Obama Signs Order Easing Student Loan Payments
NPR
President Obama signed an order on Monday that expands the number of Americans whose student loan payments will be capped at 10 percent of their monthly incomes. [The] new order would allow an additional 5 million borrowers to take advantage of the cap beginning in December 2015. [You can also listen to a recording of the NPR radio report at this link.]

The National Spelling Bee’s most inspiring success story
The Washington Post
My hero? A District woman named Ashley White, who took a very different path after competing as a 13-year-old in the 1999 Scripps National Spelling Bee and then becoming a star in the 2002 documentary, “Spellbound.” When the movie came out, she was a pregnant teen living in a D.C. homeless shelter. But she didn’t get stuck there.… She is a 28-year-old, Howard University-educated social worker who devotes her days to inspiring D.C. women stuck in the same depths of despair she once knew. “There is hope,” she tells them. “There is triumph in trials.”

Bruce Buchanan, the author, is a member:
Mental health treatment involves a team
The Des Moines Register
Recently, there has been much discussion about Mercy Medical Center’s decision to close its outpatient adult psychiatry clinic. What’s interesting to me is that the focus goes back to the loss of psychiatrists as a reason for the program’s demise. However, there are other mental health professionals at that clinic who are affected, and the patients of those professionals will also need to find other practitioners. An outpatient psychiatry clinic provides so much more than just medication management. Research shows that a multidisciplinary psychiatry practice provides more positive outcomes with its clients.

This article profiles Dr. McClain:
Boys Ranch alum’s life goes full circle
Amarillo Globe-News
At one time, Angelo McClain thought he was going to be an electrician. He was learning the trade at Boys Ranch, and believed he could make a decent living at it. For someone who was a product of inner-city Kansas City, he said seeing a black male with a full-time job in the 1970s was not common. But as often happens, plans get derailed. McClain, still likely the best athlete in Boys Ranch history, was playing his last football game against Spearman in 1974. A number of college coaches were there to see Spearman running back Donnie Davis, but couldn’t help notice the big, rangy tight end from the other team.…

Cathleen Metzger is a member:
P’town social worker is looking out for LGBT elders
Cape Cod Times
Cathleen Metzger, a social worker who lives in Provincetown, has been appointed to the Massachusetts Commission on LGBT Aging, formed to advise the Legislature on the needs of older lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults and caregivers in the commonwealth. The 20-member volunteer commission met for the first time in April and now has a year to complete its work. Metzger, who is in her mid-60s, is the only Cape representative among legislators, state agency and nonprofit administrators and geriatric specialists. The commission must, by mandate, include somebody from Cape Cod, Western Massachusetts and Central Massachusetts.

Kay Castillo the NASW-NC Director of Advocacy, Policy and Legislation is quoted in this article:
Advocates demand budget cuts to services for elderly be restored
WRAL
“We have grave concerns over the proposed Senate budget that puts the lives of seniors and adults with disabilities on the line,” said Kay Castillo, vice chairwoman of the North Carolina Coalition on Aging, a group of more than 30 organizations advocating for elderly state residents. “Now is not the time to cut services when we actually have an increased need for these services.”

Tricia Bent-Goodley is a member:
FBI, social workers unite to attack sexual trafficking of children
News-Observer
This collaboration between law enforcement and social service workers is vital, said Tricia Bent-Goodley, a Howard University professor and editor of the National Association of Social Workers’ social science journal. “We all have a role to play,” said Bent-Goodley. “It starts with being better informed ourselves, building partnerships between systems to combat and respond to these issues, and remaining steadfast in our commitment that this will not continue to happen under our watch.”

Jennifer Gadd is a member:
Falling Through the Crack Between Medicaid and the Marketplace
NC Health News
“Who is going to pay for Club Nova? Who is going to pay for an ACT team?” asked Jenny Gadd, the group home manager for Alberta Professional Services, which runs Harrison’s facility. “Because those are Medicaid services.” ACT stands for assertive community treatment and is a team of professionals from different backgrounds such as social work and counseling. The ACT team targets people with severe mental illnesses who can’t be treated by traditional models of care.

The author, Frederick Streets, is a member:
Frederick Streets: The urgent need for trauma informed ministry
New Haven Register
A diagnosis of and treatment plan for those who have been evaluated as having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder remain controversial issues within the fields of mental health and primary care. We hear a great deal about PTSD in the popular media. Not everyone who experiences violence in whatever form and to what degree will develop PTSD and/or have a traumatic reaction to having been exposed to violence.