NASW News

Results of voting are in for this spring's election of members of NASW's national Board of Directors and Committee on Nominations and Leadership Identification. Nearly 19,000 members cast ballots. Results of the voting follow. Winners took office on July 1. Board of Directors Member-at-Large (2008-2011) Esther Langston, 9,984 Judy Lewis, 8,419 MSW Student (2008-2010) Kai Zwierstra, 8,422 Diane Belinsky, 9,646 Region I (2008-2011) Paula Mattis, 538 Robin Russel, 773 Region II (2008-2011) Nelly Rojas Schwan, 912 Michie Hesselbrock, 608 Region X (2008-2011) Becky Fast, 687 ...

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The May Lunchtime Specialty Practice Sections Teleconference, highlighting documentation in private practice, proved to be a popular topic with social workers. Nearly 1,000 people registered to listen to the live teleconference hosted by NASW Senior Policy Associate Mirean Coleman. The teleconference was one of several launched earlier this year exclusively for NASW members to give them an opportunity to earn 1.0 continuing education units (CEUs) upon successful completion of an online test following each event. Participants can also listen to or read a transcript of each topic in the series at any time. Regarding the teleconference on doc...

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NASW recently teamed up with Physicians for Peace in a fact-finding, needs- and resources-assessment trip to Rwanda and Uganda. NASW's Division for Practice, Human Rights and International Affairs sent staff member Evelyn Tomaszewski, senior policy associate, to represent the association's HIV/AIDS Spectrum Project on the trip sponsored by Physicians for Peace. The organization is seeking outside funding for a technical proposal to scale up pediatric HIV/AIDS services in Rwanda and Uganda through partnerships that will train local health care providers. Physicians for Peace asked NASW to provide social work HIV/AIDS expertise for the trip. ...

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NASW's Social Work Reinvestment Initiative continued to make gains in the spring with more members of the U.S. House and Senate backing the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr., Social Work Reinvestment Act (SWRA) in their respective chambers. NASW's Jennifer Watt, Gail Woods Waller and Elizabeth J. Clark (seated) meet with CSWA's Kevin Host and Laura Groshong. At the end of May, 70 cosponsors in the House pledged support for the legislation (H.R. 5447), which proposes to establish a Social Work Reinvestment Commission to study policy issues associated with recruitment, retention, research and reinvestment in the social work prof...

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LeslieBeth Wish was quoted in USA Today in article about the emotional toll foreclosures can have on people. "The problem affects the whole spectrum, not just people losing their homes," Wish, a psychologist and social worker in Sarasota, Fla., was quoted as saying. "The stress exacerbates what is already there," Wish told USA Today. "It brings to the surface problems that were often already there, like marital problems. There is so much blaming people for the situations they're in, and that adds to it." The article pointed out that one of Wish's patients was semiretired when she bought a home in 2005 in southwest Florida as an investment t...

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— Lyn Stoesen, News Staff   NASW representatives recently met with Ihab Moustafa of the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office to discuss the work of the U.N.'s Peacebuilding Commission and how social workers can support and become involved with its efforts. NASW Acting Director of the Division for Practice, Human Rights and International Affairs Luisa Lopez and Senior Policy Adviser Leticia Diaz met with Moustafa in late March. The Peacebuilding Commission is an intergovernmental advisory body of the United Nations established in 2006. It supports peace efforts in countries emerging from conflict and is currently working...

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— Lyn Stoesen, News Staff   NASW Senior Government Relations Associate Jim Finley moderated and presented information at a congressional briefing held in May to address the mental health needs of older adults. The event, "Meeting the Mental Health Needs of an Aging America: Opportunities and Challenges for Federal Policy," was sponsored by NASW, the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, the American Psychological Association and the Older Women's League. Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Olympia Snow (R-Me.) supported the event. Finley's presentation focused on mental health parity in Medicare. He explained that Medic...

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— Lyn Stoesen, News Staff   In May, the California Supreme Court, in a precedent-setting case, ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry in the state of California. The decision, coming from the nation's largest state, was expected to have an enormous impact on the ongoing fight for equal marriage rights. NASW and its California Chapter had joined a brief in the case, In re Marriage Cases, which supported the right of same-sex couples to marry. "This is a historic decision," said NASW California Chapter Executive Director Janlee Wong. "It reflects how the people of California feel — a recent poll sh...

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Helping Iowa The State of Iowa has been hard hit with an ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] raid and detention of undocumented immigrant workers and their families, a devastating EF5 tornado and most recently record-breaking floods. These all occurred within the span of 2 months. Local social workers, Red Cross social workers and social workers from across the country have come to Iowa to help. As an Iowa resident, I want to express my personal and professional thanks. I continue to be impressed with how social workers can meet the various challenges and are willing to "jump right in" to meet people's needs. Those of us who are soci...

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NASW is endorsing a new program that provides free mental health services to U.S. troops and their families. Give an Hour is a national nonprofit organization with the mission of developing a national network of volunteers capable of responding to both acute and chronic conditions that arise within society. According to Give an Hour founder and president Barbara V. Romberg, at least one-third of the nearly 1,400 providers participating in the network are social workers. The organization's first target population is U.S. troops and families who are being affected by the military conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. As its name implies, menta...

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