NASW News

NASW strongly supported the U.S. House passing the Affordable Health Care for America Act., H.R. 3962, in November, which included a Medicare provision allowing clinical social workers to bill independently for serving certain nursing home residents. In an alert sent to members Nov. 10, NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark noted that she sent a letter on behalf of the association to House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., commending Pelosi and her colleagues for introducing H.R. 3962. Clark explained that professional social workers have a broad perspective on the range of physical, social, emotional, and environmental factors t...

Read More

President Barack Obama has signed NASW-supported legislation that expands federal authority to investigate and prosecute hate crimes based on victims' actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. Prior to Congress passing the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act as an amendment to a defense spending bill, federal jurisdiction had been limited to attacks based on victims' race, color, religion or national origin. "We must stand against crimes that are meant not only to break bones, but to break spirits — not only to inflict harm, but to instill fear," Obama remarked at an Oct. ...

Read More

Social work delegate Floyd Allen interacts with children at the Awlady Orphanage in Egypt, one of several site visits. As part of the Social Workers Across Nations, or SWAN, initiative, NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark led a People to People social work delegation to Egypt in October. The trip was the latest social work exchange involving NASW that promotes greater understanding of the profession among countries. Twenty-five social workers participated in the delegation that visited Egypt's ancient cities of Cairo and Alexandria. Clark noted that Cairo continues to make strides into the future while facing the challenges of ov...

Read More

Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., calls for increased federal spending to reduce child abuse and neglect deaths. October 2009 was a busy month for child welfare advocates. Nationwide, they observed the second annual Step Up for Kids Week, Oct. 5-9. The public awareness campaign, sponsored by the Every Child Matters Education Fund and co-sponsored by NASW, aims to get policymakers to shift spending priorities toward families and children. Many national leaders in child protection, law enforcement and education joined policymakers in Washington for the "We Can Do Better" child abuse and neglect deaths summit, Oct. 22-23. Ahead of the summit, ...

Read More

October 2009 Board's Action Context Finances Received the pre-audited financial report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, and the fiscal year 2009-10 financial report for the two-month period ending Aug. 31, 2009. NASW's total asset position in this pre-audit report was down 3.6 percent from the prior year. As of Aug. 31, assets increased to $15 million due to the recovery of financial marke...

Read More

Situated along the banks of the Rio Grande in New Mexico, halfway between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, is the reservation of the Santo Domingo Pueblo people. Archeologists estimate that the Pueblo people have been living off the same land and in the same adobe structures anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 years. They've survived European conquests, wars and the encroachment of Western society, holding fast to their traditional culture and centuries-old way of life. Like so many other American Indian and Alaskan Native peoples, though, the Santo Domingo Pueblo disproportionately suffer from a lack of access to quality health care, the provision of ...

Read More

U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., announced that Lori Weinstein has been selected as a 2009 Angel in Adoption for her outstanding advocacy of adoption issues. The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute honored Weinstein and 190 other Angels at an awards ceremony in Washington. Weinstein was noted for her 21 years of service to Montgomery County Child Welfare Services, during which time she assisted more than 160 children in finding permanent and loving homes. Angela English, administrator for Montgomery County Child Welfare Services, said in a statement that Weinstein "has dedicated her professional career in child welfare to adoptio...

Read More

From the Director A few weeks ago I had the privilege of leading a delegation of social workers to Egypt. It was my first visit to a country that I had wanted to visit since childhood. The intrigue of the pyramids and the Great Sphinx, the content of biblical stories and novels, and even B-grade movies all added to the allure over the years. The experience of actually being in Egypt far exceeded any expectations I held. Seeing Cairo and the Nile River from our airplane was the first thrill, but there were so many thrilling experiences during our time in Egypt that it is hard to choose a single event or location to highlight. We were warmly...

Read More

The U.S. military and organizations that offer mental health care to veterans have made tremendous strides over the years in how they recognize and treat mental stress during times of war. During the American Civil War, for instance, the term "soldier's heart" was used to describe a combat stress reaction, or CSR, and focused on treatments that would place less physical stress on the heart, such as improving one's posture and wearing loose-fitting clothing around the waist. By World War I, the term "shell shock" was being used to describe a CSR, although it was believed to be the result of a physical injury to the nerves that happened when ...

Read More

NASW co-sponsored a UNAIDS forum in Washington in September that highlighted the needs of marginalized populations associated with HIV, particularly men who have sex with men and other sexual minorities. Evelyn Tomaszewski, project director for the NASW HIV/AIDS Spectrum: Mental Health Training and Education of Social Workers Project, moderated the panel event that included speakers from UNAIDS, the U.S. State Department, Romania and Jamaica. Tomaszewski said the meeting was first in a series of forums addressing global HIV and human rights in collaboration with World AIDS Day, Dec. 1. "Today's program is part of a series designed to share ...

Read More