Ada Deer is a member and a Social Work Pioneer:
Native American Civil Rights Legend Urges Action
USDA Blog
Legendary Native American Indian activist, educator and former government official Ada Deer (Menominee) delivered a charge to those attending USDA’s Native American Heritage Month observance here in Washington last week. “Be activists to achieve change,” she said. “We all pay our rent on the planet.  How are you paying your rent?” A former head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, she recently retired as director of the American Indian Studies Department and Director of the School of Social Work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

One-of-a-Kind Daycare Center In Baltimore Helps Teen Parents
WYPR
“This is not just a day care center and we’re not just watching babies,” [Principal Chris] Battaglia said. “This is a family center where we’re going to work with attachment issues between mom and child. It’s about support for financial literacy, career development and readiness.” The center has a playroom filled with toys, a large room furnished with new cribs and soft, leather rocking chairs, a changing station room, a room down the hall for counseling and workshops and an office for the center’s 10 professional staff members. They include a child development specialist, a bilingual workforce director and a licensed clinical social worker. The center can accommodate 24 children.

Joni Lesser-Benton is a member:
‘Out of friendship and love’
The Garden Island.com (Lihu’e, HI)
Joni Lesser-Benton, a licensed clinical social worker, said that being homeless means that people cannot maintain a regular medication schedule or have the stability that comes with cooking their own meals and feeling safe where they sleep. Those are the sources of self-confidence and what helps people find strength and direction, she said.

Undercurrents: Social Workers Learn For and On the Job
St. Croix Source (VI)
In the Virgin Islands, license renewal is every two years and six CEUs are required. Only courses offered by the National Association of Social Workers are accepted, and even at that only one may be an online course. The local chapter of the association offers training twice a year, in March during National Social Work Month and in October or November, said Ada-Luz Rivera. Additionally, V.I. workers can attend the association’s national annual conference – held in June in a different jurisdiction each year – where they can attend sessions to obtain CEU credit.

Social worker stabbed 21 times in Camden office building
WABC-TV
Caseworker Leah Coleman is on life support after being stabbed repeatedly inside a state office building Monday. She was reportedly stabbed 21 times. The stabbing occurred around 1:30 p.m. in an office building on the 100 block of Haddon Avenue, just three days after security was reduced there. Authorities said Coleman remains at Cooper University Hospital.

Laura Thor is a member:
Transgender people push for greater acceptance
USAToday
Laura Thor, a Littleton, Colo., clinical social worker who specializes in gender-identity problems, says that in 25 years of practice, she has worked with “pastors, physicians, teachers, actors, truckers and computer engineers.” Thor says transgender individuals challenge society to think more creatively about what it means to be human. “A key line for me in the Book of Genesis says, ‘Male and female God made them.’ If the word and is used and not or, isn’t something being hinted at regarding human beings and their range of diversity?” Thor asks. Now that public opinion is turning in favor of legalized gay marriage, Thor and others say transgender issues will become the next civil rights frontier.

Marylou Sudders is a member:
Baker names Sudders as health and human services chief
Boston Globe
Governor-elect Charlie Baker on Friday named a veteran mental health administrator and child protection advocate to lead the state’s sprawling health and human services secretariat. Marylou Sudders, commissioner of the state Department of Mental Health from 1996 to 2003 before taking over as president of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, most recently has led Boston College’s health and mental health graduate program.

Lisa Cox is a member:
[pdf] Dr. Lisa Cox Appointed to State Board of Social Work Examiners
Stockton Times
Dr. Lisa Cox, associate professor of Social Work, was recently appointed by Gov. Chris Christie to the State Board of Social Work Examiners. In her new role, Dr. Cox will meet with board members once a month to review and approve license applications for social workers at all credential levels. In addition, the board oversees the approval of social work continuing education programs.

Bakken Region Tribes Fight Back Against Human Trafficking
MintPress News
Over 200 people gathered in Bismarck, North Dakota, last week for the first summit hosted by FUSE — Force to end Human Sexual Exploitation, a coalition formed earlier this year in response to a growing concern statewide: human trafficking.… When FUSE formed earlier this year, it joined five groups — FNWA, Prevent Child Abuse North Dakota, North Dakota Women’s Network, the National Association of Social Workers-North Dakota, and the Council on Abused Women’s Services North Dakota — to explore ways to be more effective and pool their resources.

Human Service Workforce Study: Your Voice is Needed for Public Policy
New York Nonprofit Press
YOUR VOICE IS NEEDED! Have you taken the Human Service Workforce Survey? As of October 15, nearly 2,500 human service workers have participated in the Human Service Workforce Study, an online survey conducted by researchers from New York City schools of social work in partnership with the Human Services Council, the New York City Chapter of the NASW, United Neighborhood Houses, the Coalition of Behavioral Health Agencies, Local 371– Social Service Employees Union and the New York Nonprofit Press.