NASW News

Advocacy is the cornerstone of social work. We do not merely wish for positive social change; we work for it. One of the core programs of NASW that exemplifies this activist philosophy is the NASW Legal Defense Fund. LDF has a threefold mission: aiding NASW members with legal cases of importance to the profession; advancing social work in the courts while supporting cases that uphold social work values; and providing legal resources to NASW members. The Legal Defense Fund was founded in 1972, in an era when social workers were under attack in their work and in society. NASW leaders wanted to have a viable system of financial support for me...

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In April, NASW representatives served as guest lecturers for students seeking a certificate in public health education provided through the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences Graduate School at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. The overall goals of the certificate in public health program are to give professionals an overview of and build competencies in the five core disciplines of public health: epidemiology, biostatistics, environmental health sciences, health policy and management, and social and behavioral sciences. NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark was joined by Joan Levy Zlotnik, director the ...

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Attendees listen to a speaker at a recent Rochester, N.Y., session of the Veterans’ Mental Health Training Initiative hosted by the NASW New York State Chapter. An effort to improve the skills of social workers and other community mental health professionals in addressing the mental health concerns of returning war veterans and their families has grown into a wide-ranging initiative in New York State. Reinaldo Cardona, executive director of the NASW New York State Chapter, said he and his staff started the project after receiving a grant from New York lawmakers interested in helping the state’s tens of thousands of Iraq and Afgha...

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NASW Idaho Chapter works with state’s labor department to help boost social work job sector. When it comes to assessing workforce trends, NASW and its chapters assist states and the Bureau of Labor Statistics in reviewing information for accuracy and providing essential feedback from social work stakeholders relating to workforce development efforts. Thanks to a grant that is part of the Affordable Care Act’s workforce planning component, the NASW Idaho Chapter is working with the Idaho Department of Labor to properly assess the state’s social work workforce as part of its health care workforce research project. The effor...

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To boost the employment potential for newly graduated or currently enrolled MSW students, some schools of social work across the U.S. offer dual degrees and nontraditional career path programs that take advantage of the broad spectrum of skills social workers can offer. “Because of the uncertain economy, shrinking job market, and desire to provide a greater array of MSW internship and employment options, the (University of Southern California) School of Social Work found the need to be creative in identifying these types of opportunities for students and alumni,” said Carrie Lew, USC administrator. The USC School of Social Work...

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Social worker Freny Dessai was selected from among a competitive group of applicants for the newly created Social Work Child Welfare Congressional Fellowship, administered through the NASW Foundation’s Social Work Policy Institute, or SWPI. The fellowship offers the opportunity for a professional social worker with experience in child welfare to spend a year on Capitol Hill. It also offers insight into the federal policies that guide service delivery at the local level. Dessai’s fellowship is with the Senate Finance Committee and she will be working with Diedra Henry-Spires, professional staff member on Senate Finance, whose po...

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The fifth annual National Healthcare Decisions Day took place April 16 and NASW was among the 1,000 organizations and institutions that signed on to promote the initiative that encourages adults with decision-making capacity to engage in advance care planning. Nathan A. Kottkamp, chairman of the NHDD initiative, said it is estimated that more than 40,000 people received direct information about the campaign and that at least 1,570 advance directive documents were completed at events that sponsored the campaign. In social media, the NHDD Facebook account received 1,242 “likes” during the campaign, a rise from last year’s 1,...

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In its continued support of veterans, military members and their families, NASW has devoted a new page on the NASW website to provide its members with relevant resources. Social workers who work with — or are interested in working with — military members, veterans and their families can visit the page, where they will find information about military culture, and links to external websites and online courses. The site displays NASW-affiliated resources related to the military and social work, including blogs and information on NASW chapter training. News articles on supportive initiatives that help military members are offered, ...

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Former police officer Sonny Provetto clearly remembers being called to a 13-car pileup in his previous role with the police department in Burlington, Vt. And when he drives along the same highway today, he said it still affects him. “The operator was decapitated,” Provetto recalled of one of the drivers. “In the normal realm of human experience, you usually don’t see these things. But as a police officer you see them, day in and day out.” According to police Sgt. Stephanie Neuman, police officers don’t start in their line of work thinking nothing will ever happen that affects them. However, it’s i...

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Marriage equality in the U.S. has enjoyed several milestones so far this year, and NASW has been active in many of these efforts. President Obama’s announcement in May that he supports same-sex marriage was the most high-profile development regarding marriage equality, but there have been other advancements as well. The following is a summary of recent marriage equality activity and NASW’s involvement: On June 5, a federal appeals court in San Francisco declined to reconsider a ruling striking down Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage. The action is expected to result in an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Cour...

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