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.

The article says state social service officials ignored abuse and neglect reports concerning nine-year-old Amy, who was allegedly killed by her 17-year-old cousin.

 Officials at the NASW Kentucky Chapter said caseworkers — not social workers — handled Amy’s case. The chapter is asking the newspaper to retract the headline.

Stabenow recently introduced the Battery Innovation Act to spur job and economic growth in her state. Better batteries that can store more power could help revive the American economy by boosting production of less polluting electric cars such as the Chevrolet Volt.

However, Payne said Stabenow is not qualified to introduce legislation to direct millions of dollars in government investment in batteries because she is a social worker.

Payne wrote:

“How does a social worker know the future of the most complicated manufacturing product on the planet? How does a lifetime pol who has never worked in the capital markets know that it will “generate billions in private sector economic activity, creating thousands of jobs and making America competitive in advanced battery technologies”?

Sorry Mr. Payne. You are dead wrong. Social workers work every day with jobless and homeless people and have created innovative programs to help get people back on their feet economically.

Social workers have also played a key role in government and politics for decades and continue to do so. For instance Social work icon and first female Labor Secretary Frances Perkins pushed for beneficial government programs during the Great Depression that we now take for granted, including the minimum wage and Social Security.

Social worker Rep. Eldophus “Ed” Towns (D-N.Y.) this year launched a Congressional Social Work Caucus. This group of social workers in Congress is pushing for legislation to benefit the profession, including the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act (SWRA). For more information about the caucus on the National Association of Social Workers Web site click here.

One of them was a teenager who was thriving in her foster home and did not want to return to her birth mother, who repeatedly relapsed into drug addiction. Southeastern Connecticut Center for Juvenile Justice successfully fought to keep her with foster parents.

Another person they helped was a disabled teenager who was placed in the home of his sister rather than foster parents. The lawyers and social workers proved that with his disability it was better the teen be placed with a familiar person.

Despite its successes the state-funded center closed on June 30, the victim of budget cuts.

“Going into the job you hoped things work out and people would be an ideal team but when I got there it was unbelievable how everyone meshed together,” said Kristine Johnson, a social worker who used to work at the center. “We had each other’s back. The attorneys always made themselves available for us. As corny as it sounds …I’m going to truly miss everybody, my co-workers as well as the kids. It was an ideal workplace.”

According to this article in on MinnPost.com, Neighborhood House requested $175,000 but got less than half of that amount.

The agency laid off a part-time social worker and told a licensed clinical social worker who worked with the group they don’t have the money to pay him for providing counseling.

“I’m less worried about my funding than theirs,” therapist Resmaa Menakem, MSW, LCSW, said.

The articles cited a new Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce study that said students who major in social work, visual and performing arts, and theology can expect to earn less than those majoring in engineering, computer science or business.

We take issue with using the term “fluffy” in the headlines (To read the Times article click here and to read the Washington Post item click here).

Social workers get years of education and training to help people overcome life’s hurdles. This includes veterans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, school students who are homeless or have disabilities, children who have been removed from the homes of people with poor parental skills, and patients with grave illnesses such as heart disease and cancer.

There is nothing soft or fluffy about  helping people overcome such issues. It takes a strong, resourceful and intelligent person to do that.

Secondly, the Georgetown University study only looked at earnings for people who earned a bachelor’s in social work. The National Association of Social Workers Center for Workforce Studies did a 2010 report on salaries that included social workers with master’s degrees.

The NASW study, which includes master’s degrees,  puts the median annual salary for all social workers at $55,000 a year. The Georgetown University study put the median salary for students with a bachelor’s degree in social work at $39,000.

To learn more about what kinds of jobs social workers do and what they earn visit the National Association of Social Workers’ Center for Workforce Studies by clicking here.

Daron Reliford, 17, lives in Grandparents Family Apartments with his great-grandmother Evelyn. Reliford was a gunshot victim. Photo courtesy of NYDailyNews.com.

Jeers to New York state for it proposal to cut funding at Grandparent Family Apartments in the Bronx, according to this YourNabe.com article.

The apartments are reserved for grandparents who are raising grandchildren. Social workers provide group counseling sessions, homework assistance, field trips and other programs to keep children away from gangs and drugs.

Proposed state budget cuts would not cause residents to be evicted but eliminate social work programs for the children.

“You’ll have incarceration, I believe, if our kids will be put back on the streets,” said Katherine Martinez, who is deputy director of Presbyterian Senior Services and head social worker at the apartments. “Not having the programs will put them back into harms way.”

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

The sexual assault of a friend prompted Alford to train to become a Sexual Assault Response Coordinator. “I figured if I can’t stop sexual assault, at least I can help treat it,” he said.

Alford provides a commendable and very valuable service However, the article’s headline describes him as a social worker. Alford’s trainer told him to describe himself as a social worker, the article said.

Before SocialWorkersSpeak.org decides whether to jeer this article we must ask:

Q: Does a Sexual Assault Response Coordinators’ duties put them on par with a social worker or is this a misuse of the title?

According to this article in the Honolulu Civil Beat the school system laid off six of its 69 social workers, leaving a social worker-to-student ratio of one for every 2,698 students. The U.S. Department of Education recommends one social worker for every 800 students, the article said.

“I know they’re having a really hard time following up on the students they need to follow up on,” said Debbie Shimizu, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers’ Hawaii Chapter. “I’m not sure how they’re keeping up with trying to do all that, but I know they’re having a really hard time.”

To learn more about how social workers help young people overcome life’s hurdles, visit the NASW’s “Help Starts Here” Kids & Families Web pages by clicking here.

Some scenes from the mural Maine Gov. Paul LePage wants removed. Social work icon Frances Perkins is depicted in the center panel on the left.

Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage plans to remove a mural from the State Department of Labor because it is too pro-labor and has offended some business owners, according to this article on Salon.com.

The mural “sends a message that we’re one-sided, and I don’t want to send that message,” the governor said.

SocialWorkersSpeak.org wants to send a big jeer to Gov. LaPage because the mural contains the image of social work heroine Frances Perkins, who was labor secretary during the Great Depression and has family roots in Maine. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Perkins implemented many benefits workers now take for granted, including unemployment insurance and Social Security.

Besides taking out the mural, LaPage wants to rename conference rooms in the state building named after Frances Perkins and other labor leaders, according to this Salon column from Robert Reich, who was labor secretary under President Clinton.

Reich said LaPage may have his way in Maine but the U.S. Labor Department building in Washington, D.C. is still named after Frances Perkins and her portrait hangs there.

“Governor, you might be able to erase some of Maine’s memory, but you’ll have a hard time erasing the nation’s memory — even if it’s not in keeping with your pro-business goals,” Reich wrote.

The article mentions how Levine studied “of all things, social work” in college, as if social work is a profession that is not compatible with being artistic.

“Like most people, it was important to Levine to have a ‘real job,’and also like most, her innermost need to create art and be true to herself won out. She left the (social work) profession a few short years later,” reporter Jess Zaino wrote.

SocialWorkersSpeak.org thinks Levine’s jewelry is beautiful. However, we take issue with Zaino’s characterization of the social work profession. Zaino may be surprised to discover that social workers are also accomplished writers, filmmakers, actors and artists.

And many of them pursue these interests while continuing to contribute to society through social work.

Review by Cheryl A. Johnson, LCSW

RATING (Out of 5 SocialWorkersSpeak.org Megaphones):

Plot (Cheryl watched Episode 2 on Oct. 5, 2010): The plot of the show is for individuals to lose weight through diet and exercise. Participants go through vigorous exercise routines and food management. Each week the participants are weighed and out of a process of elimination (most to least weight lost) one of two participants leaves the show.

Why social workers and the public should not watch this show: Although I do not think the show should be totally ignored, the parts that are shown of the participants dealing with their life situations outside of the competition and emotional struggles during the show should be totally ignored.

This is not due to the angst the participants feel, BUT the incompetence of the two trainers who “support” the participant when experiencing their difficulties. What is shown on the episodes  is an untrained trainer giving “sugar coated”  discussion with individuals who are in real pain.

The issues that have caused the participant to gain their weight are often at the core of emotions that rise up. It is a disservice for the participants to once again not receive the support they need to break through or even better handle a problem he or she is experiencing. The show does not indicate that the participants are receiving any mental health support outside of these potentially harmful “chats”.

Just as they have medical professionals who are responsible for the participants ongoing medical issues, so should there be trained mental health professionals (Social Workers) be an active presence on the show.

Cheryl A. Johnson is a Baltimore social worker who has been employed in the field of disabilities for 25 years.

SocialWorkersSpeak.org recently featured a panel of social work experts who commented on weight loss reality shows. To read that article click here.

Review by Kathryn Gurland, LCSW

RATING (Out of 5 SocialWorkersSpeak.org Megaphones):

Plot: ”The Big C” is about 40-something Cathy Jamison (actress Laura Linney) who has been recently diagnosed with Stage IV melanoma cancer. 

Why social workers and the public should not watch this show: Although there are many ways that humor, irony and light, funny experiences could be tastefully portrayed when developing a storyline about a person diagnosed with a late stage cancer, the producers and writers of this show did not accomplish that at all.

The acting performances are of a very high caliber and the characters and dialogue are very entertaining.  However, it is clearly apparent  they did not consult with any real cancer patients, and certainly did not consult with an oncology social worker.  The mere fact that they show Cathy (the diagnosed character) going out to lunch with her doctor at a lovely restaurant by the water and then going house hunting with him is so extremely unrealistic that the plot loses its credibility even to those viewers who have never worked in healthcare. 

Photo courtesy of Showtime.

Five episodes into the series, there is still no appearance of a nurse nor social worker, only Cathy’s doctor.  Hard to believe that no one on the script writing team noticed that oversight…

And I can’t imagine that anyone who has endured a late stage diagnosis of cancer for themselves or a loved one, would find any enjoyment in seeing Cathy impulsively cash out her 401K , buy an extravagant car, hire a contractor to dig a pool in her yard, and walk around throwing out her hundred dollar bills wherever she feels like it. Really? Did this production team speak to anyone who is facing their mortality in the possible near future? 

 I’ve heard many angry comments from patients with cancer about how frivolous and “easy to pull off” these impulsive behaviors seem on the show.   And their response is “who can really do things like that when they get diagnosed?”   They feel the show makes light of and mocks how extremely difficult it is to actually find a balance between impulsively wanting to live out your days to the extreme fullest, while maintaining some reality and hope, and focusing on beating the odds and living longer.

Kathryn Gurland is a private cancer navigation consultant in New York City and runs Peg’s Group. She is also a member of the National Association of Social Workers Communications Network Advisory Committee.

However, columnist Lolla Mohammed Nur said the program, which is part of the School of Social Work, should not be judged simply by the revenue it generates or the number of students in its classes.

The program is valuable because it helps students learn how to organize against issues like social inequality, privilege and racism, she said. Students have launched a letter writing campaign to keep the program alive.

“Everything has a relationship to social justice … We’re not really engaged in that [kind of] talk because people either aren’t aware of it or they don’t see it because they are privileged,” said Khong Xiong, a former student in the program.

Social work has deep ties to social justice. To learn more visit the National Association of Social Workers Peace and Social Justice practice Web page by clicking here.

Review by Sherry Saturno:

RATING (Out of 5 SocialWorkersSpeak.org Megaphones):

PLOT: Earnest Child Services Social Worker Emily Jenkins (Renee Zellweger) uncovers what she believes to be horrific abuse and neglect suffered by 10-year-old Lillith Sullivan (Jodelle Ferland). Passionate and driven, Emily enlists the aid of her detective friend  Mike Barron (Ian McShane)  to intervene and rescue young Lily from being burned alive in a gas oven by her parents, Edward and Margaret Sullivan (Callum Keith Rennie and Kerry O’Malley).

Emily is haunted by her own childhood demons involving her unstable mother, and is deeply touched by Lily’s suffering and isolation. When Lily begs her not to put her into foster care, Emily petitions for legal guardianship and takes her into her home.

Lily begins therapy sessions with psychologist Dr. Doug Ames (Bradley Cooper) where she reveals to him dark aspects of her personality that unnerve and threaten him. Gradually, people around Lily begin to die. A young boy in her therapy group suddenly murders his parents. Dr. Ames dies as well. Emily begins to suspect that Lily is not what — or whom — she seemed.

Renee Zellweger and Jodelle Ferland in Case 39.

Emily’s idealism begins to unravel, and she unsuccessfully attempts to rescind guardianship of Lily. She breaks down, alternating between fits of anger and overwhelmed by a sense of loss. Realizing that everyone around Lily is at risk, she desperately formulates a plan.

WHY SOCIAL WORKERS AND THE PUBLIC SHOULD MISS THIS FILM: This reviewer had high hopes for this film. It began on an authentic enough note portraying a dedicated and compassionate social worker who was relentless in her efforts to save a child. However, the film rapidly dissolved into shock value tangents interwoven with gratuitous violence. It no longer was relevant what Emily’s profession was, as she was locked into a formulaic thriller.

 Case 39 reinforces the stereotype that all social workers are child protective service workers, which does not expose the public and the media to our colleagues who work in administration, policy, politics, etc. Additionally, this film also highlights the banal perception of a social worker as a harried and frazzled individual, overwhelmed with too high of a caseload and inundated with stacks of case files.

In the beginning of this film, Dr. Ames suggests to Emily that she represents the number to call for people who don’t have anyone else. As social workers, we know that for our clients who are completely alone, we can make the difference between life and death. This film just isn’t our vehicle to illustrate it.

National Association of Social Workers member Sherry Saturno, LCSW, DCSW, lives in Westchester, New York. She is the 2010 NASW-New York State/Westchester Division Social Worker of the Year.

Want to read more about Case 39 on SocialWorkersSpeak.org?  Independent film critic Forrest Hartman discussed the film with us in December. Click here to read that feature.

The school district is scrambling to get a new grant to keep five social workers on staff. Ginia Moorehead, a senior at York’s William Penn High School, and others lobbied the school board to save the job of social worker Barb Leonard.

According to our records, Leonard, LCSW, MSW, is a National Association of Social Workers member. Leonard helped Moorehead find shelter when she was nearly homeless.

 ”People are knocking on her door nonstop,” Moorehead said. “She’s some stability in our lives.”

To learn more about how social workers help young people succeed, visit NASW’s “Help Starts Here” Schools and Communities Web page by clicking here.

Sean McGraw, who is working toward a master’s degree in social work at Wayne State University, said in this Lansing State Journal article that he would have died if the programs were not around.

“I was going to use (alcohol and drugs) until I died or until I sought treatment,” McGraw, 33, said.

McGraw was part of a protest on Tuesday in Lansing that attracted hundreds, including Kitty Dukakis, wife of former Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis. Kitty Dukakis battled alcoholism.

Michigan lawmakers are considering spending reductions in substance abuse treatment programs to help address a $300-million budget shortfall.

Social workers often help clients overcome drug, alcohol and other addictions. To learn more, visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Addictions Web page by clicking here.

The social workers investigated chronically absent children. Often they found the families of these children were homeless or in danger of being homeless. Or low-income parents had to travel long distances to work and their offspring were taking advantage of their absence.

Although other school staff can knock on doors to let parents know children are absent, social workers have skills to help families find housing, health care and other services they need to keep children in school, laid off social worker Tory Cox said. Cox is  a National Association of Social Workers member.

“There’s a difference between relaying a message and helping solve problems that contribute to the underlying reason that the problem exists,” Cox said.

To learn more about the role of social workers in schools, visit NASW’s “Help Starts Here” Schools and Communities Web page by clicking here.

Julea Ward. Photo courtesy of the Alliance Defense Fund.

Jeers to the Detroit Free Press for a headline identifying an anti-gay Eastern Michigan University graduate student as an aspiring social worker. (To read the article click here).

U.S. District Judge George Steeh dismissed a lawsuit filed by Julea Ward, a graduate student who refused to counsel a gay client because it conflicted with her beliefs.

The headline of the article identifed Ward as a “social-work student.” However, she was enrolled in the counseling program, which is part of the College of Education, according to university spokesman Walter Kraft.

 Ward was kicked out of the graduate program when she asked that a gay client be assigned to another counselor. The Alliance Defense Fund, a national religious liberty group, said they will appeal the judge’s dismissal of Ward’s case.

The National Association of Social Workers  supports equal treatment for all, including members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community. To find out more click here to visit the association’s Diversity and Equity Web page.

Dan Coyne and Myra De La Vega. Photo courtesy of NBC Chicago.

Three months ago social worker Dan Coyne garnered national acclaim when he donated a kidney to Myra De La Vega, a worker at a convenience store he frequented.

Now Coyne could lose his job at Pershing East Magnet School because he lives in Evanston and not Chicago, a violation of a school system residency rule. He must move to Chicago by July 31.

Coyne said he will move to meet the deadline and keep his job, even if it means taking a rented room and sleeping away from his wife and children. The Chicago Teachers Union and even the principal of Coyne’s school said they are against the residency rule.

To learn more read this Huffington Post article.

Today SocialWorkersSpeak.org it sending a big jeer to Chicago Public Schools for being  insensitive to a great man and social worker!