Dear Social Work Student –

Is your school using the Professional Social Worker pin to recognize graduating students?

Ask your school to consider the silver-plated Professional Social Worker pin at commencement. Just $10 each for schools of social work, the pins distinguish Social Work from other programs on campus, and instill pride in the profession.

All funds from the Social Work pins support the National Social Work Public Education Campaign, raising public awareness of the irreplaceable benefits of Professional Social Work. More than 100 social work schools and programs participate in the campaign. We invite your school to join us!

Sincerely,

Elizabeth J. Clark, PhD, ACSW, MPH President, NASW Foundation Executive Director, NASW

P.S. – Send us your photos of you and the Professional Social Worker pin! We’d love to include you in campaign materials in print and on the Web.

Race in America
June 6, 2010

Keynote speaker: Julian Bond, social activist; leader in the American Civil Rights Movement; politician; professor; and writer

The University of Pittsburgh has set the stage for a solution-focused dialogue on race. Pitt’s School of Social Work and the school’s Center on Race and Social Problems will host Race in America: Restructuring Inequality, a national conference in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Workshops include:

• The Color of Money: Economic Disparities among the Races
• Mental Health: Finding Solutions to the Problems Minorities Face
• The Bigger Issue: Obesity in Minority Communities

Early bird special for registration by March 31, 2010

For more details and to register visit: http://www.race.pitt.edu

For those that are interested in ongoing discussions online, visit www.socialworkchat.org on Sundays and Tuesdays from 9 - 10 PM EST.

March Schedule:
Sun, March 7th Share ideas for celebrating Social Work Month
Tues, March 9th Case Consultation
Sun, March 14th Our Online Social Work Month VIRTUAL CELEBRATION!
Tues, March 16th Best Book Recommendations for SW Practice
Sun, March 21st The New DSM
Tues, March 23rd Creative and Unusual Work Settings for SW
Sun, March 28th Social Work Practice with Child Sexual Abuse

There are ongoing discussions on bulletin boards if you can’t make regularly scheduled chats.  You can sign up for a free account at www.socialworkchat.org.

Celebrate Social Work Month – March 2010

The 2010 Social Work Month theme is “Social Workers Inspire Community Action”

Since its inception, the social work profession has worked to improve life for millions every day. Social workers operate from values that recognize each person as relevant to society and believe that, when needed, society should help each person achieve his or her fullest potential.

No Limitations. People choose careers in the social work profession because they believe they can make a significant impact in the lives of others through individual and group assistance.  But they also recognize that effective social work practice with individuals, families and communities is affected by institutions, customs and laws that may limit the success of many.

Our Legacy. A commitment to fairness, and an intense interest in seeing others succeed by removing personal and public barriers, distinguishes social workers from other like-minded helping professionals.  These values—coupled with tangible social science skills—have led social workers in history to create essential safety net programs such as unemployment insurance, health insurance, income assistance and child protection services, and to fight for a range of human and civil rights in the United States.

Our Impact. Social workers are close to the critical events that shape the quality of American life. We are on the frontlines, developing, advocating and delivering social programs that are responsive to such human needs as homelessness, poverty, family break-up, mental illness, disability, alcohol and substance abuse, domestic violence and many other issues.  Social workers help people live more rewarding lives.

This year’s Social Work Month celebration showcases the expertise and dedication of professional social workers in helping to improve community life.  We will promote the chosen theme “Social Workers Inspire Community Action” through three core strategies of the ongoing National Social Work Public Education Campaign:

• Consumer Education
• Entertainment Outreach
• Student Recruitment

While social workers are integral parts of all communities, the general public’s understanding of these contributions and services is still limited.  Using this toolkit and related campaign materials you can help ensure that more people are exposed to positive and actionable information about the social work profession.  Every social worker has a role to play, so we hope this online toolkit helps you identify and implement promotional activities that best suit your skills and interests.

SWM 2010 Toolkit Materials:

SWM 2010 Overview

• Key Messages for SWM 2010
• Community Action Hero Nomination Form

Consumer Education Overview

• 10 Things You Can Do to Educate Consumers
• Visitor’s Guide to the HelpStartsHere.org Web Site

Entertainment Outreach Overview

• 10 Things You Can Do to Change Social Work Media Portrayals
• Visitor’s Guide to the SocialWorkersSpeak.org Web Site

Student Recruitment Overview

• 10 Things You Can Do to Introduce Students to Social Work
• Visitor’s Guide to BeASocialWorker.org Web Site

Resources

• History of Social Work Month
• Who Are Social Workers? Handout

If you have any questions about Social Work Month 2010, please contact NASW Communications at 202-336-8212.

January 4th marked a critical moment in social change - the official end of the HIV/AIDS related entry, stay and residence restrictions (more commonly known as the “travel ban” ) in place since 1987. NASW Social Work Speaks policy statements clearly support the removal of the ban, and views this and related restrictions as discriminatory and limiting a client’s right to care and treatment.

Social workers and allied professions have long viewed the ‘travel ban’ as an affront to individual rights. Everyday experiences of clients range from not being able to re-unite with family, friends, or partners because of that persons’ HIV status to limiting equal access to health and behavioral health care services. The ban also resulted in persons with HIV/AIDS denying they were living with a chronic illness. And for untold thousands, the ban limited their ability to apply for citizenship and work visas.

The lifting of the ‘travel ban’ is a necessary next step in the ongoing efforts to address and stop the stigma and discrimination universally experienced by persons living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.

HIV/AIDS Spectrum Project - www.socialworkers.org/practice/hiv_aids

Social workers changes the lives of millions people every day. The National Association of Social Workers Foundation (NASWF) is a charitable organization created to enhance the well-being of individuals, families, and communities through the advancement of social work practice

Donations to the NASW Foundation help to bring tools and resources to thousands of social workers, or makes a big difference to one individual when it is needed the most – such as Alisha Ellis, who received the Verne LaMarr Lyons Scholarship as an MSW student in 2006.

Ms. Ellis was raised in Harlem and worked as an advocate for underserved African American populations suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, mental illness and HIV/AIDS before pursuing her MSW. Today, she works in oncology and is an active NASW member.

She says, “Support from the NASW Foundation came at the start of my second summer at Smith College, enabling me to pay for books for the entire year. It was especially helpful during that time, when I frequently traveled to NYC as my father’s healthcare proxy and second caregiver. The scholarship provided some peace of mind as I juggled academic and family commitments.”

“Since 2008, I have had the privilege of working at CancerCare in New York with women diagnosed with breast and gynecologic cancer. I’m proud to be helping people at a point in their lives when support is so crucial.”

Each year, the NASW Foundation supports educational and charitable initiatives that:

* enhance social workers’ knowledge and skills
* support and honor the profession, and
* improve the health and well-being of individuals, families and communities

The Foundation is funded entirely through grants and donations, so your contribution is critical.

Your gift today of $10 or more will help bring scholarships to future social workers; research and training to current social workers; and recognition to social work leaders both current and past. Would you please consider making your gift today?

You can give  on the NASW Foundation website at
https://www.socialworkers.org/foundationcampaign/onlinegiving.asp?fund=r/efund

Thanks you for your support!

Embrace diversity. End discrimination.

Background

On December 10 the world celebrates Human Rights Day.  Every year, Human Rights Day marks the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948. This year the theme is focused on non-discrimination.

The Role of Social Workers

Social work is fundamentally a human rights profession.  When the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was ratified, human rights concerns had been the bedrock of the social work profession in the United States for more than 50 years.  Discrimination and social exclusion based on racial and religious intolerance; gender inequality and violence; denial of the rights of women and children, refugees and older people – all are social justice issues that long have concerned social work. (NASW 2009)

The International Federation of Social Workers includes human rights in their definition of social work: “The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilizing theories of human behavior and social systems, social work intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work.”

Take Action

• Read more about Human Rights Day and human rights and social work
• Take a look at NASW’s Policy Statement on Human Rights and the International Federation of Social Work Policy Statement on Human Rights
• Spend some time browsing the Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights webpage
• Review human rights instruments that social workers may encounter in their work

References

National Association of Social Workers (2009). International Policy on Human Rights. Social Work Speaks, National Association of Social Workers Policy Statements, 2009-2012 (8th ed., pp 202-207). Washington, DC:  NASW Press.

International Federation of Social Work web page, retrieved December 2009; http://www.ifsw.org/p38000212.html

NOW AVAILABLE
Doing What Works: An Integrative System for the Treatment of Eating Disorders from Diagnosis to Recovery
By Abigail Horvitz Natenshon

Do you have clients dealing with eating disorders?  If so, Doing What Works is a great resource for treatment team professionals as they learn to treat complex cases of eating disorders through various techniques and strategies. Eating disorders, at times, leave practitioners feeling as emotionally challenged and out of control as the patients they treat. This is the first book of its kind to provide support, direction, clarity, and optimism to clinicians treating people with these disorders. Special topics include the unique aspects of diagnosis, the requirements for a versatile use of the practitioner’s self in treatment, co-morbidity, childhood eating and feeding disorders, and the significance of neuro-scientific research on the treatment of eating disorders with a focus on the impact of brain plasticity on creating remediating movement and changes toward recovery.

For more information, visit http://www.naswpress.org/publications/health/doing-what-works.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 16, 2009

Contact: Gail Woods Waller
202.336.8236
gwaller@naswdc.org

New Social Work Policy Institute Launches with Nov. 16 Symposium

WASHINGTON DC—Prominent social work researchers met at the National Association of Social Workers today to examine how the social work profession might best contribute to expanding comparative effectiveness research (CER) for health and psychosocial services. The goal is to develop a profession-wide action agenda that addresses areas of enhanced social work research, researcher training, interdisciplinary collaborations, research-to-practice connections and communication efforts.

CER compares the benefits and harms of different interventions and strategies to prevent, diagnose, treat and monitor health care conditions in real world settings. The purpose of this research is to improve health outcomes by disseminating evidence-based information about the most effective services to patients, clinicians and other decision makers.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 contained $1.1 billion for such research and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has identified 100 top priorities for policy implementation—many of which involve social work interventions.

“For decades social work researchers across the country have been investigating and evaluating what works in social service and health interventions,” said Joan Levy Zlotnik, director of the Social Work Policy Institute which hosted the meeting. “The new federal commitment to expanding research in these areas is a welcomed validation of this work, and an important call to action for the entire social work profession.”

Today’s symposium covered a range of topics, including:

• Economic analysis of effective psychosocial interventions
• Gaps and challenges between CER and psychosocial research
• Effectiveness research in complex systems with special populations
• Researcher training and capacity building
• Linkages between social work research and practice

(more…)

Give an Hour is a national nonprofit organization providing free counseling and other mental health services to members of the military, veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, and their loved ones.  Join the more than 4,500 mental health professionals who have already donated nearly 20,000 hours to make a difference in the lives of those who serve our country by donating an hour a week out of your practice. Visit www.giveanhour.org to learn more or to register as a provider.