In the social trenches Dickson City woman fights for neediest each day
The Times-Tribune
Lea Dougherty has made a life of serving the disenfranchised and marginalized populations throughout Northeast Pennsylvania. The Dickson City resident finds inspiration in encouraging others to take lousy or traumatic life events and circumstances and transform their experience into a way to learn and grow.

Washington child protective services tests new FAR approach in Spokane
The Spokesman-Review
Washington’s child protective services will handle some cases of child neglect or mistreatment differently under a new program rolling out in Spokane and two other locations. Automatic investigations by social workers will be replaced with referrals to services that might help a family through whatever trouble they’re experiencing. It’s a less adversarial approach that’s been successful in keeping families together in other states, said Connie Lambert-Eckel, regional administrator for the state Children’s Administration in Eastern Washington.

‘Moral Injury’ vs. PTSD
The Tidings
“When you experience any kind of traumatic event that you think you’re going to die, then the mind remembers. It’s like a movie camera. It remembers what you heard, what you felt, what you experienced, what you thought at the precise moment. And then a way for you to psychologically adapt to that traumatic event is you replay it over and over and over again,” said Val Reyes. The licensed clinical social worker at the Del Amo Military Hospital and Veterans Program was one of eight speakers at the Moral Injury and PTSD: Warriors, Families and Communities workshop at Loyola Marymount University.

West Hartford residents named to Commission on Aging
West Hartford News
[Sherry] Ostrout was originally appointed to the Commission by Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney in 2009, and was re-appointed in 2013. She is past president of the board of directors of the 3,400-member National Association of Social Workers (NASW)/Connecticut Chapter, the largest organization of social workers in Connecticut. Ms. Ostrout is currently the director of government initiatives for Connecticut Community Care, Inc., where they help people of all ages, abilities and incomes to live at home.

Moral Monday Movement Spreads Through the South
Common Dreams
The South Carolina legislature convenes the following day, Tuesday, Jan 14, and progressive activists from across the state will gather at the State House in Columbia for what’s being billed as “Truthful Tuesday.” The action is being organized by the state chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, the S.C. AFL-CIO, S.C. Christian Action Council, S.C. NAACP, S.C. Progressive Network, S.C. Alliance for Retired Americans, and the S.C. Education Association.

Mental Health and Substance Abuse in Older HIV-infected Adults
Aging Today
Though older adults contract HIV in the same way as younger people, they may not be as cognizant of risk factors or prevention strategies. Their numbers are growing rapidly because of improvements in childhood healthcare, and in the control and treatment of infectious diseases throughout the life cycle. Evelyn Tomaszewski and the Spectrum Project are cited in this report by Lisa Cox.

Men’s Project to teach violence prevention
The Daily Tarheel
Rebecca Macy, associate dean for academic affairs at the School of Social Work, said projects that involve men have shown great promise in interpersonal violence prevention. “There is a lot of evidence that shows changing norms in a given community can be really valuable and can reduce sexual assault in a given community or on a given campus,” she said.

Ell Wins Lifetime Achievement Award for Health/Mental Health Work
USC Social Work
Returning to the USC School of Social Work after a stint as the inaugural director of the Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research, Kathleen Ell had a burning desire to pursue a rigorous research career.