Algeria Wilson is Director of Public Policy for NASW-MI:
Relying on embedded social workers for police crisis response is not enough
Lansing State Journal
While social workers are the largest group of behavioral health providers in the United States, they are not the end-all-be-all solution in crisis response. Crisis response and crisis stabilization require an interdisciplinary approach. A response that encompasses all mental health professionals involved and various other professions; including nurses, doctors, peer recovery specialists, and law enforcement when needed.

NYC’s Plan To Hire 500 Full-Time Social Workers Is Still Short Of The Need: Analysis
New York City Patch
Flush with federal stimulus money, Mayor Bill de Blasio has proposed hiring 500 more social workers as children return to buildings carrying the trauma from the pandemic’s grip on New York City. The hiring spree would ensure every school has at least one full-time social worker or access to a school-based mental health clinic, city officials have said. But that plan still leaves 75 schools without a full-time social worker, according to a new analysis from the Independent Budget Office, or the IBO.

Proposed budget funds behavioral health unit for Overland Park police
KMBC
The unit would also double the department’s mental health co-responders to six. “The partnership between social workers and law enforcement is really powerful,” Albers said. “The fact that we’re going to bring more co-responders on board, it will save lives.” Mental health calls are one of the most common that come to police.

Jennifer Wells is President of NASW-WV:
Manchin’s Stance on Voting Bill Called Betrayal to WV Black Voters
Public News Service
Black West Virginians are voicing disappointment and anger over Sen. Joe Manchin’s – D-W.Va. – staunch opposition to the For the People Act, a bill that would overhaul voting procedures nationwide. The legislation would expand voting access, restore portions of the Voting Rights Act, and boost transparency for political donations. Manchin is the only Senate Democrat who hasn’t co-sponsored the bill. Cabell County resident Jennifer Wells, senior organizer with Community Change Action, said Manchin’s decision feels like a slap in the face, and said the Black vote pushed Manchin into office in 2018.

North Dakota Finds Novel Way to Ban Most Conversion Therapy
The Advocate
“Thank you to the North Dakota Board of Social Work Examiners for restricting licensed social workers in North Dakota from being able to practice conversion therapy! LGBT North Dakotans, especially youth, are safer now as you hold licensees responsible to the NASW Code of Ethics,” Boschee, who is House minority leader, said in a press release from the Trevor Project, which assists at-risk LGBTQ+ young people. The Trevor Project has been working with Boschee, the National Association of Social Workers North Dakota Chapter, the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition, and local advocates for two years to enact a conversion therapy ban.

Shara Ruffin is a member:
Confessions of caregiver burnout: 5 women dealing with childcare and family needs reveal how the pandemic pushed them to a breaking point
Insider
Shara Ruffin, 35, is a licensed clinical social worker in Philadelphia who has a 6-year-old son and two soon-to-be stepdaughters. She helps others in social work pass their master’s, bachelor’s, and clinical licensing exams. Before creating her business, Journey to Licensure, she was studying for her own exam to become a licensed clinical social worker.

Tammer Attallah is a member:
[Video] New options to help navigate behavioral health needs with a new access hotline
Good Things Utah
“In most cases, our community will go through a trial-and-error process until the right support is found,” said Tammer Attallah, LCSW, executive clinical director of Intermountain’s Behavioral Health Service. “We want to know more about your situation and make sure we understand what you need and help you find how to get it. It’s all about providing the right care, at the right time, at the right place.” People can also call the hotline for questions related to behavioral health education, self-help digital tools, and support groups.

Texas attorney general says state board can’t ban social workers from discriminating against people who are LGBTQ or have a disability
Texas Tribune
Will Francis, executive director of the Texas chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, said that opinion takes a “very narrow reading” that ignores the core question of what constitutes ethical practice and how the board is allowed to delineate that through its code of conduct. “It puts forth a political agenda in lieu of actually looking into the statutory obligations of the board,” he said. He noted that the code of conduct that prevents discrimination “isn’t about First Amendment rights — it’s about access to services.”

Boston College To Train Social Workers Thanks To Crisis Grant
Newton MA Patch
“Our organization is in strong support of the HaRT Scholars program,” said Rebekah Gewirtz, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers Massachusetts Chapter. “RIZE has set a precedent to better educate social workers in harm reduction, and the field will benefit from this forward-thinking, innovative approach. These three exceptional learning institutions will better prepare their graduate students with the harm reduction skills essential to promoting the value of client and community self-determination.”

Debra Borden is a member:
I Hired a Cooking Therapist to Deal With My Anxiety
Bon Appétit
Cooking therapy has me stressed before it even begins. After a calendar year of completely uneventful curbside pickups from my local grocery store, I get home on a spring Monday morning to discover that Vons packed only half of my order—which means that 30 minutes before I’m supposed to be in a virtual session with Debra Borden, LCSW, I have to make a last-minute grocery run. Even in normal times this would set me off—I hate being late so much that I am, instead, usually embarrassingly early—but of course I’m also worried that this trip inside my local Whole Foods will be The One That Gives Me COVID.