Dr. Caitlin Ryan, MSW, ACSW, of the Family Acceptance Project.

When Mormon couple Tom and Wendy discovered their 14-year-old son is gay they did not know how to reconcile their faith with their son’s sexual orientation, according to this article in Religious Dispatches magazine.

Then the family found material from the Family Acceptance Project, an organization led by social worker Dr. Caitlin Ryan, MSW, ACSW, at San Francisco State University. The Family Acceptance Project works to reduce suicides and drug abuse among LGBT youth and improve their overall health by helping families support these children.

Wendy said the organization helped her reconcile her faith with her child’s sexual orientation.

“The Family Acceptance Project materials were like sunshine in the darkest abyss I had ever experienced,” she said. “Without threatening my core religious beliefs, they gave me a path forward.”

Tom and Wendy’s family is featured in Families are Forever, a 20-minute Family Acceptance Project Film that is premiering this week at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.

Cheers to Religious Dispatches for highlighting the ability of social workers to help families who may have a child who is LGBT.

Here is Salt Lake City Tribune article on the film.

Social workers are committed to equal treatment and justice for all, including members of the LGBT community. To learn more visit the National Association of Social Workers Diversity and Equity website.

UOG Social Work Students Conduct Outreach in Chuuk – Pacific News Center
Pacific News Center
Guam – University of Guam Social Work Students from the SW-400 “Fields of Social Work Practice: Social Work in Chuuk” class recently facilitated a “Mother-Daughter Conference”, in partnership with the Chuuk Women’s Council on the island of Weno, Chuuk.

Rutgers School of Social Work to Train Delegation of Senior Executives from China
News from Rutgers
Rutgers School of Social Work’s Institute for Families will train a delegation of 25 senior executives and leaders from China as part of its Nongovernment Organization Leadership (NGO) program. This training program will expose leaders to the essential the essential skills and knowledge required to successfully lead NGOs.

Demand to hear social visionary, Pittsburgh entrepreneur so great talk now open to the public
KyForward.com
Now, Bill Strickland and University of Kentucky master’s of social work graduate Josh Nadzam are bringing the model to Lexington. Originally, Nadzam intended to bring Strickland to speak to “key stakeholders and those who were serious about making this happen in Lexington.” Nadzam restricted the group to 25-50 people who would be involved in replicating Strickland’s Pittsburgh project locally.

Castleton professor to be honored for work with men, women leaving prison
The Eagle
Jackson, who teaches social work at Castleton, has quietly worked to help Rutland Dismas House which offers transitional housing to men and women coming out of prison. As Jackson describes it, Dismas House’s mission is to “reconcile prisoners with society and society with prisoners.” To honor Jackson for her efforts in realizing Dismas House’s difficult mission, she will receive the Rutland Dismas House’s Mary O’ Award next month.

Justice for Victims of Sexual Assault in the Military
Social Justice Solutions
However, what is disturbing to me not only as a veteran, but as a social work student, is the absence of veteran advocates for the survivors of sexual assault in the military, as they represent one of the most vulnerable in this demographic.

In defense of prevention, and the prevention fund
The Hill
Three years ago, when the Affordable Care Act was passed, the bill set up something that was unusually far-thinking by Washington standards: an ongoing funding source dedicated to preventing illness before it occurs. For me, the creation of the Prevention and Public Health Fund was an affirmation of the work I’ve been doing for three decades to curb the use of tobacco and prevent illness and injury before it occurs, and elevate the idea that all communities can and should be healthy places.

UB’s School of Social Work podcast series receives national award
UB News Center
BUFFALO, N.Y. – inSocialWork – formerly known as Living Proof – the University at Buffalo’s School of Social Work podcast series, has won a national award in the “Best Website” category of the National Association of Social Work (NASW) Media Awards.

Lawrence social worker helps patients live their own lives
Lawrence Journal World
Lawrence social worker Felicia Shockey is the inaugural recipient of the Crossroads Hospice Caring More Award. Recently, Shockey provided a training workshop for social workers where she used gloves to demonstrate how nerve loss and arthritis effects seniors’ hand mobility and dexterity.

Fight, flight or freeze: Understanding mental, physical effects of trauma
Bangor Daily News
Substance abuse and mental health issues are often linked, underlying the fact that good health requires people to take care of both their physical and emotional needs, according to Angela Fileccia, a licensed clinical social worker with Summer Street Health Center in Bangor.

Polish walkway named for woman who saved Jews – Philly.com
Philly.com
Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, right, Warsaw Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz,center, and Janina Zgrzembska,left, the daughter of Irena Sendler, a Polish social worker credited with saving 2,500 Jewish children during the Holocaust, unveil a sign for a walkway named after Sendler, in Warsaw, Poland on wednesday May 15, 2013.

Mental Health, Social Work Leaders to Be Honored by Mental Health America
Wall Street Journal
Mental Health America will honor Pam Hyde, Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and Dr. Elizabeth Clark, the former Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), for their contributions and service to the mental health field at its 2013 Annual Conference, Why Wellness Works: Breakthroughs and Pathways to Whole Health, June 5-8, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, just outside of Washington, DC.

Longtime Highland Park Resident Helps Provide Much Needed Therapeutic Help
Chicago Tribune
A 37-year resident of Highland Park, Edward Kaufman, MSW, LCSW, BCD, has been in private practice in the Chicago area for nearly 45 years and in Highland Park since 1976, specializing in child and adolescent psychotherapy. Mr. Kaufman’s civic and cultural involvement in Highland Park includes serving on the Mayor’s Commission on Vandalism, the Youth Commission Board of Directors, and the Apple Tree Theatre Board.

Eagan named social services chief
Charlotte Post
“As a certified social worker, she understands the importance of the social work profession and the impact social workers make in the lives of the people they serve. “Peggy also has been building and sustaining positive human services partnerships in in our community for nearly two decades, and her exemplary work on behalf of those in need in this community is widely recognized by many human service agencies and professionals.”

Larry Cohen, MSW. Photo courtesy of the Prevention Institute.

Social worker Larry Cohen says the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Prevention and Public Health Fund is helping Americans battle chronic conditions such as diabetes and obesity and its budget should be preserved.

“The idea of the prevention fund was to make an ongoing investment in our nation’s future by providing support for efforts proven to reduce diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and other conditions,” Cohen, MSW, wrote in this column in The Hill.

Cohen is founder of Prevention Institute, an organization that brings research, practice, and analysis to pressing health and safety issues.

Funds have been siphoned from the Prevention and Public Health Fund to do other health initiatives, such as paying to enroll people in healthcare exchanges. However, Cohen said the money should only be used for what it was originally intended.

For instance Nashville, a city with one of the highest diabetes rates in the nation, used grants from the fund to build bike-friendly greenways and running paths and take high-fat junk food from school vending machines. And San Antonio set up salad bars in schools and exercise equipment in parks.

Social workers help clients maintain good health. To learn more visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Healthy Lifestyles website.

Linda and Charlie Bloom. Photo courtesy of the Dr. Pat Show.

Just because you have differences with your mate does not mean your relationship is destined for the rubbish heap, National Association of Social Workers members Charlie and Linda Bloom said in this column in Huffington Post.

No relationship, or mate, is perfect, said Charles Bloom, MSW, and Linda Bloom, LICSW. Partners should not take differences personally but look at them as opportunities to improve their relationships and themselves.

Here is part of what they wrote:

Though conflict may not be avoidable in marriage, it is not necessarily a foreshadowing of doom. Differences in opinions, feelings, temperaments, and even values are an inherent aspect of relationship. In fact, we generally select partners who will help us to expand our inner and outer lives by offering a life perspective that differs from our own.

Charles and Linda Bloom have been married since 1972 and are nationally recognized relationship experts. They are also authors of the books “101 Things I Wish I Knew When I Got Married” and “Secrets of Great Marriages.”

Social workers help people improve their connections to others. To learn more visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Relationships consumer website.

May proclaimed Foster Care Month – Greene County Democrat
Greene County Democrat
DHR staff not pictured are: Eula Morton, Supervisor; Carmesha Gibson, Social Worker; Latonya Wooley, Social Worker. According to the Greene County Department of Human Resources, there are currently 11 children in foster care in the custody of DHR.

Sarah Elizabeth Hancock, UM student
Baltimore Sun
Sarah Elizabeth Hancock, an effervescent and outgoing college junior whose lifelong ambition was to become a social worker so she could help others, was remembered Thursday by family and friends as a thoughtful and caring individual.

Rachel Lloyd, Tina Brown and Leymah Gbowee Honored at The New York …
Huffington Post
A lot has happened since 2008 when a Sunday night premiere screening and dinner co-hosted by Gloria Steinem honored Leymah Gbowee, a charismatic social worker turned activist who, in the documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell, tells her compelling story about how women banded together to protest violence in Liberia, set their hideous dictator Charles Taylor on a journey of exile, to be put on trial for war crimes, and enabled a democratically elected woman to govern their country.

New generation of American Indians challenges Redskins – USA Today
USA TODAY
Blackhorse is Navajo and a psychiatric social worker and the named plaintiff in Blackhorse et al v. Pro-Football Inc., a federal suit in which a group of five American Indians seek to strip the federal trademark rights from the football team Snyder owns.

Cruise Control: Understanding Sex Addiction In Gay Men
EDGEOnTheNet
Social worker Robert Weiss brings the issue to light in a helpful guide, “Cruise Control: Understanding Sex Addiction in Gay Men.” He not only offers insight into sex addiction in gay men but also helps provide treatment options.

Scathing Social Services report prompts retirement, resignation
wtvr.com
The industry standard for the appropriate number of active cases one social worker should have ranges between 10 and 12 cases a month. At DSS on average social workers were managing four times that amount. Each social worker was managing around forty-six active cases a month.

Sparks of Hope for Preventing WV Teen Pregnancies – Public News Service
Public News Service
Social worker Steve Tuck, chief executive of the Children’s Home Society of West Virginia, said they imported a successful teen pregnancy prevention program from New York and started versions of it in the two West Virginia cities three years ago.

Overcoming Addiction, Professor Tackles Perils American Indians Face
New York Times
His American name is David A. Patterson, his Cherokee name Adelv unegv Waya, or Silver Wolf. He is a tenure-track assistant professor at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis.

Raffkind: Teen pregnancy is down, but work remains
Amarillo.com
To address these issues, Amarillo College is introducing students to on-line curricula that provide information necessary for avoiding unwanted pregnancies. In addition, Dr. Darla Beaty, Social Work Professor at West Texas A&M, with the support of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Coalition, is in the process of administering a survey to pregnant and parenting teens in order to learn more about the risk factors associated with pregnancy. Results of this survey will, for the first time, provide important local data.

Jeannette Lofas and her husband. Screenshot courtesy of NBC Miami.

Some married couples are finding that living apart is the key to happiness, according to this news article and video segment from CBS Miami.

For instance New York City social worker Jeannette Lofas, PhD, LCSW, lives about 20 miles away from her husband of 10 years. They get together on weekends.

“It’s more of a celebration when he comes,” she said.

More than 1.7 million married couples in the United States live apart, according to the Census Bureau. That number is rising, experts claim.

Lofas, who is an expert on blended families, said the arrangement is especially beneficial to people who may be entering second marriages and have children.

“Who comes first is a big issue in a remarriage with kids . When you’re in separate houses, you can decide the order of things,” she said.

However, a big issue in deciding whether to live apart after marriage is whether the couple can afford it. And experts recommend young couples just starting out live together.

Social workers help clients build better relationships with others. To learn more visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Relationships website.

David Patterson with students at Washington University in St. Louis. Photo courtesy of the New York Times.

When he was in his 20′s David Patterson was an alcohol and drug addict who was contemplating suicide until an uncle helped reconnect him to his Cherokee heritage, according to this article in the New York Times.

Gaining knowledge of his American Indian ancestry inspired Patterson to go to college and get a master’s degree and doctorate in social work from the University of Louisville. He is now  a tenure-track assistant professor at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis.

Patterson, 49, has done groundbreaking research on social problems affecting American Indian communities. His research focuses on intervention strategies for substance abusers in underserved populations, particularly American Indians.

“He brings to the table new strategies, new ways and new perspectives to think about,” said Pete Coser, the program manager for the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies at the Brown School. “His story and experiences will be able to bring, at least, a light to those that are experiencing it now. Things that plague Indian country. How do we get over the mental monster that keeps us in that box?”

Cheers to the New York Times for telling Patterson’s story.

Social workers are committed to equal treatment and social justice for all. To learn more visit the National Association of Social Workers’ Diversity and Equity website.

Ted Diadiun. Photo courtesy of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

A big jeer to Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter Ted Diadiun for this column that dismisses social workers’ complaints about misuse of the professional title.

Social workers were upset by an April 27 headline that said: 2 Cuyahoga social workers accused of gaining illegal benefits for lovers.” The two employees worked for the Cuyahoga County Department of Job and Family Services but were not educated and licensed social workers.

In fact, one was a health and nutrition specialist and the other a mail clerk messenger.

But Diadiun said that since Cuyahoga County calls employees who work for the agency social workers his newspaper will continue to use that title to refer to people who may not be educated or trained in the profession. Here’s what he wrote:

It’s easy to understand the dismay of someone who has worked hard to earn a degree and acquire a license, only to see someone come in off the street and get the same job title. But if “social worker” is what the county calls them, and that’s what the people they serve know them as, then it’s also easy to understand why the newspaper would call them that.

We urge the Cleveland Plain Dealer to be fair, ignore county job definitions, and use the social work title correctly.

UPDATE: The National Association of Social Workers Ohio Chapter has launched a campaign to protest the newspaper’s policy. To get involved go here. You can also follow the campaign on Twitter at #respectsocialworkers.

The National Association of Social Workers is building a campaign to educate the media to clarify use of the social worker title and prevent social workers from being misidentified in the media. To learn more click here to read an NASW News blog on the campaign.

Study examines risk factors in recurrent child abuse, neglect
HealthCanal.com
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The shorter the intervals between previous child maltreatment incidents, the greater the likelihood that the child will experience abuse or neglect in the future, suggests a new study by a social work professor at the University of Illinois.

For Amanda Berry and other Cleveland victims, recovery begins with patience
Yahoo! News
“Being held and traumatized for a long time, you often develop questions like, ‘Why me?’ or ‘Will this ever end?’ and will try to determine the meaning of the trauma,” says Megan Berthold, a clinical social worker at the National Association of Social Workers, who has worked with refugee survivors of torture.

[Audio] Another Look At Social Security
nhpr.org
Social In-security!  President Obama has said he’s willing to make changes in the nation’s safety-net system for the elderly…as part of overall efforts to reduce the debt.  But he’s getting lots of criticism for it…especially from his liberal base.  We’ll examine the President’s ideas….including a controversial proposal to use a new measure of inflation called “chained CPI”.

My Turn: Budget ‘experts’ are out of touch
Concord Monitor
The Monitor’s April 23 article on the experts who met at the UNH School of Law to discuss the federal budget deficit reveals how out of touch these “high-powered” past and present officials, including Sen. Kelly Ayotte, can be.

It’s “Inulirijikkut” for new Nunavut social affairs department
Nunatsiaq News
The word is based on the term “inuliriji,” which in the Inuit language usually means “social worker” or “a person who works with people” and has been used for decades. “The term Inulirijikkut is already widely known and accepted across the territory.

5 Books on Getting Kids to Go to Bed
missecoglam.com
The Sleep Lady®, Ms. West, provides valuable information in this updated edition of her 2004 best-seller. In it, you’ll find suggestions about pacifier use, toddler naps, and even baby yoga positions.

NASW-NYS Calling On NY Social Workers To Give Feedback On SAFE Act
Social Justice Solutions
NASW-NYS has previously reported that effective March 16, 2013 Licensed Clinical Social Workers are among the four mental health professionals specifically designated in NY’s SAFE Act as being required to report to local mental health officials when there is reason to believe a patient is likely to engage in conduct that will cause serious harm to themselves for the purpose of crosschecking the individual’s name against the new comprehensive gun registration database.

Sioux City social work pioneer
Iowa Now
It’s scenarios like this that University of Iowa alumna Meg Bessman-Quintero, a Licensed Independent Social Worker (LISW)—the only bilingual, master’s-level mental health therapist practicing in the Sioux City area—works hard to avoid.

Experts: Media May Be Second Prison for Cleveland Abductees
LiveScience
“The big challenge that they face is the anticipation that everything is going to be perfect once family members are back together again,” said Geoffrey Greif, a professor of social work at the University of Maryland who has studied missing and exploited children.

Irish Social Workers Taking U.S. Eldercare Lessons Home
New America Media
However, he said, working with Wellspring and having case discussions with McMackin, and exploring the National Association of Social Workers code of ethics, “really helped me to understand the ethics that underpin social work in America and how these are the same as in the Irish system.”

Schools Take On Social Work Amid High Unemployment, Drug Abuse
Huffington Post
WAR, W.Va. — When school started this fall in this sparsely populated rural area at West Virginia’s southern tip, 1 of 7 classrooms was without a teacher because leaders couldn’t recruit enough educators. When officials turned on the mandatory security cameras at one elementary school, the rest of the building lost its Internet connection because it wasn’t wired for this century.

Student-Led Social Justice Expo Comes To NYU
NYU Local
“They choose a project a few weeks after winter break, honing in on a social justice issue and essentially develop a mini community organizing campaign,” Alice Berliner, a senior at NYU’s Silver School of Social Work who spent the year as an advisor at the school.

Cummings to speak at graduation ceremony for Howard University’s School of Social Work
Washington Post
Elijah Cummings is scheduled to give the keynote address at the Howard University’s School of Social Work Honors graduation ceremony. The Democratic congressman will give the speech on Wednesday in Washington in the Cramton Auditorium.

Dr. S. Megan Berthold. Photo courtesy of the University of Connecticut.

The recovery of the three women who were kidnapped and held on a house in Cleveland for years will depend on how they deal with their raw emotions, National Association of Social Workers member S. Megan Berthold told the Christian Science Monitor in this article.

Berthold, PhD, LCSW, CTS, is a professor at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work. She has also provided services to refugee survivors of torture from around the world, work that earned her recognition as the 2009 Social Worker of the Year.

“Being held and traumatized for a long time, you often develop questions like, ‘Why me?’ or ‘Will this ever end?’ and will try to determine the meaning of the trauma,” Berthold said. “Often you don’t know if you will survive, so being able to make some sense out of it, and developing strategies to cope, to be resilient in the process, can make a huge difference on whether one survives the ordeal, and in shaping their response afterward.”

At least one of the victims may have had a child with one of the captors. Berthold said this child may remind its mother of the traumatic experience or given the mother a sense of purpose and reason to stay alive.

Social workers help people from all walks of life overcome life’s challenges and thrive. To learn more visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” website.

Compiling an international picture of the state of social work
The Guardian
The creativity and determination of social workers in the face of funding cuts, salary reductions and the growing stigmatisation of poor and disabled people was evident at the biennial conference of the European Network for Social Action in Istanbul earlier this month.

California Social Welfare Archives Recognizes Wong for Work with Traumatized Children
USCSocialWork
For the last four decades, Marleen Wong has dedicated herself to the mental health of traumatized children. Whether that has meant responding to the shootings at Columbine High or Sandy Hook Elementary schools, or the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, or the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Wong has seen a lot of pain.

Balancing Personal Values and Social Work Organization Ethics When They …
LocalPutnam
Every social worker is expected to follow the National Association of Social Worker’s Code of Ethics. Have you thoroughly examined the code? If not, it’s time that you do. Having a deeper understanding of the historical context of the NASW Code of Ethics may help you gain an appreciation for ideals that vary from your own. There are core elements that are included in the code that have a basis in history and are put in place for a very real purpose.

Human Trafficking & PTSD: Is there a connection?
Washington Times
Many believe that PTSD is a disorder that exclusively affects war veterans; however, professionals like Licensed Master Social Worker, Margaret Howard, have learned that many survivors of human trafficking have undiagnosed PTSD symptoms.

Teacher Hopes to Erase Social Cruelty with Get.A.Voice Foundation
Patch.com
Debbi Rakowsky, a social worker and DASA coordinator at Murphy Junior High who works with Mendel by doing Get.A.Voice training in other schools, said the value of such a program is tremendous. “It basically helps kids stand up for themselves and others,” she said. “We’re trying to teach kids to find their own voice or help stand up for someone else when they see any kind of social cruelty.”

Mentally disabled turkey plant workers awarded $240M for years of abuse
NBCNews.com
Jurors awarded each of the men $7.5 million apiece after a weeklong trial that featured emotional testimony from social workers who described the physical and verbal abuse they suffered. That includes $5.5 million apiece in compensatory damages for their pain and suffering and $2 million apiece to punish the company for knowingly violating the law.

[Video] Texas parents attack social worker
WCSH-TV
A Texas Child Protective Services case worker remains hospitalized after she was attacked Tuesday while investigating a report of an abused baby. According to Houston Police the baby’s parents and a friend beat and choked the 23 year old woman until she lost consciousness. Case worker Stephanie Zera went to the Somerset Apartments around 5 p.m. Tuesday to check on the well-being of a one year old infant.

West Virginia Governor Backs Medicaid Expansion for Poor
Bloomberg
West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin said for the first time that he will expand Medicaid under President Barack Obama’s health-care law. About 91,500 low-income residents will be added to Medicaid, the Democrat told reporters today in Charleston. The governor has the power to expand the program without approval from the legislature, Amy Goodwin, a Tomblin spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.

Medicaid expansion is a game-changer in WV, says expert
West Virginia Public Broadcasting
“Healthcare reform and Medicaid expansion today are part of a continuing process of policy development and evolution in the United States and in our state of West Virginia,” says Dr. Christopher Plein, interim director of the School of Social Work at West Virginia University.

VA offers hope, help to suicidal veterans
Youngstown Vindicator
There are a wide range of physical and emotional issues, many of which are specific to veterans — especially those who saw combat, said Sung R. Do, licensed clinical social worker at the Cleveland VA Medical Center. “You would be hard-pressed to find a person who doesn’t know a veteran who hasn’t been impacted by suicide. On average, 18 veterans commit suicide every day,” said Do, suicide- prevention coordinator for the Youngstown, Warren and East Liverpool/Calcutta VA outpatient clinics.

Photo courtesy of ABC Family.

Is America ready for a family drama about an interracial lesbian couple raising a multi-ethnic mix of foster, adopted and biological children?

Bradley Bredeweg and Peter Paige, the creators of the upcoming ABC Family series “The Fosters,” think so. In fact, the series will begin airing in  June, the same month the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue crucial decisions that will affect how gay marriage is treated in California and the rest of the nation.

“We wanted to do something in this alternative family space,” said Paige, an actor, director and playwright. “The face of the American family is certainly changing all around us.”

The Fosters stars from left David Lambert as Brandon; Teri Polo as Stef Foster; Sherri Saum as Lena Adams; Jake T. Austin as Jesus; Cierra Ramirez as Marianna; and Maia Mitchell as Callie. Photo courtesy of ABC Family.

“The Fosters” stars Teri Polo and Sherri Saum as a Stef Foster and Lena Adams, a police officer and school vice principal who are raising Stef’s biological son from a previous marriage and adopted twins.

Their close-knit family is challenged when they take in Callie (actress Maia Mitchell), a hardened teenager who has been bounced from foster home to foster home.

The series will also feature social workers.

There will be a social worker in the pilot episode and actor Geoffrey Rivas will have a recurring role as Bill, the social worker who helped Stef and Lena adopt the twins and offers the family advice.

“The Fosters” premieres June 3 at 9 p.m. Eastern/8 p.m. Central on ABC Family. So far 10 episodes are planned. Producers want to hear from real-life social workers about what they think about the program. Email gwright@naswdc.org to pass on your comments.

Actor Geoffrey Rivas is slated to play Bill, a social worker, in “The Fosters.”

The program is weeks away from going on air but has already stirred some controversy. OneMillionMoms.com, a website launched by the conservative American Family Association, is asking members to send letters to ABC Family opposing the program and asking the network not to air it.

“While foster care and adoption is a wonderful thing and the Bible does teach us to help orphans, this program is attempting to redefine marriage and family by having two moms raise these children together,” OneMillionMoms.com posted.

The Census Bureau reported there were 594,000 same-sex couple households in the United States in 2010, including 115,000 with children.

Bredeweg and Paige said they hope “The Fosters” will show the public that families led by gay and lesbian parents can thrive. They also want to raise  awareness about such families in the same way “The Cosby Show” and “Roseanne” changed the public perception of African American middle class families and economically struggling working class households.

And although gay men and gay male parents are already being featured prominently on programs such as “Glee” on Fox and “The New Normal” on NBC, it is rare to see two women in a relationship with a family although many such families exist in the United States, they said.

“You know we we are not seeing is lesbian women running a household,” Paige said. “And we saw so many families created like that.”

The National Association of Social Workers is committed to equal treatment for all, including members of the LGBT community. To learn more go to NASW’s Diversity and Equity website. NASW also a wealth of information on adoption and foster care at this resources website.

Aunalyese Roberts, 4, paints a picture as she sits on the lap of her mother, Lora Robert in the activity room of the Mercy Center For Women in Erie. Photo courtesy of GoErie.com.

Students from Mercyhurst University’s Social Work Club helped children living in an emergency homeless shelter in Erie, Pa. make gifts for their mothers,  according to this article on GoErie.com.

The students spent months collecting crafts and baskets for the children living at the Mercy Center for Women. The children made that included decorated potted plants. Staff was also able to give baskets filled with toiletry items to women living in the shelter.

“It was something we wanted to do to inspire the community to try to do something,” Waldecker said. “We were in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade doing collections so we could get them something nice and do nice things for the women.”

Cheers to GoErie.com for running a story that shows how social workers help children and their communities.

Social workers help children overcome life’s hurdles. To learn more visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Kids and Families website.

School of Social Work announces poetry contest winners
uiowa.edu
The University of Iowa School of Social Work in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences announced the winners of the first annual National Poetry Contest for Social Workers.

9th District Delegates Call for Action on Domestic Violence Assessment Legislation
The SandPaper
The measure would establish this domestic violence assessment be performed by a psychiatrist, licensed psychologist, licensed clinical social worker or licensed professional counselor to determine the likelihood the offender would commit future acts of violence or abuse against the victim, the victim’s family or others identified as at risk. The defendant would be responsible for the cost of the assessment.

My anxious transition from student to fully qualified social worker
The Guardian (blog)
I completed my Masters in Social Work in the summer of 2012 and started work as a newly qualified social worker in early 2013. I am currently on the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) programme working for a local authority in children’s services.

Meeting takes on issue of coal-fired plants
Muskogee Daily Phoenix
Denise Griffin, a social worker who worked several years with the Department of Human Services, said she was “appalled” by the health of the clients she found here. Even more appalling, for her, was the fact the coal-burning plant just outside Muskogee’s city limits continues to thrive. “Their argument was jobs — you shut that plant down and you will lose jobs and livelihoods,” Griffin said. “But on the other hand we have all these children with asthma, and the doctors just shrugged.”

Live chat: is IT the saviour of health and social care?
The Guardian
It is difficult to codify social work services in a way that can be easily entered and tracked in a computerised system and to record quality, as well as quantity of output, for example. Employees may also be anxious about using technology they don’t understand and worry that their users will lose a face-to-face, personalised service.

Victims in Boston Face a Difficult Path to Recovery
The New York Times
Joan Smith, the manager of social work services at Tufts Medical Center, said that virtually all of the 14 victims who came through the hospital were experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder that may continue indefinitely. “I also personally did a lot of work with family members who were trying to be strong for their children but at the same time were falling apart behind closed doors,” said Ms. Smith, who made sure all the patients and their families had a list of mental health specialists to contact if they felt the need.

Social work licensing course preps students for exam
UTA The Shorthorn
Norman Cobb, social work associate professor, prepares his class for the MSW, LCSW and PAD exams. Posted: Friday, April 26, 2013 6:45 pm | Updated: 7:32 pm, Fri Apr 26, 2013. Social work licensing course preps students for exam.

Cross-cultural experience impacts social work, nursing students
Indiana State University
Lugar was part of a group of 16 nursing and social work students from Indiana State University who travelled internationally over spring break. Half of the students went to Guatemala and the other half to South Korea as part of an international social work course supported by the university’s Office of International Programs and Services.

Federal Agency Shines National Spotlight on Wayne State University Foster …
Midland Daily News
Wayne State University’s Transition to Independence Program (TIP), an initiative developed by the School of Social Work to help students aging out of foster care thrive in their studies, will be featured during Foster Care Awareness Month in a publication of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Richmond’s William Byrd Community House celebrates 90 years of serving neighbors
The Washington Post
In April 1923, the social workers split from the nurses and organized under a new charter. William Byrd Community House was born with the goal of strengthening the low-income Oregon Hill neighborhood.

Disfigured veteran deals with disrespect at home
press-citizen.com
Elsie Moore, a VA licensed clinical social worker managing care of about a hundred severely wounded veterans, including Porta, says the nation is on a learning curve about accepting home the casualties of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. “I don’t know that all of regular society is out there knowing what to do about that, or how to handle it,” Moore says. “It’s all of us who have to receive these folks home and make them feel comfortable to be here. This is their home.”

Cultural Quotient (CQ) is important
KING5.com
With all of us being more globally connected than ever before, Licensed Clinical Social Worker & Co-founder of GROW Parenting, Sarina Natkin talks about why the CQ or Cultural Quotient is so important. What is the Cultural Quotient? Is it an awareness or a skill that can be taught to kids?

Yamada’s social worker title protection bill advances
Daily Democrat
AB 252 does not mandate hiring practices, but simply requires that the use of the title “social worker” be granted only to individuals with a degree in social work from a school accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).

Laurels of Massillon social-services director goes above and beyond
Massillon Independent
The annual award recognizes a social worker in the Northeast Ohio area who goes above and beyond for patients in the community. “She’s wonderful. That first smile — it gets you,” said Phyllis Greene, who has been a resident at The Laurels for two years.

University of Kan. making plans for online work
Emporia Gazette
The School of Social Welfare already offers blended Master of Social Work programs in Lawrence and on the Edwards Campus in Overland Park, and another will begin this summer based in western Kansas, designed to train social workers for an area that needs them.

Health care staff honored
Bristol Bay Times
Weeks, a licensed clinical social worker, has been named Outstanding Direct Service Professional in the field of Alzheimer’s disease and other age-related dementia as chosen by the direct service providers of Alaska in 2013. She was one of over 50 candidates Alaska state-wide nominated for this award.

Phoenixville Hospital employee recognized for social work
The Phoenix
PHOENIXVILLE —Marybeth Coggins is usually not in the spotlight, but recently she was when she won an award for her social work. Coggins, the director of social work services at Phoenixville Hospital, was presented with the Crossroads Hospice “Caring Award” in March.

Beigelman endows scholarship for the School of Social Work
Daily Trojan Online
Alumnus Paul Beigelman donated Friday $25,000 to the School of Social Work to create a scholarship for graduate students who plan on entering the health profession. The scholarship is in honor of Beigelman’s late wife, Irene Beigelman, who was also a graduate of the university.

HOW WE SEE IT: Quorum Court Realizes Value In Social Worker
Northwest Arkansas News
The Washington County Quorum Court, at least 14 of 15 members, made the right call recently to double the number of social workers available to assess troubled juveniles within the juvenile justice system for mental health and substance abuse issues.

Candice Lassiter. Photo courtesy of Huffington Post.

News reports about North Carolina child welfare workers Candice Lassiter and Craig Smith, including this article on Huffington Post, underscore the need for social work title protection.

Lassiter and Smith, who are identified as social workers in articles and headlines, have been charged with falsifying home inspection records to cover up their agency’s role in the 2011 death of 15-month-old Aubrey Kina-Marie Littlejohn.

The girl’s great aunt has pleaded guilty in her death. Authorities claim Lassiter and subordinate Smith falsified records to make it seem Swain County had done a thorough investigation of abuse in the home.

Lassiter and Smith are not educated or licensed social workers, according to National Association of Social Workers North Carolina Chapter officials. However, due to state law they can use the title.

You can read more about North Carolina social work title protection at the NASW North Carolina Chapter website.

Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada

A California social work title protection bill authored by two professional social workers has cleared the state legislature’s Assembly Business, Professions, and Consumer Protection Committee with strong bipartisan support, according to this article in the Daily Democrat.

Assembly Bill 252 will now go to the Appropriations Committee.

Assemblywoman Susan Eggman

The legislation from social workers and Democratic state Reps. Mariko Yamada and Susan Eggman would not affect state hiring practices.

However, state employees would not be able to hold the title of social worker unless they earned a degree in social work from an accredited college or university.

So far 37 states have passed title protection laws, the article said.

“With the growing complexity of service needs in our state, Assembly Bill 252 seeks to protect consumers of social work services and the integrity of the profession, which is now 115 years old,” Yamada said.

You can read more about Assembly Bill 252 at the National Association of Social Workers California Chapter website.

New Jersey First Lady Mary Pat Christie assists riders at Pony Power Therapies. Photo courtesy of NorthJersey.com.

A therapeutic horse-riding program owned by social worker Dana Spett, MSW, has won the second New Jersey Hero Award, NorthJersey.com reported.

Spett started Pony Power Therapies 13 years ago in Mahwah with four riders and one horse. The business now has 22 donated or rescued ponies and serves 150 clients a week.

The program helps a variety of clients, including children with autism, elderly people with Alzheimer’s, and troubled teenagers.

Jessica Meincke’s daughter Breckenridge is diagnosed with autism.

On her first ride in December her daughter would not even put on a riding helmet. Now Breckenridge looks forward to the excursions and will bring a helmet to her mother to show she is ready to go.

“She loves it. I give a lot of credit to Dana,” Jessica Meincke said. “She’s so brave to do this and to help so many people.”

New Jersey First Lady Mary Pat Christie presented Spett with the award and a $7,500 check.

Social workers help people from all walks of life overcome life’s challenges. To learn more visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” consumer website.

A screenshot from a video of the tiger escaping from trainers, courtesy of ABC News.

Social worker Jenna Krehbiel says her social work training helped when she and her three-year-old daughter ran into an escaped circus tiger in the women’s room of a Salina, Kan. civic center, according to this article on Fosters.com.

Jenna Krehbiel. Screenshot courtesy of ABC News.

The tiger from the Isis Shrine Circus escaped from trainers and ran into the restroom. Krehbiel happened to be taking her daughter to the bathroom through a door that hadn’t been blocked and found herself standing two feet away from the animal.

Krehbiel said she is trained as a social worker to stay calm so didn’t scream or run. The tiger was recaptured within minutes.

Her daughter didn’t realize the danger they were in.

“My daughter wanted to know if it had washed its hands,” she said. “That was her only concern. I think that shows the thoughts of children and that they wouldn’t have known there was danger.”

Cheers to Fosters.com for mentioning how social work training helped the Krehbiels.

You can watch a video footage of the incident from ABC News.

Marvin Tolkin. Photo courtesy of the New York Times.

Marvin Tolkin, 86, a retired clothing manufacturer, was grappling with a lot of issues late in life.

Although remarried, he still thought about the sudden death of his first wife and a failed business partnership and worried about his children and grandchildren. He was plagued with migraines.

So four years ago Tolkin decided to get therapy and he said the results were very worthwhile. ”Everybody needs help, and everybody makes mistakes,” he said. “I needed to reach outside my own capabilities.”

This article in the New York Times says Tolkin is one of many seniors who are seeking mental health services later in life. Some are going because there is less stigma about mental health problems while others realize their golden years will be brighter if they deal with issues that have bothered them sometimes for decades.

New York clinical social worker Judith Repetur, MSW, works almost exclusively with clients who are elderly. She said many of them are seeking help for the first time.

“It’s never too late, if someone has never dealt with issues,” she said. ”A combination of stresses late in life can bring up problems that weren’t resolved.”

Social workers help the elderly achieve a better quality of life. They also help people overcome mental health issues, including depression, eating disorders and grief and loss. To learn more visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Seniors and Aging and Mind and Spirit websites.

Balancing work and life is everyone’s problem
Globe and Mail
Nonsense, says Dana Becker, a professor in the graduate school of social work and social research at Bryn Mawr College just outside of Philadelphia, and a psychotherapist. That advice can be pernicious, because it diverts us from looking at the sources of stress, which are social and cultural.

Social gaming promotes healthy behavior, new USC research finds
HealthCanal.com
Gotsis led the research study in collaboration with Donna Spruijt-Metz and Thomas Valente of the Keck School, Maryalice Jordan-Marsh of the School of Social Work and Hua Wang, who at the time of study was a doctoral student at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and is now at the University at Buffalo, SUNY. John Gaspari, director of the USC Center for Work and Family Life, provided support for recruitment and data collection resources.

Videoconferencing makes caregivers a part of hospice planning
FierceHealthIT
Such meetings typically include representatives of medicine, nursing, social work, and spiritual care offered to hospice patients. Family members and caregivers often are absent, though, due to distance, the frail condition of the patient and caregiving demands.

Cherokees plan to create their own DSS agency – Huffington Post
Huffington Post
BRYSON CITY, N.C. — Angry over the way Swain County social services workers handled a child abuse case in which a 15-month old girl died, a Native American tribe is planning to form its own agency to protect children on a North Carolina reservation. A special committee of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will appoint a board for the proposed social services agency, said Ruth McCoy, a committee member, told The Associated Press. Once the board is appointed, it will hire a director, she said.

Experts: Limit kids’ exposure to tragedies
Winston-Salem Journal
Maintaining a normal routine “helps kids learn that safety and security are still there,” said Register, a licensed social worker and a member of the National Association of Social Workers. “And a routine allows them to trust that mom and dad will take care of them.”

‘Last 5′ event in Fort Myers honors Boston Marathon bombing victims, runners …
The News-Press
Dr. Cindy Matthes is clinical social worker based in Fort Myers specializing in traumatic stress and critical incident management. Because of the chaos and disturbing scenes surrounding the events in Boston this week, whether witnessed in person or through repeated images from the media, Matthes is offering a free debriefing group meeting for local runners and their families who experienced the Boston tragedy in some way.