Baton Rouge pulls together after tragedy: Editorial
New Orleans Times-Picayune
At the governor’s request, Together Baton Rouge will lead that discussion. Gov. Edwards arranged a meeting between the group and the Department of Justice Community Relations Service, which will convene public meetings to get community input on what needs to change. Together Baton Rouge’s goal is to turn those conversations into concrete recommendations. The 6-year-old interracial community group, which has advocated for the Medicaid expansion and better services for North Baton Rouge, is a natural choice. Its members include two dozen churches and religious organizations as well as AARP, the National Association of Social Workers and Southern University, among others.

$1 million donation to College of Health Professions and Social Work
Eagle News (Florida Gulf Coast University)
Three years ago, when the FGCU Eagles’ Men’s Basketball team made it to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, a couple in Ohio was watching the story unfold on the “Today Show.” Now, that same couple has pledged $1 million to FGCU’s College of Health Professions and Social Work. “As we started re-evaluating what we wanted to do with our lives, we knew we wanted to be involved with a public university, so we did some research and liked what we saw,” Dr. Alise Bartley said of FGCU.

Tancy Horn-Johnson is a member:
Tarleton’s Horn-Johnson elected NAMI Waco board president
The Flash Today (Waco, TX)
Dr. Tancy Clarissa Horn-Johnson, program manager and instructor for Tarleton State University-Waco’s social work program, has been elected president of the board of directors of the Waco chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). NAMI Waco is dedicated to improving quality of life for persons with a mental health diagnosis, their families and friends, and the providers who treat them. Trained volunteers use a research-based curriculum called Family-to-Family to provide free education and support.

In DNC speech, Philly man will seek more help for social workers and kids in their care
NewsWorks
A Philadelphia native with a compelling story will be speaking at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night. Thaddeus Desmond, 28, entered the child welfare system as an infant. His birth parents, Marsha Jamison and Thaddeus Jamison Sr., had been struggling with drugs, and they were unable to care for their baby. He was eventually adopted by his social worker, Kathy Desmond, and has gone on to help other children in his role as a social worker himself. Having gone through the welfare system and now dealing with the challenges of social work,  Desmond understands its difficulties; he’ll use his convention speech to outline what can be done to improve the system.

Town hall zeroes in on opioid epidemic, legislation
The Columbia Daily Tribune
Missouri’s position as the only state without a prescription drug monitoring program hurts border states when it comes to battling opioid addiction, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., told a group of social work and medical professionals Friday during a town hall meeting at Stephens College. Missouri ranks No. 1 for the number of painkiller prescriptions and seventh highest for the number of overdoses in the country, McCaskill said during the presentation alongside Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

Public Defender Seeking Social Workers to Help With Prisoner Reentry
Voice of OC (Orange County, CA)
In a new way to assist clients, the Orange County Public Defender’s Office is planning to hire social workers to help people reenter the community after criminal offenses. The agency hopes to hire four social workers to assist public defenders in integrating clients back into the community — as a part of California’s broader effort to help offenders lead productive lives and save taxpayer dollars. A proposal for one year of funding totaling nearly $330,000 is to go to the county Board of Supervisors by autumn.

Marylou Sudders is a member:
Naloxone seen as essential in fight against state’s opioid problem
Worcester Telegram (MA)
Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders witnessed the life-saving powers of the overdose-reversing drug Naloxone this past weekend, she told a group of New England public health officials. Naloxone, which is sold under the brand Narcan, gives people addicted to opioids a chance at recovery, Sudders told the News Service, and Bay State officials “believe in having it as accessible as possible.”

Nicole Zangara is a member:
9 Ways To Become Better Friends With Your Coworkers
Bustle
“Benefits include emotional support, such that those we work with are people we see and spend time with for a good chunk of our lives. They usually know when something is going on and can provide emotional support. Another benefit is that they can decrease our stress levels; they can motivate us and/or help us out on projects or assignments that we are having difficulty getting done on our own. Furthermore, having friends in the office may help to lessen other problems/issues/stressors going on at home or in our personal lives. Friends in the office can be a good sounding board for us,” says author of Surviving Female Friendships: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Nicole Zangara, LCSW, in an interview with Bustle over email.

Kim Strom-Gottfried is a member:
In wake of scandal, UNC hires director to oversee ethics
The News & Observer
UNC-Chapel Hill has hired one of its own professors to oversee ethics policies following the academic and athletic scandal. Kim Strom-Gottfried will be the director of ethics education and policy management starting Aug. 1. She now holds a distinguished professorship in ethics and professional practice at UNC’s School of Social Work. Strom-Gottfried will coordinate ethics and integrity efforts and lead policy management practices. She will make $198,636 annually.

The author, Reeta Wolfsohn, is a member:
Rethinking Your Relationship with Money
Experian
Everyone has a relationship with money. It’s one of the most important relationships in a person’s life because it plays a critical role in physical, emotional, financial and overall well-being. The genesis of this relationship is in thoughts and feelings regarding your financial circumstances. These components form your attitudes and beliefs about money and combine to create your relationship with it. Money relationships are complicated: this is why so many people struggle with them.