NASW News

From the President Thank you for electing me NASW president. I am humbled and enormously grateful to be selected by you, my colleagues, for this honor. To those who have gently and ably guided me through this orientation year, thank you for your time and patience. Early last year, the NASW News staff asked me to respond to a series of questions designed to inform the membership of my platform for candidacy. I replied that the key issue for the social work profession is promoting an up-to-date, educated and active social work culture by successfully implementing the Social Work Reinvestment Initiative. Furthermore, building upon the 2005 Soc...

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NASW's New York State Chapter has received $250,000 in the state's budget to establish a training program to help mental health services providers address the needs of veterans and their families. The Veterans' Mental Health Training Initiative will establish eight regional training sessions throughout the state for practitioners that will focus on the needs of veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq and their families. The sessions will include training in how to assess and treat combat-related mental health disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury and substance-use disorders. The sessions will...

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— Lyn Stoesen, News Staff   NASW recently presented an overview of social work workforce trends with a Lunchtime Series continuing education teleconference offered by NASW Center for Workforce Studies Director Tracy Whitaker. During the teleconference, Whitaker presented general demographic trends in the United States, discussed the status of the social work profession and noted several expanding opportunities for social workers. Those opportunities include the practice areas of aging, criminal justice, military and veterans affairs, health disparities, disaster planning and navigating cyberspace. "The data covered a range of a...

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— Lyn Stoesen, News Staff   National Professional Social Work Month, which takes place every March, focused on a central tenet of social work — building on strengths. Across the country, NASW chapters, schools of social work and individuals marked the occasion and celebrated the profession with special events, press coverage and recognition of social workers. "Social Work Month is always a good opportunity to bring attention to the incredible work that social workers do all year long," said NASW Public Relations Manager Allison Nadelhaft. "Many organizations also take this time to celebrate the accomplishments of the entir...

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— Lyn Stoesen, News Staff   The NASW Foundation presented the 2007 International Rhoda G. Sarnat Award to William C. Bell, president and chief executive officer of Casey Family Programs, at a ceremony and celebration in Seattle in April. NASW Foundation President Elizabeth J. Clark and William C. Bell (Photo: Jennifer Watt) The award is presented to an individual, group or organization that has significantly advanced the public image of social work with the aim of increasing public awareness and recognition of the value the profession. "For more than 25 years, William Bell has been a tireless advocate for the welfare of ch...

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The Social Work Reinvestment Initiative (SWRI) received extra support in April as Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md., upper right) introduced, and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich., lower right) cosponsored, legislation to help the nation's 600,000 social workers better serve families and communities. Mikulski and Stabenow, both social workers, championed the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr., Social Work Reinvestment Act (S. 2858) — on World Social Work Day, April 15 — to address a nationwide shortage of social workers. It is the companion bill to the U.S. House proposal (H.R. 5447) that was introduced in February. Both bills s...

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Anne Henley was quoted in a story published in The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va., about the upcoming closing of two programs that help child custody cases because of budget constraints. The programs helped calm volatile emotions during custody cases, the story stated. Family Solutions offered the programs — Safe Exchange and supervised visitation — for nearly five years. During that time, the state-licensed agency near Spotsylvania Courthouse has lost considerable money on both programs, the story stated. Director Henley said her agency lost several thousand dollars last year alone. "The programs are so valuable, you ca...

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NASW is among the cosponsors of a letter sent to all members of Congress that highlighted the urgent need to help low- and moderate-income people during a faltering economy. NASW is a member of the Coalition on Human Needs, an alliance of national organizations working together to promote public policies that address the needs of low-income and other vulnerable people. The letter went to lawmakers while they debated final details of federal budget resolutions. "We strongly urge that the final budget resolution include the highest possible domestic discretionary funding out of the choices before you," the coalition stated. "Failure to maxim...

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NASW coordinated a Capitol Hill briefing in April to help legislators understand the importance of community-based patient navigation programs and the need to fund them. NASW partnered with C-Change, a national cancer coalition composed of key national leaders from government, business and nonprofit sectors, to produce the Cancer Patient Navigation Toolkit. NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark is among the 130 members of C-Change and serves on its Access Team. "It's important social workers have a strong voice in the conversation about patient navigation because many social workers are serving as navigators with clients," she said. ...

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— Lyn Stoesen, News Staff As researchers and practitioners have explored gender roles in society, many have begun to focus on the socialization that men experience and the ways it can affect their physical, social and mental health. Social workers are among those recognizing the need to approach working with men with attention to the particular coping mechanisms they use when facing challenges. First annual conference The First Annual National Conference on Social Work With and For Men, "Caring, Sharing and Preparing to Serve," was held April 28-29 at the University of Alabama. The event drew about 100 participants. The conference wa...

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