Peri Stone-Palmquist is a member:
[Audio] Fighting the School-to-Prison Pipeline
Public News Service (MI)
It’s supposed to be a safe place to learn and grow, but some youth advocates say in Michigan there is a growing tendency to criminalize rather than educate children, which is why they are working to fight what’s been dubbed the “school-to-prison pipeline.” Peri Stone-Palmquist, executive director of the Student Advocacy Center of Michigan and a member of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Michigan, says policies such as zero tolerance discipline and mandatory expulsions and suspensions often push the most at-risk kids right out of school and into the criminal-justice system.

Laura Stamboni is a member:
[Video] Six part series on adolescence with Laura Stamboni , LICSW (Part 1)
Arlington Public News (MA)
What is adolescence, and what can you do to help, and deal with adolescents? To better understand the issues and concerns of this transitional stage, news producer Peter Bermudes speaks with therapist Laura Stamboni about the needs and challenges of this age group. (Other segments in the series can be found here and here.)

Bentonville School District Hiring Social Workers
Northwest Arkansas Online
The School District wants to hire two more people to help support disadvantaged students and their families. The district received more than $1.5 million in Title I money for the 2014-15 school year, almost 40 percent more than expected. Title I, Part A is assistance provided to schools by the federal government to meet the academic needs of the disadvantaged. Julie Bachmayer is the district’s only social worker. One person isn’t sufficient to handle all of the district’s social-work needs, said Janet Schwanhausser, federal programs director. “We have 280 homeless families in the district,” Schwanhausser said. “We are such a fortunate community, sometimes we forget we do have families in need, and those families have children in our schools.”

School absence policies examined in wake of child deaths
Greenville Online (SC)
When the children of Timothy Ray Jones failed to show up at their Lexington County elementary school after a second day of absence, the school followed the district’s procedures in trying to contact the father and then sent someone to the home. Jones stands accused of killing his five children, leaving the community and the state shaken and wondering if anything can be done to prevent future such tragedies, including a statewide school policy on contacting parents when children are absent.… In the district in which the Jones children attended, the policy is for parents to be contacted upon a child’s absence using an automated message system telling them their child was absent and asking a parent to send in a note or to call attendance to clear the absence, said Mary Beth Hill, a district spokeswoman. If the child misses a second day and the school hasn’t heard from the parent, the teacher tries to reach the parent by email or phone call, she said. If the child is absent three or more days and/or if a teacher is unable to reach a parent, the teacher is to alert an administrator, school counselor or school social worker. They then try to reach a parent and follow up with a letter. The social worker also can make a home visit, she said.

[Video] A Raging Son
48 Hours – CBS
[Jason] Bohn was sent to live with his father in Miami and the story he told social workers is heartbreaking. “His father turned out to be an abusive crack-addicted man who abused his sons – emotionally, physically, would point loaded guns at them,” said [Dr. Alexander Sasha] Bardey. “He put my hand on the stove ’cause I told him I turned the stove off and it wasn’t turned off,” Bohn said. “Another time he was drunk … brought out his shotgun. So I ran.”

Corporal punishment: Good parenting or abuse?
The Charlotte Observer (NC)
The Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services confirmed abuse and neglect or need for services in roughly 1,900 of the 10,000 complaints the agency investigated during a recent one-year span. Charles Bradley, director of Youth and Family Services, said social workers look for marks, bruises and other signs of injuries. Investigators also assess whether the discipline is appropriate for the child’s age or whether parents punish their kids too frequently.

Pennsylvania Corrections Department Launches Interactive Reentry Resource Map
The Business Journal
Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel today announced the delivery of an interactive reentry resource map that includes information for offenders reentering society following incarceration. The map can be accessed by anyone online, using any device, at http://reentrymap.cor.state.pa.us.…  “In addition to being used by offenders being released from prison, we also expect that this will be useful to criminal justice professionals and community service brokers such as probation/parole agents, social workers, etc.,” Wetzel said.  “Ultimately it is our hope that this map will provide another vehicle to make information about community services more accessible, in order to optimize the ability of individuals returning from prison to the community to receive the assistance that they need and become productive, law-abiding citizens. This enhances public safety and makes Pennsylvania a safer place to live for everyone.”