Migrant Children Were Asked to Draw Their Experiences in U.S. Custody. Here’s What They Drew
TIME
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released drawings by migrant children Wednesday that depict the children’s interpretation of conditions inside Border Patrol detention facilities. In one drawing sent to TIME, five people lie in a cage covered by blankets while guards man the exits. In another, five stick figures stand inside a cage, while guards watch from the other side. The drawings were sent to the incoming president of the AAP, Dr. Sara Goza, by an unidentified mental health clinician and social worker specializing in Latino child trauma, the academy says. The AAP tells TIME that the three drawings were created by a 10-year-old Guatemalan boy, an 11-year-old Guatemalan child and a third child identified only as 10 years old.

Courtney Glashow is a member:
11 Ways to Make Sure Anxiety Doesn’t Ruin Your Vacation
Thrive Global
In addition to that, all of the unknowns that are part of travel — and some of what makes it exciting — can cause anxiety and discomfort for some people, Courtney Glashow, a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist and owner of Anchor Therapy in Hoboken, NJ, tells SheKnows. “Traveling comes with stressors such as delayed flights, forgotten items, lost items, feeling lost with directions, not liking your sleeping arrangements, not liking food where you’re at, and so on,” she explains. “There are many things that could go wrong or cause stress.”

Josephine Turner was a member:
After 75 Years, Legacy of Deadly Circus Fire Still Felt at UConn
UConn Today
Years later, several local doctors, nurses and other professionals brought their experiences treating fire victims that day into their work at UConn, including some who were key to establishing important medical and social work programs at the University.… Josephine “Jo” Vignone Turner, for instance, was a relatively new social worker at McCook Hospital on the day of the circus fire, and she earned several commendations for her tireless work and dedication to the victims she served. She stayed at McCook until it closed in 1975, bringing her experience to UConn and becoming the first director of social work at the newly founded John Dempsey Hospital. She died in 2009.

West Virginia DHHR is looking to outsource foster care system
The Herald-Dispatch
Sam Hickman, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers, West Virginia Chapter, emphasized this is the first time to his knowledge a state has included socially necessary services in its managed care contract. “Which, in a certain way, makes our kids guinea pigs,” he said. “While DHHR can transfer risk for this population to the MCO, they are still our kids … We can’t just pawn them off on another entity and say that we are taking care of them.”

Heidi Fanion is a member:
‘Golden Guardians’ save student from tragedy
Warwick Beacon (NJ)
“It was a very unsafe, unsupported, neglectful situation,” said Heidi Fanion, Pilgrim High School social worker.… Fanion is another person doing great things that go largely unnoticed. She organizes a self-start prom dress/tuxedo giveaway program out of her office each year, a story the Beacon picked up on only because her husband reached out about it – and simply considers these types of things to be part of her job.

Residents speak out against military buildup
KUAM
Lovelle Castro, board president of the Guam chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, expressed frustration about how the group submitted 40 pages of testimony opposing the buildup in 2009. She also read excerpts from DOD documents that said the buildup could achieve “maximum flexibility”, citing Guam’s status as a territory of the U.S. “None of our concerns about the negative impacts to the environment, our fragile social service system and our cultural resources and practices were addressed,” she said. “Clearly our current political status has undermined our right as people to influence and effectuate plans in our community.”

Jude Treder-Wolff is a member:
Mental Health Champions: “Daily journaling can provides continual attention to your inner life” With Jude Treder-Wolff
Thrive Global
As a part of my series about “Mental Health Champions” helping to normalize the focus on mental wellness, I had the pleasure to interview Jude Treder-Wolff. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Certified Group Psychotherapist, Certified Practitioner of Applied Improvisation, improviser and writer/performer. In her 30-year career, she has in worked in hospitals, community mental health centers and in private practice before her current focus on training mental health and health care professionals using improvisation and storytelling.

Mary Beth Williams is a member:
Books to Read If You Suffer From Trauma or PTSD
Women.com
No matter the cause of someone’s PTSD, recovery is still a long and difficult process. The PTSD Workbook: Simple, Effective Techniques for Overcoming Traumatic Stress Symptoms by Mary Beth Williams, PhD, LCSW, CTS, and Soili Poijula, PhD, strives to help those with PTSD learn to “move past the trauma you’ve experienced and manage symptoms such as insomnia, anxiety, and flashbacks.” The workbooks uses cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help folks work through PTSD to gain “emotional resilience.”

Libby Boyce, Cameron Boyce’s Mother: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
heavy.com
Libby Boyce, the mom of Cameron Boyce, the Disney Channel star who died at the age of 20, is a social worker who inspired her son with her work on skid row and with homeless people.… Libby got her MSW in 1989 from Southern Connecticut State University and has been a Licensed Clinical Social Worker since 1993. Libby spent the first 20 years of her career working with and for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Cynthia Baker is a member:
Silent suicide: The fatal combination of old age, loneliness and loss
The Missourian
After depression is diagnosed, treatment can be a little more complicated for the elderly population as well because some antidepressants interact negatively with other medications. Cynthia Baker, a licensed clinical social worker with a certified specialty in gerontology at The Bluffs, a senior living center in Columbia, said a combined approach including cognitive behavioral therapy is the best option. “What we’re finding is, and the research absolutely supports, the combination of the counseling or the psychotherapy with an antidepressant or mood related medication has the best outcome for reducing depressive symptoms,” Baker said.

Orion Mowbray is a member:
UGA School of Social Work to assist in assessment of support for addiction and mental illness
The Red & Black
Researchers at the University of Georgia School of Social Work are going to develop an assessment tool for the next 16 months that the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities can use to address issues surrounding people in addiction or mental health recovery. The project will help state policymakers identify issues that lead people who are in recovery to end up back in hospitals, jails or homelessness. “This will be the first statewide assessment to look at all the different ways peer support is provided throughout the state,” said Orion Mowbray, associate professor of social work and principal investigator for the project, in a news release.

Anna Scheyett is a member:
Researchers explore causes of suicides among Georgia farmers
11alive
A University of Georgia researcher believes Hurricane Michael could pose an additional threat to Georgia’s farming community. Anna Scheyett, Dean of the University of Georgia School of Social Work, says farmers are in need of support. “I think it’s an important and very resilient, but also a vulnerable population,” Scheyet said. “And one that we need to be providing support to.”

Appeals court strikes Texas foster care fixes, upholds others
Austin Statesman
“These studies will help us understand what exactly should our caseworkers look like when they’re watching the most vulnerable kids in Texas,” said Will Francis with the Texas chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. Francis worries about how the agency will pay for the study as well as other foster care improvements; the Legislature did not substantially increase funding for foster care this past legislative session.