By Paul R. Pace, News staff
NASW continues to help social workers and other human-service professionals learn how to be safe performing their jobs.
About 60 people attended a safety training program for social workers and other service professionals in Bismark, N.D., pictured above. Another session was held in Fargo where around 75 people were in attendance. The NASW North Dakota Chapter contracted with the North Dakota Safety Council to develop the curriculum.
Some of the latest efforts are taking place at the NASW North Dakota Chapter.
Chapter Executive Director Nancy Miller said they used funds from an unrestricted grant to team up with the North Dakota Safety Council to create a four-hour safety training program for social workers and human service professionals in the state.
“We utilized some grant funding that we received from being one of the founding members of a statewide coalition to combat human trafficking to create the course content,” Miller explained.
The chapter contracted with the North Dakota Safety Council to develop the curriculum and provided a variety of sources of information to aid the safety council. The chapter board reviewed and refined the curriculum before holding the first session, Miller noted.
“We received great feedback, and are now going to also offer a six-hour expanded version,” Miller said.
The chapter is taking the lead on the coordination of all future offerings and has arranged to hold six public sessions and one private in-service training session before the end of June.
“Our goal is to hit all corners of the state multiple times throughout 2016 and record a fully interactive session in June that we will be able to provide as an online option for those who just cannot attend any of the in-person sessions,” Miller said, adding that the goal is to have the online course marketed nationwide.
“Ultimately, we want to get this training out to as many of the 2,500-plus social workers in North Dakota as we can,” she said. “And if we can get it to others throughout the country, then that is even better.”
NASW created Guidelines for Social Work Safety in the Workplace. This document is available for download at socialworkers.org/practice/naswstandards/safetystandards2013.pdf
NASW also has a social work safety resource page available at socialworkers.org/practice/social_work_safety/default.asp.
It highlights guidelines; NASW resources; relevant Specialty Practice Section articles; chapter involvement and state models for safety; and NASW News articles related to the topic.
From the March 2016 NASW News
