Social Work Advocates Magazine

By Paul R. Pace, News staff About 10,000 baby boomers in the United States will turn 65 every day until the year 2030, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. By 2020, one in six Americans is projected to be age 65 and older. That means up to 70,000 geriatric social workers will be needed to help address the aging needs of ... Read More »

By Rena Malai, News staff The NASW California Chapter hosted the second annual Translational Research/Translational Practice Roundtable in October to help social work practitioners and researchers gain a better understanding of each other. About 50 NASW members and social workers came together to participate in group discussions. Bridging the gap between social work researchers and practitioners is a little like ... Read More »

By Rena Malai, News staff The Child Welfare: Wicked Problems/Wicked Innovations Institute held a Capitol Hill briefing in November to present the Wicked Problems concept to a congressional audience, and to remind policymakers to keep the issue in mind when drafting policies concerning child welfare. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Children’s Home Society of America ... Read More »

By Rena Malai, News staff NASW Foundation Director Bob Arnold and NASW Manager of the Department of Social Justice and Human Rights Mel Wilson traveled to Tanzania in October to participate in the Tanzania Association of Social Workers (TASWO) Annual General Meeting. The theme of the conference was “The Power of Social Work:  Restoring Hope for Vulnerable Groups and Rebuilding ... Read More »

By Paul R. Pace, News staff Social workers are engaged in a variety of fields and specialties. To help highlight this important detail, NASW is expanding its expert referral list for National Professional Social Work Month, which is celebrated every March. “All People Matter” is this year’s theme for the campaign that promotes the value of social work and puts ... Read More »

By Paul R. Pace, News staff Recent MSW graduate Mary Ruth Govindavari said she strongly opposes the New York City Police Department’s stop-and-frisk policy, which empowers officers to stop pedestrians, question them and potentially search them if they have a “reasonable suspicion” that a crime was committed. Social work’s long history of standing up against discriminatory practices inspired her and ... Read More »

By Paul R. Pace, News staff Social worker Lisa Wessan knows personally how debilitating compassion fatigue can feel — emotionally and physically. She was one of many social workers who volunteered to help the people of New York City cope with the grief and uncertainty after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Following that day, Wessan continued to work ... Read More »

By Paul R. Pace, News staff NASW is in the process of collecting comments for its triennial Delegate Assembly. The Delegate Assembly is the body responsible for setting program priorities and broad public and professional policy for NASW. The event sets program priorities for a three-year period; in this case, fiscal years 2015-18. The culminating event takes place Aug. 2, ... Read More »

By Rena Malai, News staff The Institute of Medicine released a report in September called “New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research,” which was funded by the Office of Child Abuse and Neglect. Joan Levy Zlotnik, director of the NASW Social Work Policy Institute, said the previous report, “Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect,” was published in 1993. The new ... Read More »

By Rena Malai, News staff NASW has updated two of its websites that allow members to blog and exchange information. SocialWorkPulse.org gives social workers an opportunity to share their perspectives and experiences of being in the social work field. Submissions are currently being accepted for the blog, which allows social workers to write about anything social work, including trends, news ... Read More »