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News Items – February 11, 2016

Prentiss Pemberton is a member:
[Video] ‘Their brains are not rational’ Counselor discusses violent behavior in adolescents
KTUU (Anchorage, AK)
Prentiss Pemberton, a licensed clinical social worker who works with teens and younger children, says he doesn’t know the circumstances in Monday’s murders but knows that sometimes there are no warning signs for incidents like these. “Their brains are not rational,” says Pemberton. “The adolescent brain is not a rational brain it is an impulse reactionary brain that is just acts on a whim often times.” According to Pemberton, most violent behavior in kids can be linked to drugs, alcohol or mental illness and children as young as 10 can be diagnosed with depression. “Adolescent depression is different than adult depression,” says Pemberton. “Irritability, anger, sleeping a lot, that sort of aggressive behavior is often a sign of depression in adolescents.”

Geoffrey Greif is a member:
University of Maryland professors explore strengths, strains of adult-sibling bonds
The Baltimore Sun
Thousands upon thousands of words have been written about research into parent-child relationships and couples’ bonds. But when it comes to studies involving one of the longest and most significant relationships a human can have — that of adult siblings — research is scant, according to University of Maryland School of Social Work professors Geoffrey Greif and Michael Woolley. In their new book, “Adult Sibling Relationships,” published by Columbia University, Greif, 66, and Woolley, 58, explore the often understudied affection, ambivalence and ambiguity of sibling relationships through the lens of middle-age adults and older.

Barbara Leonard is a member:
[Video] Who is homeless in York County?
York Daily Record (PA)
An hour or so before Thursday’s sunrise, Laura Ruhling and Barbara Leonard met in a York parking lot with one goal in mind: Find homeless people living out on the streets. Years ago, the women met through York County Children and Youth Services. Leonard was a case manager while Ruhling worked for Catholic Charities, which CYS had contracted with. Nowadays, the two are enveloped in the world of homelessness in and around York County, committed to helping military veterans find housing.

Lynn Stanley is executive director of the NASW-NH:
NH Senate bill seeks ‘reasonable accommodation’ for pregnant workers
New Hampshire Business Review
The accommodations, according to the bill would include everything from more frequent or longer breaks, time off to recover from childbirth, modification of equipment or seating, light duty and providing a private space, apart from the bathroom, for expressing breast milk apart. “Forcing a mother to express milk in a bathroom is disgusting,” said Lynn Stanley, executive director of the NH Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, one of the many groups backing the measure. “Workers don’t have to make their meals in the bathroom. You shouldn’t have to be doing that there for the baby as well.”

Carolyn Logsdon is a member:
How to help kids (and you) make sense of school lockdown drills
The Seattle Times
“When I’m working with parents, I encourage them never to lie to their kids,” said Carolyn Logsdon, a psychotherapist and licensed clinical social worker at Pacific Medical Centers Northgate. “But in general, don’t tell, them, well, OK, this will never happen or everything is going to be OK, because you really don’t know that. “But what you can do is tell them, OK, we have these drills at school, and you want to gear it to the child’s age and developmental level.” For example: “Sometimes bad people will do bad things, and if something like that happened in your school, the teachers at the school are going to do their best to keep you safe, and part of keeping you safe is to practice these drills.”

Tim Schmaltz is president of NASW-AZ:
Arizona Lawmakers Push Bill Raising Qualifications Of Child Welfare Director
KJZZ
Tim Schmaltz is president of the Arizona chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. Last month the group called for new leadership at DCS. Schmaltz said he hopes the law is changed so that “in the future we won’t have a leadership team like this that is learning on the job.” The department declined to comment. The current DCS director, Greg McKay, wouldn’t meet the proposed qualifications. He has 20 years of law enforcement experience and is a former foster parent, but does not have a college degree.

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