or repealed,” the blog states. “Taken separately or collectively, all three laws are objectionable and are an affront to the progress we have made t...

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Center for Medicare Advocacy says settlement, which eliminated ‘improvement standard’ for Medicare beneficiaries, still not being followed Medical providers and contractors continue to illegally deny Medicare coverage and care based on an “improvement standard” that has been eliminated, according to a March 1 press release by the Center for Medicare Advocacy. On that date, CMA and Vermont Legal Aid filed a court motion for resolution of noncompliance with the settlement agreement in the landmark case, Jimmo v. Sebelius. NASW is a member of the Jimmo Implementation Council, convened by the CMA with support from the...

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20 years ago: Supreme Court rules in Jaffee v. Redmond NASW member Karen Beyer made history 20 years ago when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in her favor that social workers like her deserved the protection of psychotherapist-client privilege in the federal court system. It’s a legal interpretation that may be taken for granted today, but Beyer remembers she faced the potential of jail time for being in contempt of court for refusing a judge’s order to hand over records of her client, who later became a defendant in the case Jaffee v. Redmond. “My client had been traumatized,” Beyer said of that time. “This le...

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Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities An estimated four to eight children die from abuse and neglect every day in the U.S. Approximately half of these children are less than a year old and 75 percent are less than 3 years old. These are some of the findings from “Within Our Reach: A National Strategy to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities,” the final report of the Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities. NASW member Michael Petit was among the 12-member commission that included social worker Marilyn Bruguier Zimmerman, who resigned from the commission in November 2015 to join th...

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