NASW News

Karyn Walsh, senior practice associate at NASW, was one of the facilitators of the course “Understanding Cancer in Hungary: The Social Worker’s Role.” NASW has posted a new online course that will aid social workers and other health care professionals in Hungary with a better understanding of cancer and psychosocial counseling skills to help those with the illness. The course, "Understanding Cancer in Hungary: The Social Worker's Role" is available in Hungarian and is based on the existing course, "Understanding Cancer: the Social Workers Role." The new course is developed with information gathered from oncology psychos...

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NASW Arizona Chapter Executive Director Carol Stambaugh (no photo) was chosen by the Arizona Society of Association Executives as the Executive of the Year. It is the highest recognition given by the organization to the chief staff executive of an association in the state. Those honored with the award exemplify the very best in association management by continually bringing credit to the profession and to the entire association community. Stambaugh was given the award at the society's annual gala recently. "I was so lucky to have a past-president, my president-elect, and some committee chairs in attendance at the gala with me," Stambaugh sai...

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This year, the National Association of Social Workers is proud to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW), which is our signature credential. NASW has long supported national recognition for sound professional standards and this credential has been the cornerstone of NASW's efforts to ensure high-quality social services for the public. There are currently more than 35,000 social workers certified as members of the Academy nationwide. Established in 1960, on the verge of historical social reforms, the ACSW was the first credential created to formally recognize leaders in the social work profession. Bef...

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NASW’s Rita Webb, left, and Rebecca Myers, right, talk with Feminist Majority President Eleanor Smeal at the Women, Power and Money Summit. The Coalition for Women's Appointments, of which NASW is a member, honored more than 320 women appointed to positions in the Obama administration at a Sept. 29 celebration. The event, co-sponsored by NASW, took place at the National Museum for Women in the Arts in Washington. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius spoke at the event and was joined by Nancy Hogan, director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, and Tina Tchen, director of the White...

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NASW Social Work Pioneer® and Life Time Achievement honoree Herman D. Stein died Oct. 2 at his home in Shaker Heights, Ohio. He was 92. According to the NASW Foundation, Stein was recognized for his many years of service to the profession as an educator, administrator, consultant and researcher. An obituary published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that Stein joined the faculty of what was then Western Reserve University in 1964 as dean of the School of Applied Social Sciences. He was named university provost in 1969 and vice president in 1970. Before this, Stein earned a bachelor's degree in social science from the College of t...

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Prominent social workers from around the country gathered in October for the annual Social Work Pioneers® weekend program in Washington. Social Work Pioneers® who attended the event were: Event chair Bernice Harper, Catholic University School of Social Work Dean James Zabora, Metro Washington Chapter President Hal Lipton with his wife, Lenne. NASW President James Kelly (left).

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NASW was recognized at a recent meeting of the National Transitions of Care Coalition Advisory Task Force for developing a cultural competency tool and for assisting in the creation of a patient hospital guide. NASW developed the NTOCC cultural competence tool, which draws on the association's standards and indicators for the achievement of cultural competence in social work practice, to educate health care professionals about the topic as it influences transitions of care. The resource includes basic information about culture and cultural competence, as well as strategies to enhance professionals' cultural competence. The document concludes...

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A lesbian who helped raise her ex-partner's adopted children has custodial rights under Montana law, that state's highest court recently ruled in a case with NASW involvement. In Kulstad v. Maniaci, the Montana Supreme Court upheld, by a vote of 6-1, a 2008 district court decision to award Michelle Kulstad shared custody of the two children that Barbara Maniaci — Kulstad's ex-partner of 10 years — adopted while they were together. Maniaci sought to deny Kulstad a relationship with the children after they separated, claiming that Kulstad was not a legal parent to the children. By siding with Kulstad, the district court, and now ...

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Hollywood writers and producers who have given accurate portrayals of characters with mental health issues in their movies and television shows were honored in October. NASW California Chapter members attend the 2009 Voice Awards. From left, they are: Tina Pederson, Suzanne Dworak-Peck, Nancy Anderson and George Anderson. NASW was a program partner for the 2009 Voice Awards. The event, sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, recognizes writers and producers who have provided dignified and respectful depictions of people with mental health problems. The ceremony also honors people outside of Tinseltow...

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Unreasonable Terror I applaud the candid commentary from Elizabeth Clark, contradictory to Don Gilkinson, LCSW (Letters, November 2009 News). Indeed, our profession is based on ethics. Sarah Palin incited unreasonable terror with her inflammatory rhetoric for her own political gain by manipulating the meaning of "death panels." This is clearly unethical human behavior and an attempt to mislead. Continue on, Elizabeth Clark: Call it what it is. Kathleen M. Clark, LCSW, BCD Austin, Texas   Don't Lump Communities As a social worker who uses bilateral hearing aids, I was pleasantly surprised to see that a Legal Issue of the Month was d...

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