NASW News

April 2010 Board's Action Context Finances Received the financial report as of March 31, 2010. As of March 31, NASW’s total asset position was $15.3 million. Assets have increased by $1.5 million from the same time last year, attributable to the increased value of investments due to continued financial market recovery. With regard to liabilities and deferred revenue, this is an overall incr...

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Keynote speaker Diana Aviv, president and CEO of Independent Sector, said that in order to be credible, nonprofits need to demonstrate that their work has made a positive difference. Despite setbacks attributable to the recession and other causes, NASW has been pressing ahead with its advocacy agenda with success, NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark assured chapter executives at the 2010 Annual Leadership Meeting, which came on the heels of the Social Work Congress in Washington. In her presentation, Clark highlighted some of the association’s recent successes, including encouraging lawmakers to pass the 2009 Lilly Ledbetter...

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From the President The 2010 Social Work Congress was held April 22 and 23 in Washington and I am so proud of what hundreds of social workers from across the country were able to accomplish during those two days. First, this event brought together social workers ranging from new to seasoned professionals, from every state and U.S. territory, representing numerous cultures and organizations. We were pleased to be joined by direct practitioners, community organizers, social work educators, clinical social workers, social workers involved in policy and politics, directors of agencies and associations and hundreds of other social workers doing am...

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Geoffrey Greif was quoted in a Wall Street Journal column by Jeffrey Zaslow about male friendships. The author quoted Greif, a professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Social Work, who has studied how 386 men made and nurtured friendships. Men might not be as physically or emotionally expressive as female friendships, Greif said in the article, but men derive great support from them. Researchers say women’s friendships are face to face: They talk, cry together, share secrets. Men’s friendships are side by side: they play golf and go to football games, the story stated. “For several years, I’ve report...

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NASW supported the Hospice Foundation of America’s 17th annual Living with Grief teleconference, “Cancer and End-of-Life Care.” Each year, HFA hosts an expert panel teleconference that is observed by 100,000 social workers, nurses, physicians, therapists and clergy to discuss issues involving death, dying and bereavement. Moderator Frank Sesno noted that 38 percent of hospice patients have cancer-related illnesses, a primary reason for hospice admission. The teleconference included taped personal interviews with cancer survivors, family members and health and mental health professionals who assist clients and families w...

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The Case Management Society of America in March released a newly revised version of its Standards of Practice for Case Management, which NASW helped revise as part of an interdisciplinary task force. The CMSA Standards, introduced in 1995 and first revised in 2002, are voluntary practice guidelines for case managers of multiple disciplines working in a variety of health and behavioral health settings. Among other things, they address case managers’ qualifications; assessing clients’ physical and psychosocial health; planning and monitoring goals and evaluating outcomes; termination of services; adhering to legal and ethical princ...

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NASW continues to broaden its strategies to encourage the creation of a social work reinvestment commission, including through passage of the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act (H.R. 795, S. 686). The proposal directs the secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a Social Work Reinvestment Commission to provide independent counsel to Congress on policy issues associated with recruitment, retention, research and reinvestment in the profession of social work. As of early April, the bill had 84 co-sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives and 12 co-sponsors in the Senate. Besides an ongoing ...

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Participants at the Metro Washington, D.C., National Professional Social Work Month event included, from left, Bernice Harper, Cassandra Henry, David Weaver and Lt. Col. Jeffrey Yarvis. Social work was celebrated locally, nationally and around the world in March, also known as National Professional Social Work Month. U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H., a social worker, introduced a resolution that unanimously passed in the House calling for special recognition of the people who “dedicate their time, energy and lives to assisting individuals, families and communities.” The declaration honored “the more than 600,000 peop...

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NASW’s second annual social work practice conference, “Social Work’s Critical Role in End-of-Life Care,” has added more presenters. The conference, scheduled for Aug. 4 in Boston, is in collaboration with the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. The event will immediately precede NHPCO’s special topic conference “Developing the Care Continuum: Innovative Models to Meet the Unique Needs of Parents/Families,” taking place Aug. 5-7. The Aug. 4 conference will benefit social workers who provide professional psychosocial services to clients and families affected by serious and life-limiting...

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President Barack Obama has nominated two NASW members for key administration positions. Beatrice “Bea” Hanson has been nominated to be the director of Office of Victims of Crime in the U.S. Department of Justice. Hanson is the chief program officer for Safe Horizon, a nonprofit crime victim assistance agency in New York City. According to a White House statement, Hanson oversees more than 600 professionals who provide services to more than 350,000 people affected by violence annually. She directs the organization’s services and support for victims of child abuse, human trafficking, domestic violence, rape and other vio...

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