Rebecca Stewart is a member:
Yoga, black labs help open doors at school for troubled kids
Minnesota Public Radio News
“The children who come to us are not willfully defiant,” said school social worker Rebecca Stewart. “Many of them have suffered multiple traumas. We understand the brain science behind that now, and that kids need to learn how to regulate. They need to learn how to sit in a chair before they can read.” For a few hours each week, the students practice yoga in a class led by Stewart. She started four years ago carving out an hour each week, then two. Last year, the school got funding to add another social worker. Stewart used the time and the relief from the school’s all-consuming paperwork and report burden to design a mind/body class using resources and curricula developed by experts in child brain development. She wanted to give the kids something they could carry within themselves, that didn’t depend on a parent filling a prescription or driving them to a therapy appointment.

Sherry Amatenstein is a member:
Do You Embrace Aging or Fight It?
Grandparents.com
New York City-based therapist Sherry Amatenstein, LCSW, said that many of her patients, especially women, use the word “invisible” to describe the way they feel in older age. Although there’s nothing wrong with maintaining one’s appearance, especially in healthful or uplifting ways as part of “taking care of yourself,” Amatenstein warns against obsession or diminishing returns.

Boehner Disrespects Civil Rights Leaders
The Daily Kos
In June of 2014 the United States Supreme Court effectively gutted the Voting Rights Act (VRA) by a 5 to 4 decision.… Justice Bader correctly wrote that it was like, “… throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.” However, there is a movement to restore the protections of the VRA. Here’s what the National Association of Social Workers had to say:… “We will not give up, despite Speaker Boehner and the House’s refusal to act. The half a million Americans and leading organizations involved in the VRA for Today Coalition stand together in an ongoing fight to restore the Voting Rights Act, with support that will only continue to grow.”

How to care for your aging parents from a distance
PBSNewshour
If you feel overwhelmed at any point, never hesitate to call in a friend or professional to help. An objective advisor knowledgeable about Medicare and Medicaid can be immensely helpful in sorting out health care eligibility and coverage. A social worker (National Association of Social Workers) or geriatric care manager (National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers) can facilitate a family meeting to help prepare a care plan and/or deal with family dissension. No one can master everything, not even the people who are experts in their field. The solution lies in putting together a team and using each team member’s strengths — including yours.

National Association of Social Workers Oregon Chapter Supports the Public Health Approach of M91; Recommends Strong Legislative Oversight
eNews Park Forest
The NASW Oregon Chapter’s Social Workers Political Action Committee has met with both sides of the Measure 91 ballot measure campaign to weigh the issues carefully. As social workers, our mission is to enhance human well-being and meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. The committee compared Oregon’s current approach on marijuana with the approach proposed in Measure 91 in terms of our mission. The measure is imperfect, and due to the ballot process, it cannot be amended before the vote. However, we conclude that the measure’s approach to marijuana use as a public health issue is more consistent with the social work profession’s mandate, than Oregon’s current treatment of non-medical marijuana use.

Noreen Mokuau is a member:
Lifespan differences of Hawaiʻi residents examined
University of Hawai’i News
The University of Hawaiʻi’s multidisciplinary research into why some of the state’s residents live the longest while others struggle to get beyond their fifties will continue under grant principal investigators Jerris Hedges, dean of the John A. Burns School of Medicine and Noreen Mokuau, dean of the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work.

[Video] HCC Art Therapy Digs Into Body Image
WMDB (Peoria, IL)
Art students at Heartland Community College are getting a crash course in body image. On Wednesday, Michele Carroll stopped by to lead students in a timed activity, where they created collages, depicting how they feel about their bodies. The goal of the exercise is to get students to use the creative side of their brain. It also teaches them to worry less about image and more about other parts of life. “I think this gives people an opportunity to step back from that kind of, explore that a little bit and say, ‘Hey, wait a minute, you know, what are my values’?” said Carroll, a licensed clinical social worker.