NASW News

Reaching Young Members Thank you for Elizabeth Clark's terrific piece about the urgency in us reaching out to the next generation in our profession (January News). I made just that point at a recent talk to the New York Chapter of the Society of Social Work Leaders in Health Care, concerned about whether we are passing on the torch. Just recently I was asked to join a clinical practice policy group and joked that at 68, I am the youngest member. Actually, while I do consider myself youthful, I see a serious issue here. We also need to be cognizant that younger members may try to balance family demands with career; thus availability in ear...

Read More

Katherine Kendall celebrated her 100th birthday at a party in September 2010. She died Dec. 1. NASW Social Work Pioneer Katherine Kendall, who celebrated her 100th birthday in September, died Dec. 1 at her home in Mitchellville, Md. Kendall was regarded both domestically and internationally as a trailblazer in international social work and education, having received several honors over her lifetime, including the NASW Foundation’s International Rhoda G. Sarnat Award in 2002 for significantly advancing the public image of social work. “Katherine Kendall had an exciting and important role in the development of social work in t...

Read More

Kamilah Omari, left, and Bekki Ow-Ärhus answer questions at the screening of "Irena Sendler: In the Name of their Mothers". About 30 social workers viewed the film at NASW’s national office. The NASW national office hosted a Dec. 3 screening of the new documentary film Irena Sendler: In the Name of Their Mothers, directed by Mary Skinner. The event, attended by more than 30 social workers from in and around Washington, doubled as a continuing education course on applied ethics. According to Bekki Ow-Ärhus and Kamilah Omari, NASW senior practice associates who co-facilitated the course, it has been a while since the assoc...

Read More

Gabe Zimmerman was shot to death in the Jan. 8 tragedy. Photo: Rep. Gifford's Office Gabe Zimmerman, a member of NASW’s Arizona Chapter and the director of community outreach for U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, was among the six people killed on Jan. 8 in a shooting spree outside a Tucson supermarket. NASW’s national office, through a statement, extended condolences to all of the families affected by the tragedy. The shooting injured an additional 14 people, including Giffords, D-Ariz., who is recovering after a bullet passed through her head. Zimmerman, 30, was a professional social worker with a master’s degree in so...

Read More

A new report by NASW’s Center for Workforce Studies outlines the need for social workers to help lead the charge to reform the U.S. criminal justice system. Criminal Justice Social Work in the United States: Adapting to New Challenges (PDF) identifies how the U.S. criminal justice system currently operates and how it may benefit by examining Scotland’s new criminal justice model. “The term ‘criminal justice social worker’ is not widely used by most social workers in the U.S.,” said Melvin Wilson, manager of workforce, development and training at NASW. “The report was drafted in part to show how, in...

Read More

Last year’s lame-duck session of Congress was anything but sedate. Prior to adjourning on Dec. 22, the House and Senate cleared a dizzying array of legislation for President Barack Obama’s signature. Most historic of all, Congress repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the 1993 law that prohibited gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military. “NASW has long urged Congress to repeal the military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy,”‘ NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark wrote on the Social Work Blog, “NASW greatly appreciates everything our me...

Read More

Tracy Whitaker, director of NASW’s Center for Workforce Studies: “This study gives us food for thought as the tools change.” Technology can improve efficiency in the workplace for child welfare social workers, but does a generation gap keep progress from reaching its full potential? A new NASW Center for Workforce Studies report titled Child Welfare Social Workers’ Attitudes Toward Mobile Technology Tools: Is there a Generation Gap? attempts to answer that question. In partnership with the Family Services Technology Council, a 28-question survey was developed and administered electronically to members of the NASW...

Read More

Mary McCarthy: “The nature of the world today has created the heightened need for leadership during times of change, reform or implementation of a renovation.” The NASW Foundation’s Social Work Policy Institute hosted a symposium with representatives from child welfare research, policy and practice, social work education and child welfare training to discuss the critical role of supervisors in the delivery of quality child welfare services. Joan Levy Zlotnik, director of SWPI, noted that social workers are leaders in child welfare in regard to practice, research, education and policy. Input from the November meeting, t...

Read More

In November, NASW, the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship and the Oncology Nursing Society hosted a first-of-its-kind, one-day workshop for social workers and nurses to learn how to train their colleagues in using the NCCS’s Cancer Survival Toolbox. The event took place at the NASW national office in Washington. The award-winning Cancer Survival Toolbox is an audio program that helps people living with cancer, as well as their family members, understand and develop skills to address the challenges of their illness. “The Toolbox was heavily promoted when it was first developed about 10 years ago,” said Stacy Collin...

Read More

Social workers from across the country are being asked to do their part to promote the profession by taking action during National Professional Social Work Month, held each March. This year’s theme is “Social Workers Change Futures.” There have already been 4,000 visits to the Social Work Month 2011 Toolkit website. “We need members to act to help make this a successful Social Work Month,” said Gail Woods Waller, communications director for NASW. The toolkit offers dozens of examples and step-by-step instructions to formulate an effective campaign both locally and nationwide. One example is using social media...

Read More