NASW News

From the President I write this column in early August when a weak though bipartisan debt ceiling deal was made in Congress in the 11th hour before default. As a result, one financial rating agency downgraded its rating of U.S. federal bonds from AAA to AA+ for the first time in history, and the Dow Jones average fell steadily over several days. In the face of these events, I am remembering my professor of social welfare policy in my MSW program asking us on the first day of class, “How many of you have had a course in economics?” and shaking his head sadly when only one or two of us could say “yes.” His point was t...

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The NASW National Board of Directors’ Executive Committee approved the sanctioning of Erika Maxon on April 27, 2011, based on a self-report from this member of the Arizona Chapter. According to the self-report, Maxon developed a personal and sexual relationship with a client who was also a minor. The National Ethics Committee reviewed the matter and determined that the following sections of the NASW Code of Ethics were violated: 1.06(a) (b) (c), Conflicts of Interest, 1.09(a) (c), Sexual Relationships and 4.05(a) Impairment. Due to the legal issues involved and the egregious nature of the violations, the NEC recommended several correc...

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Improving delivery of psychosocial services for nursing home residents was the focus of the “Psychosocial Care in Nursing Homes” conference in Washington. The event was funded by The Commonwealth Fund and supported by NASW, LeadingAge (formerly the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging) and the American Health Care Association. Greater attention is being given to psychosocial care of nursing home residents in response to the Minimum Data Set 3.0, the latest tool issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to implement standardized assessment and facilitate care in nursing homes and non-critical...

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Social worker Gwendolyn Adam is the new training branch chief for the Maternal and Child Health Bureau’s Division of Research, Training and Education of the Health Resources and Services Administration. She said one of her first projects is to update the national strategic plan for MCH training. With this goal, she invited NASW to a March workshop called “Diversity Across the Disciplines” to gain an understanding of the way social workers have promoted diversity in the workforce. “As a training branch, we are looking at what other partners are doing to affect diversity in their organizations so we can update our st...

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Mit Joyner, president of the Council on Social Work Education, participated in the symposium. Social work leaders, government representatives, interdisciplinary collaborators, health care consultants, educators and representatives of foundations and front-line service providers convened at NASW to identify ways to support policies that will build the social work workforce across fields of practice. Participant Marilyn Flynn said the meeting was critical since the entire health care workforce is facing ever increasing challenges. “The future strength of the profession depends on our leadership in defining roles, responsibilities and...

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The board of directors of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, or AASWSW, recently announced 11 new inductees. Richard Barth, president of the AASWSW board and professor and dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland, said the new inductees raise the academy’s membership to 40. “In this exceptional entering class — the first to have undergone the strict selection procedures created by the Academy Board and Nominations Committee last year — are scholars with experience leading more than 200 research studies with local, state or federal funding from scores of government agencies ...

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Four graduate students from the College of Social Work at The Ohio State University and NASW Ohio Chapter Associate Director Danielle Smith attended a meeting with President Barack Obama and his senior staff at the White House in June. The students were invited because of their organizing “The Student Cafe: Conversations for Change” in Columbus. It was among the top 10 youth roundtables selected from 381 across the U.S. The other members of the group were Colleen Dempsey, Emily Panzeri, Donna Ruch and Sarah Tarrant. Tarrant was selected to join representatives from the other nine selectees to personally meet with the president, p...

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Social workers make up the majority of mental health providers in the U.S. Americans, regardless of age, deserve quality mental health care services, said U.S. Rep. Edolphus “Ed” Towns, D-N.Y. In an effort to support that pledge, Towns and the newly formed Congressional Social Work Caucus hosted a Capitol Hill briefing in May: “Prevention, Treatment and Services Research Funding in the National Institute of Mental Health Budget.” “The mental well-being of our residents in our country is important to me and to social workers,” Towns said at the briefing. “We must invest in social work to serve the ...

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NASW has developed a new practice perspective guide, “The Medical Home Model: What Is It and How Do Social Workers Fit In?” Written by Stacy Collins, NASW senior practice associate, the document explains the history of the medical home concept and its recent rise in popularity. Early evidence suggests that this model has the potential to improve client care — while also reducing health care expenditures — by minimizing emergency room visits and hospitalizations, improving adherence to treatment plans and other cost-saving measures, the document explains. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality describes a me...

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An Ignored Path In reading “Chronic Conditions Document Reflects NASW Input” (May News) and the full text of the framework, I was dismayed to not see diet as one avenue of “prevention and treatment strategies for improved health outcomes.” There is much recent research on plant-based diets being effective to this end. To reduce health disparities, NASW should advocate on clients’ behalf to help them make dietary choices that can reverse or ease many chronic conditions, rather than relying on medications that do not heal the body. According to recent research, a well-planned plant-based diet can reverse type II ...

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