NASW News

By Paul R. Pace and Matthew Malamud, News Staff Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Kirstin Downey, left, inspired congress participants with accounts of the life of social worker and presidential Cabinet member Frances Perkins. Four hundred social work leaders from coast to coast gathered in Washington April 21-23 to vote on a list of imperatives for the profession during the next decade. The 2010 Social Work Congress aimed to reaffirm, revisit and reimagine the profession, said NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark. “This was a great opportunity to address the challenges facing the profession,” she said. “We wi...

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The NASW Center for Workforce Studies has released its “Summary of Key Compensation Findings” report based on a survey sponsored and developed by the association. Based on nearly 18,000 responses, the center determined that on Oct. 1, 2009, the median hourly wage for social work practitioners was $29.64 an hour. The median base pay among the survey respondents was $55,000 a year, with 12 percent earning $90,000 a year or more and 12 percent earning under $30,000. Most social work practitioners (57 percent) said they were paid an annual salary. Demographics: Regarding age, the report noted that average pay for those under 35 ...

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NASW’s second annual social work practice conference, “Social Work’s Critical Role in End-of-Life Care,” will examine new factors that may influence end of life and the grieving process. The Aug. 4 event in Boston precedes the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s conference, “Developing the Care Continuum: Innovative Models to Meet the Unique Needs of Patients/Families,” Aug. 5-7. Kenneth J. Doka, professor of gerontology at the Graduate School of The College of New Rochelle in New York state and senior consultant to the Hospice Foundation of America, will deliver a keynote address. ...

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At a briefing during the 2010 Social Work Congress, members of the U.S. Congress and executive branch offered inspirational stories about why they chose social work as a career and how those skills continue to guide their efforts in the nation’s capital. U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H., said her parents taught her that “everyone mattered” and they never shied away from helping those in need. Her parents’ concern for others inspired Shea-Porter to work with children and senior citizens. “I ran a senior center and my social work program helped my organization skills,” she said. “As social work...

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Patient navigation experts from across the country, including NASW Senior Practice Associate Karyn Walsh, gathered in Atlanta in March for the first-ever National Patient Navigator Leadership Summit. The purpose of the summit was to develop standardized outcome and process measures applicable to all types of patient navigation programs and health care institutions. Patient navigation is individualized assistance offered to patients, families and caregivers to help overcome barriers to care and facilitate timely access to quality health and psychosocial care. According to the summit’s advisory council, common metrics will improv...

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NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark (left) and President James J. Kelly (second from right) pose with the 2009 National Award recipients at an April 23 reception in Washington. From left: Harold House was NASW’s Public Citizen of the Year, S. Megan Berthold was named Social Worker of the Year and Massachusetts State Rep. Ruth Balser was named Public Elected Official of the Year. Dr. Dorothy I. Height, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award, died April 20.  

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Honoring gay pride month, NASW is reflecting on its efforts this year to advocate full equality under the law for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people around the world. “It’s been an important year for the LGBT community,” said Evelyn Tomaszewski, NASW’s senior policy adviser on human rights and international affairs, who staffs the association’s National Committee on LGBT Issues. “However, social workers’ job to advocate for equality and nondiscrimination is never done.” NASW has been among the international chorus of organizations and governments calling on the Republic of Uganda&r...

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Forge Networking Links It is hard to overstate the importance of social work at this point in history. Social workers carry a banner that says things can be changed for the better. We are that great spark of transformation. Dr. Elizabeth J. Clark declares we’re a global society and social work is a global profession that is aiming for the betterment of society (From the Director, May News). In support of her words, let’s forge networking links that add meaning to name counts. Good listening, a trait tied into social work, must be open to values we share as well as ideas we may deplore. As therapists know, one cornerstone of all ...

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NASW honored the remarkable life and ongoing legacy left by Dr. Dorothy I. Height, who died April 20 at age 98. “I think we have lost a giant leader,” said NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark. “She was a remarkable woman who worked for not only civil rights, but also women’s rights in general.” Height was most widely known as the longtime president of the National Council of Negro Women and the godmother of the civil rights movement, and for helping to integrate the YWCA. She was also a proud social worker and NASW Foundation Social Work Pioneerw. She was honored recently with the association’s L...

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NASW applauded President Barack Obama’s creation of a task force to address the nation’s childhood obesity woes, noting that it has long advocated for efforts to prevent and treat childhood obesity. The association sent the White House a letter dated March 26 in response to the task force’s solicitation of public comments to assist it in making recommendations on public and private sector actions that can be taken to end childhood obesity within a generation. The solicitation appeared in the March 16 Federal Register. The task force’s agenda “is ambitious but urgent,” the letter said. “If left unad...

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