NASW News

NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark submitted comments on behalf of NASW to the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) addressing proposed changes in state flexibility for Medicaid benefit packages. "NASW is concerned that the reliance on commercial benefit plans is inappropriate for Medicaid recipients," Clark said in her message. "We are especially concerned that many private insurance plans do not provide adequate mental health services; therefore, providing significant challenges to people with serious and persistent mental illness." The executive director explained that in the proposed rule, some people with mental illn...

Read More

— Lyn Stoesen, News Staff   The NASW Foundation and NASW, working in partnership with the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, have launched a project to build the capacity, awareness and skills of social workers for responding to the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth living in foster care, juvenile justice systems and homeless shelters nationwide. The project is funded through the Out-of-Home Youth Fund of The Tides Foundation. Lambda Legal has partnered with NASW to establish a train-the-trainer initiative that will create a group of 40 "master trainers" who will commit to facilitat...

Read More

President Bush at press time signed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) into law. NASW has been a strong supporter of the GINA (H.R. 493) (S. 358) because it protects a person from the fear of being discriminated against once his or her genetic makeup is known, said Asua Ofosu, senior government relations associate at NASW. The association is a member of the Coalition for Genetic Fairness, which has supported the federal GINA bills. Bush was expected to sign the act into law following the House's approval in early May. The Senate unanimously passed the act a week earlier. According to coalition members, every person carrie...

Read More

Praising the "legacy of scholarship" that produced it, Editor-in-Chief Terry Mizrahi introduced the Encyclopedia of Social Work, 20th Edition at a launch event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on April 25. The new edition of the Encyclopedia is published by the NASW Press in partnership with Oxford University Press and includes more than 400 entries in four volumes. Mizrahi and Larry E. Davis served as co-editors-in-chief of the volumes, working with 16 area editors and almost 400 social workers as contributing authors. In the introduction to the Encyclopedia, Mizrahi and Davis write that "The Encyclopedia ...

Read More

NASW was represented on a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) consumer education workshop to address low-income consumers in the upcoming switch to digital-only television reception. The issue involves the end of traditional analog television broadcasts on Feb. 17, 2009, and the switch to a digital-only service. According to the commission, consumers can learn more about the switch to digital TV reception at Digital Television or by calling the FCC at (888) 225-5322. Luisa Lopez, acting director of Social Work Practice, Human Rights and International Affairs at NASW, represented the association at the workshop and shared her opinions wi...

Read More

NASW has launched a new, free Web education course designed to provide social workers with an overview of the differences and disparities in end-of-life care and ways to address these challenges. The course, "Achieving Cultural Competency to Reduce Health Disparities in End of Life Care," offers tools that can be used when providing services to culturally diverse individuals and their loved ones affected by dying and death, said Luisa Lopez, director of Practice, Human Rights and International Affairs at NASW. Lopez noted that the course, which offers 2.0 continuing education credits upon successful completion of a final exam, was developed...

Read More

— Lyn Stoesen, News Staff   NASW recently joined three friend-of-the-court briefs that address the rights of a medical board to obtain the records of a psychiatrist's patients, the parameters of a state children's health insurance program and protection from employer retaliation in a sexual harassment investigation. Psychiatric records NASW and its Maryland Chapter have joined a brief in a Maryland Court of Appeals for the case Maryland State Board of Physicians v. Eist, which addresses the scope of the medical board's right to obtain the confidential records of a psychiatrist's patient based on a licensure complaint filed by t...

Read More

— Lyn Stoesen, News Staff   A new report released by the Institute of Medicine* shows a geriatric care workforce that is too small and that is unprepared to meet the needs of aging baby boomers. The report urges bold initiatives to train the health care workforce to meet the growing demand. The report, Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce, was released on April 14 in Washington, D.C. The report was prepared by the Committee on the Future Health Care Workforce for Older Americans, convened in 2007 by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. NASW member Paula Allen-Meares is among the 15 m...

Read More

A clinical supervisor is found to have engaged in a dual relationship with a client. The NASW National Board of Directors' Executive Committee in February 2008 approved the sanctioning of Kathleen L. Prieto, based on a surrogate complaint submitted by the NASW Oregon Chapter. The Board of Clinical Social Workers for the State of Oregon issued a stipulated amended order in December 2005 concluding that Prieto, a clinical supervisor, violated the rules for social work licensure by engaging in a dual relationship with a client because Prieto allowed the client to reside with her. The board determined that this relationship impaired Prieto's pr...

Read More

From the President — Elvira Craig de Silva, DSW, ACSW As I write my last column as president of NASW, I feel increased love and excitement about our profession from when I wrote my first column. I have indeed been privileged during these three years to be part of the growth of social work and the expansion of NASW. My presidency is one of the highlights of my life experiences. At every step and turn, there was always something special — an eye-opener, an inspiration, new people, an unexpected test or challenge, the development of a strength I did not know I had and the consistent support of leaders and staff. I am particularly ...

Read More