Jane Pharr Gage, social worker and active volunteer, dies at 104
New Orleans Times-Picayune
Jane Pharr Gage, a Charity Hospital social worker who went on to have an active life as a volunteer, died Thursday (May 1) at Lambeth House. She was 104.… She graduated from Newcomb College and wanted to pursue a career in social work, but the Depression had hit, and her family was impoverished. But she was able to pursue her dream because an uncle loaned her $50 a month — $25 for tuition, $25 for living expenses — and she worked at Charity Hospital, where she earned money and, with another student, completed their required internships. She got a job in Charity’s Social Service Department after earning a master’s degree and certification in medical social work.

Wasson: New requirements for social workers to protect public
South County Mail
Last session, the Missouri Legislature passed a measure requiring social workers in-training to work with a licensed social worker for a certain period of time before they could receive their master’s degree. We did this to ensure that social workers in our state are given real-world experience in the field before practicing on their own. Social work is an incredibly difficult field to work in, and we want to guarantee that                         those who do these jobs in the state meet certain standards.

Homeless activists rally in downtown Rochester
Democrat & Chronicle
Students, concerned citizens and political activists marched in downtown Rochester and gathered at St. Mary’s Church Dugan Center on Thursday to unify and inform each other concerning issues relating to the homeless. Nearly 100 people marched and/or attended the information rally planned by the Student Social Work Organization, the Social Welfare Action Alliance and the Brockport Student Government and Campus Ambassadors. The groups are seeking to ratchet up support for their demands that the local government assist in providing adequate shelter for the homeless.

Pageants provide a platform for social worker to spread her ideals
USCNews
USC Master of Social Work student Amanda Cockrell comes from a family with a history of helping others. Her grandmother helped introduce family planning in West Africa, opening clinics and delivery centers while teaching people about pregnancy and contraception. Cockrell’s mother continues to run one of the clinics, offering vaccinations, surgeries and general treatment for the people of Dakar and doing her best never to turn down anyone who cannot afford care. Cockrell wants to continue this legacy of helping people in need and bringing awareness to their plights. So she caught some off guard when she announced that her plan included pageants.

New DCFS chief: ‘We need to be transparent about the work we do.’
Chicago Sun-Times
A federal prosecutor turned corporate lawyer, Bobbie Gregg decided she didn’t want to retire in her mid-50s. So she went back to school — enrolling at Loyola University in 2009 — and got her master’s degree in social work the following year. Now, at 58, Gregg has just accepted arguably the toughest social-work job in the state: director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. She’s never been a frontline child-welfare investigator or caseworker. But she says she hopes to use the skills she’s learned working for companies including Kraft, JPMorgan Chase and Aon to take a more businesslike approach to caring for the state’s most vulnerable kids.