Haitian children. Photo courtesy of the Andora Project.

Cheers to PBS for this article and TV segment on Rachel Pierre, a Haitian-born social worker who was educated in the United States but decided to set up an organization to help children in her native country.

Haiti has no child welfare system and unattached children are at risk of being sent abroad by child traffickers.

Some Haitian parents who cannot provide for their offspring also send their children to other families where they do light housework in exchange for an education.

However some children in these “restavek” arrangements end up abused or neglected by host families.

The Haitian earthquake a year ago prompted Pierre to make her program a reality. She quit her child welfare job with Washington, D.C. and founded the Andora Project, an organization that uses collaborations and programs to build a social work system in Haiti.

The U.S. State Department has already used Andora Project recommendations in its human trafficking report.

To learn more about how social workers get involved in international affairs visit the National Association of Social Workers’ International Social Work web site by clicking here.And to learn how social workers help vulnerable children visit NASW’s “Help Starts Here” Kids and Families web site by clicking here.

Social worker Robert Suchan dons a dress, wig and makeup and becomes Aunt Barbara to sell Tupperware. His comedic sales pitch and costume helped make him the top seller in North America. Photo courtesy of ABC News.

Robert Suchan, a former social worker, puts on makeup, a wig and a dress to become Tupperware saleswoman “Aunt Barbara,” according to this ABC article.

The schtick has worked wondrously — Suchan was the top Tupperware seller in the North America last year, moving $250,000 worth of products. In fact, Suchan, 43, has quit his social worker job to sell Tupperware full time.

“The phone rings every day,” said Suchan, who stands at six feet five inches in heels and bouffant wig. “The emails don’t stop.”

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) testifies in support of same-sex marriage bill at Senate hearing. Photo courtesy of the Washington Blade.

A Jan. 31 Maryland Senate hearing on legislation to grant marital rights to same-sex couples was so full there was an overflow room with television screens, according to this article in the Washington Blade.

In all, 75 people testified in support or opposition to the legislation.

Some of those testifying in favor of the bill, which has the support of Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), was National Association of Social Workers Maryland Chapter Executive Director Daphne McClellan and social workers and radio show hosts Bob and Lori Hollander.

Social workers are committed to equal treatment for all, including LGBT people. To learn more visit the National Association of Social Workers’ Diversity and Equity web site by clicking here.

Prison inmates work outside in a chain gang. Photo courtesy of CNN.

A prison inmate with a mental illness is less likely to commit another crime and return to jail than an inmate who does not have a mental illness or one who has a mental illness and also abuses drugs, according to a study from the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University.

Case Western assistant social work professor Amy Hall said researchers took inmates from the Philadelphia jail system, one of the largest in the nation, and divided them into four groups.

The categories were those with severe mental illnesses, those with a substance abuse problem, those with dual problems of mental illness and substance abuse, and those with neither problem.

The study found that at the end of four years, 54 percent of inmates with severe mental illnesses returned to jail,  compared to 66 percent of those with substance abuse problems, 68 percent with mental illness and substance abuse issues, and 60 percent of those who did not have either problem.

More study is needed but the lower recidivism rate for those who are mentally ill could be a sign they can more readily get treatment than those with dual problems, Wilson said.

“These findings point to a possible need for more integrated services for mental and substance abuse, and more attention being paid generally to the ways that substance abuse involvement among people with serious mental illness complicates these individuals involvement with the criminal justice system,” she said.

Click here to read more about the study at NewsRx.com.

To learn more about how social workers help people overcome mental illness and addictions visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Mind and Spirit web site by clicking here.

Mary Walker Baron. Photo courtesy of www.shewrites.com.

Cheers to the National Association of Social Workers member Mary Walker Baron for her blog on Huffington Post about helping her elderly father-in-law age with dignity.

John was 94 years old and blind and almost deaf when he decided to relocate to California from New Jersey to be closer to relatives after his wife died. Baron soon realized their home could not meet John’s disability needs.

So with much angst they decided to put him in a senior citizen community. And to their relief things worked out, although John complains sometimes about things, like being served coffee at the end of his lunch instead of the beginning.

“John is living his life and life lived well is full of challenges and complaints and quiet caring for others. Yes, he is declining. So am I. So are you. But in his full throttle claiming all of life’s vagaries, my father-in-law has forged dignity into his decline and that might truly be the best of all possible worlds.”

To learn more about the services social workers provide the elderly, visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Seniors and Aging web site by clicking here.

Nancy Miller. Screenshot courtesy of NY1.

Cheers to NY1, a 24-hour New York City news program, for this news segment and online article on the city’s first senior citizen center for the blind and visually impaired.

The center in Chelsea, which is run by VISIONS, offers equipment and services specifically for this population, including computers with braille keyboards.

Nancy Miller, secretary of the National Association of Social Workers New York City’s board, said she hopes eventually all senior citizens will have equipment and services to handle elderly people who live with disabilities.

“Our hope is 25 years from now, we will have this center, but blind seniors will be able to go to all the centers in the city because those centers will be universally accessible, regardless of what the disability is,” said Miller, who is CEO and executive director of VISIONS.

The city also plans to open a senior center for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in February.

To learn more about how social workers help the elderly visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Seniors and Aging Website by clicking here.

Bobbie Isaacs. Photo courtesy of Newsday.

Even after she retired, Long Island social worker Natalie “Bobbie” Isaacs continued to practice her craft, according to this article in New York’s Newsday.

Isaacs, 82, helped volunteers bring in dogs to comfort other residents at the Haverford, Pa., senior living community where she and her sports columnist husband Stan lived after they retired  six years ago.

Isaacs died on Jan. 22 from cancer. She had worked for almost 30years at Brookville’s AHRC-Nassau,  (formerly known as the Association for the Help of Retarded).

“She listened to people,” said Andy Weickert, a colleague at AHRC-Nassau. “That is what social work is all about. She exemplified what social work is.”

Isaacs is survived by her husband, daughters Nancy Reznick, Ann Isaacs Basch, and Ellen Isaac and four grandchildren.

According to this article in the Des Moines Register, on Thursday no one publicly supported the three bills during a House subcommittee hearing. In fact, National Association of Social Workers Iowa Chapter lobbyist Lyle Krewson spoke out against it.

“As a homeowner, I’m not drug tested for my homestead tax credit. As a driver, I’m not drug tested for my driver’s license,” Krewson said. “This is treating poor people (differently) because they’re poor.”

Social workers are committed to equal treatment for all, including people living in poverty. To learn more visit the National Association of Social Workers Diversity and Equity Webpage by clicking here.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw stars as social worker Clea Hopkins on "Touch" on Fox. Photo courtesy of TV Guide.

Social worker Clea Hopkins (actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw) will have an integral role on Fox’s new sci-fi series “Touch,” which will preview Jan. 25 at 9 p.m. Eastern on Fox, executive producer Carol Barbee said.

“Touch” stars Kiefer Sutherland as Martin Bohm, a widower who discovers his mute son Jake (actor David Mazouz), who is obsessed with numbers and cellphones, can predict the future. Martin realizes his connection with his son could help shape humanity’s destiny.

However, Clea Hopkins will keep the sci-fi series firmly rooted in reality, reminding Martin of his main mission, Barbee told SocialWorkersSpeak.org. She gets involved with the family because Jake has a habit of running away, ending up in odd places such as cellphone towers.

In fact, you could describe the relationship between between Martin, Jake and Clea as a triangle, Barbee said.

“Clea keeps bringing Martin back to, ‘You have a son, he has these issues, and the state has stepped in and no matter what happens out there we need to care of your son,’” she said.

Carol Barbee. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

“Touch” is the brainchild of television producer and screenwriter Tim Kring, creator of the “Heroes,” an NBC sci-fi series that ran from 2006-2010. Sutherland, who was taking a break after the conclusion of his wildly successful run on “24” on Fox, read the script for “Touch,” got excited about the series, and decided he wanted to return to network television to do the project, Barbee said.

Mbatha-Raw, the daughter of a South African doctor, was raised by her mother Anne Raw in Great Britain after her parents divorced.  She has played in the popular, long-running British sci-fi series “Dr. Who” and had a starring role as part of a husband-wife spy team in the cancelled NBC series “Undercovers.”

The pilot of “Touch” will air on Jan. 25 and the series will premiere on March 19. In early episodes Clea will spend a lot of time with Jake and by the second episode viewers will see more of her life outside of work and what motivates her, Barbee said.

The series is set in New York and Barbee said writers researched state child welfare laws and met with New York social workers to help shape the Clea Hopkins character. Barbee is also familiar with the social work profession because she was an executive producer, producer and writer on the CBS series “Judging Amy,” which ran on CBS from 1999-2005.

“Judging Amy” featured Tyne Daley as a child welfare social worker and mother of the main character Amy Gray (actress Amy Brenneman), a family court judge in Hartford, Conn.

Kiefer Sutherland (right) as Martin Bohm and David Mazouz as Jake in "Touch." Photo courtesy of MaxiSeries.com

“It’s serendipitous” that Kring made Clea Hopkins a social worker, Barbee said. “I have experience with the social work profession due to Tyne Daley’s character on ‘Judging Amy.’ I did a lot of research.”

However, Barbee said the staff of “Touch” is willing to consult with additional social workers as the series proceeds. She also hopes social workers take the time to watch the program.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am about the show,” Barbee said. “That’s exciting that we are able to reach (the social work) audience.”

Q: Social workers, please watch the show the preview and tell us what you think about “Touch.”

Chase Beh. Photo courtesy of the Chicago Tribune.

Chase Beh’s parents turned to drug counselor Kimberly Even to help their 20-year-old son overcome his  addiction to heroin, according to this article in the Chicago Tribune.

However, Beh died from an overdose  in 2009 and it was found Even was not licensed to be a drug counselor in Illinois. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation in 2009 had also fined her $10,000 for practicing unlicensed social work.

After Beh’s death Even continued to identify herself as a licensed clinical social worker and certified alcohol and drug counselor and  see clients, the article said.

Authorities eventually closed her North Shore clinic.

Even, 47, is now in jail, charged with depositing $75,000 in insurance company checks made out to a client’s father.

Beh’s mother said there should be a law in Illinois to make it criminal for a person to falsely claim they are a drug counselor.

“I can’t imagine how she could have been in practice and no one looked into her credentials,” Christine Beh said. “I think what she did was unconscionable. It’s a betrayal that I just think is unbelievable.”

To learn more about proper social work credentials visit the National Association of Social Workers Credentialing Center by clicking here.

Experts estimate there are 14,000 homeless people in the Garden State, up from 13,000 in 2009.

To learn more about the services social workers provide clients from all walks of life, visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Website by clicking here.

Social worker Amie Eipers (inset) counseled Justin Raxter on a recent episode of MTV's "True Life." Photos courtesy of MTV and therapist-psychologist.com.

National Association of Social Workers member Amie Eipers offers encouraging advice to a young man who has run afoul of the law on “I’m a Sex Offender,” a recent episode of MTV’s “True Life” documentary series.

“True Life” covers issues teenagers and young adults face, including drug addiction, eating disorders, and sexuality.

In the episode Eipers, MSW, LCSW, who works for Gina Spielman, LCSW and Associates in Naperville, Ill., counsels Justin Raxter.

Raxter was 18 and playing in a rock band when he dated a 15-year-old girl. He was charged with child pornography for having photographs and videos of the girl, although those charges were dropped.

 However, Raxter is required to file as a sex offender for 10 years, his reputation was ruined, and he had difficulty finding work.

Eipers listened to Raxter’s problems and gave him advice on how to overcome this situation. In an earlier SocialWorkersSpeak.org interview, Eipers said she believes laws that target adult sexual predators can be unfair to young people such as Raxter.

“This is something that happened to you, not who you are,” she told Raxter in the episode, which was filmed a year ago but began airing this week.

Amie Eipers meets with Justin Raxter. Screenshot courtesy of MTV.

SocialWorkersSpeak.org caught up with Raxter this afternoon. She was in her car in a snowstorm going to pick up her child.

“The response to the episode has been all good,” she said. “Everybody has been completely supportive.”

Eipers last saw Raxter just before the Christmas holidays. She said he is doing well and attending college. In fact, he is lobbying to change sexual predator laws in Illinois so they do not unfairly impact other young people.

To watch the episode on MTV’s Website click here. And to learn more about how social workers help young people overcome life’s hurdles visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Kids & Families Website by clicking here.

An organ transplantation. Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Times.

Social Worker Richard Lanz had a tough job to do, according to this moving  Los Angeles Times article.

A 19-year-old Mexican immigrant had suffered an aneurysm while playing soccer. He was brain dead but his body was kept alive on life support.

Lanz, LCSW, knew the lives of several people could be saved if the young man’s kidney’s heart and other organs were donated.  The man’s eyes could also enable another person to see and his skin could be used to help burn victims.

However, he had to convince the father, who had not seen his son in three years, that his son could be a hero even in death.

“I explained how that worked, and he looked truly amazed,” wrote Lanz, who worked for 30 years in the emergency room at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, Calif. “I could relate. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I am still awed by the concept of organ transplantation.”

Read the full story to see what happened.

To find out more about how social worker help clients live healthier lives and deal with death and dying visit the National Association of Social Workers “Help Starts Here” Health & Wellness Website by clicking here.

Brewer has already recommended adding more investigators and training and overhauling the hot line for abuse complaints. She has also proposed increasing the CPS budget by $3.7 million.

Tanitsha Bridgers. Photo courtesy of Black Image Magazine.

Cheers to the Black Image magazine in Las Vegas for this feature on National Association of Social Workers member Tanitsha Bridgers, who created a mobile mental healthcare service to reach vulnerable populations in her area.

Bridgers found many people who need services or support, especially African Americans, did not have transportation to get to mental health professionals. So using an inheritance left by her mother who died from breast cancer Bridgers launched Mobile Mental Health Support Services Inc.

“Customarily, African-Americans don’t seek mental health services or therapy,” Bridgers said. “Typically, we deal with our psychological issues by way of Jesus ‘I am going to pray about it.’”

Mobile Mental Health Support Services Inc. now operates in three locations and has more than 100 employees. The company offers family, couple and invidual counseling, rehabilitative mental health services and community give-back programs.

To learn more about the valuable mental health services social workers provide visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Mind & Spirit Website by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Alcohol Abuse Treatment.

What group of binge drinkers  overindulges  most often? You may be surprised to learn it’s the elderly and not college students, according to this article in Florida’s Sun Sentinel.

According to an annual report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, seniors who indulge to the extreme with alcohol do so on average 5.5 times a month, compared to four times a month for people under age 45.

In the article National Association of Social Workers member Stephen Ferrante explained why. Ferrante is coordinator of a social work program on aging issues at Florida Atlantic University.

“They are typically alone and in isolation, often drinking in response to some problem in their lives,” he said.

However, Ferrante said seniors citizens in treatment have more success overcoming drug and alcohol problems than other groups.

To learn more about social workers help the elderly visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Seniors and Aging Website by clicking here. Social workers also help clients overcome drug and alcohol addictions. To learn more click here.

Azikiwe Kambule. Photo courtesy of mugshots.com.

Outgoing Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has pardoned nearly 200 people, including a South African man implicated in the 1996 carjacking death of a social worker, according to this Sentinel-Record article.

Prosecutors said Azikiwe Kambule and Santonio Berry killed social worker Pamela McGill because they wanted her red 1993 Dodge Stealth sportscar.

Kambule claimed he did not fire the shots that killed McGill. He was sentenced to 30 years for armed carjacking and five years for being accessory to a murder. Berry was sentenced to life without parole after pleading guilty to capital murder.

Anita Barbee. Photo courtesy of the Courier-Journal.

Budget cuts, staff reductions and heavy caseloads are hampering the ability of Kentucky social service workers to protect children, according to this article in the Courier-Journal.

Kentucky has about 1,300 social service workers, down from 2,000 a decade ago. At the same time workers are under increasing scrutiny over recent child death cases.

The situation has gotten so bad some workers are breaking down on the job, suffering from health problems or just quitting, observers said.

“It is a crisis,” said Anita Barbee, a professor at the University of Louisville’s Kent School of Social Work and a National Association of Social Workers member. ”It’s the constant erosion of the workforce, and cuts in services that have gotten us to this crisis.”

To learn more about how social workers help young people in crisis, visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Kids & Families Website by clicking here.

Johns Hopkins University and the University of Minnesota are helping the agency create the screening tool.

Ten to 20 percent of the nation’s children are exposed to domestic violence, according to researchers. Information social workers gather through the questionnaire could be used in court to help judges decide whether families need counseling or other treatment.

“There is no specific protocol, and particularly for the really young kids, on how you assess the level of domestic violence,” said Kathleen King, a supervisor with Child Protective Services. “Social workers now get bits and pieces of that information, but it’s not all pulled together.”

Social workers help young people overcome life’s hurdles. To learn more visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Kids & Families Website by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Fox 5 in Phoenix, AZ.

Friends and associates of slain social worker Gabe Zimmerman held a six-mile hike on South Mountain near Phoenix, Ariz. in his memory, according to this Fox 5 article and video clip.

Gabe Zimmerman

Zimmerman, an aide to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and a member of the National Association of Social Workers Arizona Chapter, was killed in a mass shooting a year ago that left the congresswoman injured. He was an avid outsdoorsman and his friends thought a hike was an ideal way to honor his memory.

“Gabe was really one of the best people I knew,” state Rep. Katie Hobbs said.

To read the National Association of Social Workers’ Jan. 10, 2011 press release concerning Zimmerman’s death click here.