Luis Zayas is a member:
House Democrats Tell Obama Administration To End Family Detention
The Huffington Post
Signatories included House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Rep. Luis Gutierrez (Ill.), who has played a leading role in pressing for immigration reform. Citing comments from Luis Zayas, the dean of social work at the University of Texas, the letter says detention harms children psychologically and notes that most of the people locked in family detention are asylum seekers who fled violence in their home countries. “We believe it is undeniable that detention in a secure facility is detrimental to mothers and children and is not reflective of our values as a Nation,” the letter reads. “Children require special protections and should not be placed in jail-like settings.”

One man’s vision bringing miracles to some Fort Worth schools
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
For the 2015-16 school year, the foundation has budgeted $400,000 for Wyatt, which includes three reading specialists, three program specialists and a social worker. Washington said when he was asked what he needed to help his students and teachers, he asked for personnel who could act as liaisons with students and parents, and between students and teachers. Part of that meant solving some problems at home. For example, at the home of one student who had been acting out, the social worker found two elderly grandparents who couldn’t afford to pay electric and gas bills.

Erin Davenport is a member:
How do high schoolers get their morals?
NewsOK
According to education experts, social workers and parents, equipping a high school student with the tools to build a meaningful life is challenging and, at times, awkward. But it’s also rewarding for both the adult and the child, they said. “Without other people to help you determine right from wrong, you’re left wandering around trying to figure it out for yourself,” said Erin Davenport, a social worker and ordained Presbyterian minister. “When you’re making up (your morals) as you go along, it’s easy to get lost along the way.”

Grads face better job market … and mounting debt
The Chicago Tribune
All of this good news about college comes with a caveat: Landing a good job out of college often depends on a graduate’s major. According to a report by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce: “Recent college graduates who major in arts, psychology and social work earn $31,000 per year, only $1,000 more than the average high school educated worker. By comparison, recent graduates who majored in engineering earn $57,000 per year, almost twice as much as the average high school graduate.”

Desmond Patton is an Associate Member:
[Audio] “Internet banging:” How social media is fueling gang violence
Michigan Radio
Gang members across the country aren’t just carrying guns. They’re also armed with Twitter and Facebook. That’s the focus of a study whose title really says it all: “Internet Banging: New trends in social media, gang violence, masculinity and hip hop.” It’s co-authored by Desmond Patton, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work and the School of Information.

4 Reasons To Consider A Career In NonProfits
Fast Company
Degrees in public administration, business administration, nonprofit management, education, health, or social work are all valuable to have in the compassionate career realm. Nonprofit certification and degree programs are available at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, including at many state universities and a growing number of prestigious institutions, such as Stanford, Duke, Harvard, and Johns Hopkins University.

Robyn Golden and Sarah Gehlert are members:
Accountable Care Organizations: Social Work’s Impact on an Emerging Model
Social Work Today
“Having social workers included in this new model is so important,” says Robyn L. Golden, ACSW, LCSW, director of health and aging at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, who presented on this topic during the NASW conference last July. “That’s because this new model is strongly based on patient outcomes and those outcomes have facets outside of the medical model. Managing diabetes, for instance, is not just about regulating blood sugar but also knowing that you have the car fare to get to your doctor’s appointment or that you’ll have food on the table that night.”… “We need to be able to say, ‘We’ve already been doing this a long time—now let’s work together,'” says Sarah Gehlert, PhD, MA, MSW, the E. Desmond Lee professor of racial and ethnic diversity at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, and an instructor in the department of surgery of the School of Medicine, who also presented on the topic of ACOs at the NASW conference.

Renee Wyatt is a member:
Under Prop. 47, former felons find themselves shedding a stifling label
Los Angeles Times
After [Renee Wyatt] got out, her plan to get an associate’s degree snowballed into a love for learning. She eventually earned a bachelor’s degree, and now she’s working on her master’s in social work at Cal State Dominguez Hills. She said she wants to help people see that they don’t have to be defined by their past.… Her record has haunted her, she said, saying the Department of Children and Family Services recently denied her application to get custody of her granddaughter, who is in foster care, because of one of her felony theft convictions. She also knows that the state’s Board of Behavioral Sciences will consider her criminal record when deciding whether to license her as a social worker.

Irwin Krieger is a member:
Changing Gender Designation
The Wall Street Journal
Irwin Krieger, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist who specializes in working with transgender teens, says navigating the bureaucratic process of changing names and gender designations on identification documents can compound what is already a difficult personal transition. “The emotional component is about being honored and respected for who you are and the birth certificate plays a role in that,” Mr. Krieger said.