©Thinkstock

Carla Damron, the writer, is the executive director of NASW-SC:
Are we making it harder to prevent suicide?
The State
Having spent most of my professional life working as a clinical social worker in mental health, I’ve seen many people struggle with depression. I’ve lost clients to suicide. It is always devastating. It’s hard to accept that mental illness is sometimes fatal. What’s even harder to accept is that it often doesn’t need to be.

Caroline Fenkel is a member:
’13 Reasons Why’ linked to uptick in suicide-related searches
Daily Dot
“My initial impression was that Netflix did a very good job of creating a national platform to start talking about suicide,” Caroline Fenkel tells the Daily Dot. Fenkel is a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist at Newport Academy, a national treatment center for teens dealing with depression, anxiety, eating disorders, trauma, and substance abuse. Fenkel says that the results following the release of the show are not surprising, and in fact reflect the show’s success in starting a discussion on such a stigmatized topic. “This is a topic that is often misunderstood and people are searching this to understand better,” Fenkel says.

Baltimore police add crisis response team
The Baltimore Sun
For the past six weeks, a Baltimore police officer has been taking a social worker on calls that involve people in the throes of a mental health crisis in an effort to calm situations that can easily move from tense to violent. The pair make up a crisis response team that has answered 85 calls as part of a pilot program that officials eventually plan to take citywide. The goal is to improve relations with the public and reduce use of jails and emergency rooms for people who would be better served in treatment.

Commission for Case Manager Certification’s new board focus: Developing case managers for an evolving health care landscape
pharmiweb.com
The Commission for Case Manager Certification announced a new slate of officers to support the work of the nationally accredited Commission, which certifies and supports workforce development for more than 42,000 case managers and more than 2,600 disability management specialists nationwide.… The Commission recently announced its collaboration with the Case Management Society of America and the National Association of Social Workers to give more professional case managers the opportunity to earn the CCM.

NHPCO Salutes Programs Bringing Innovation to Palliative and End-of-Life Care
spoke.com
The Circle of Life Award, now in its 18th year, celebrates programs across the nation that have made great strides in palliative and end-of-life care.… Major sponsors of the 2017 awards are the American Hospital Association, the Catholic Health Association, and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization & National Hospice Foundation. The awards are cosponsored by the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, the Center to Advance Palliative Care, the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association & the Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center & the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Foundation, and the National Association of Social Workers. The Circle of Life Award program is administered by the Health Research & Educational Trust.

Steven Anderson is a member:
Illinois alumnus and former faculty member named Social Work dean
Illinois News Bureau
Steven Anderson, the director of the School of Social Work at Michigan State University, was named the dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign effective Sept. 16, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. “Professor Anderson will bring an outstanding combination of prioritization of students, administrative experience, academic record and vision to the School of Social Work deanship,” said John Wilkin, the interim vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost.

Michael Courter is a member:
‘Finding the life worth living’
Newsreview.com
Genuine DBT owner and therapist Michael Courter, a licensed clinical social worker who established the clinic two years ago, says his is the only therapeutic practice north of Sacramento in California that exclusively treats borderline personality disorder. “Other therapies are successful in their field,” Courter said, but the sliver of the general population with borderline personality disorder “really need this therapy.”