SUDAN: Michael David, “My duty was cleaning guns and shining boots”
IRIN Africa
Soon we were chased out of the house by the landlord. We stayed out in the streets, scavenging for food during the day and returning to sleep outside our neighbour’s house. Last year, a social worker found me in the street and spoke to me about rehabilitation.

Guitars for Vets program launched at Charles George VA Medical Center
Asheville Citizen-Times
“I’ve had one of my veterans tell me that just sitting and strumming his guitar reduces anxiety,” said David Legler, Guitars For Vets Asheville chapter co-liaison. Guitars For Vets contacts at Charles George VA Medical Center are: Carolyn Brown, LCSW, 298-7911, ext. 4366, Carolyn.CBrown@va.gov; David Legler, LCSW-P, 298-7911, ext. 4206, David.Legler@va.gov.

Former Sherborn resident joins the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza
Wicked Local Dover
Ridgely Fuller, a Boston area social worker with strong ties to Dover-Sherborn, has made numerous trips to Palestine’s West Bank and Gaza, staying as long as three months. Most of her work there focuses on resiliency, children and human rights.

Hennepin County social worker faces sex charges
Minneapolis Star Tribune
A Maple Grove woman faces two counts of criminal sexual conduct for allegedly carrying on a sexual relationship while a Hennepin County social worker with a client who had a history of chemical dependency and sexual abuse. The case against Shannon K. Riley, 39, was filed Friday in Hennepin County District Court.

How Budget Cuts Affect the Mentally Ill
New York Times
We lack legislation at the federal level to protect social workers, and despite advocacy efforts, the Teri Zenner Social Worker Safety Act has yet to become law. Detailed safety training for social workers who make home visits is desperately needed.

Sophie’s parents make the hardest choice
AZ Central.com
If a doctor asks you into a room, the news will be bad. If a doctor shuts the door, it will be worse. And if a social worker is there, it will be shattering. In this room, Rhonda, a social worker they know, is already at the table. The bone-marrow transplant did not work. Sophie has acute myeloid leukemia.

Retiree bases happiness goals on skills
STLtoday.com
Sylvia Nissenboim, clinical social worker who helps guide families with aging members, also coaches people who are trying to capture a vision of what their retirement will look like. “We rethink the work process to identify skill sets that you enjoy, that make you the happiest, then find a match and try to reinvent it,” she said.

Anonymous donor funds eight TPS social worker positions cut from budget
Tulsa World
By ANDREA EGER World Staff Writer An anonymous donor has stepped forward to fund eight social workers’ positions that had been eliminated in a $4.2 million cut from the Tulsa Public Schools special education budget for 2011-12.

University of Ga. students record oral histories of elderly Hart County residents
The Republic
The social work students have spent the last year and a half talking to the older adults about their upbringing and memories of their lives in the community. Each interview is taped on a digital recorder and then edited into a narrative about each person’s life.

NC Grapples With Legacy of Sterilization Programs
ABCNews
Nearly 35 years after ending the country’s most active post-war sterilization program, North Carolina is the only state trying to make amends to thousands of people who cannot have children because of eugenics-inspired theories about social improvement.