Emma Donnan social worker speaks kids’ language
Indianapolis Star
Emma Donnan Middle School social worker Ross Boushehry counsels a boy who had issues with another student. / Kelly Wilkinson / The Star Ross Boushehry engages new students by asking their names and what school they came from.

Class encounters global justice issues locally
Bethel College News
This course prepares students in the social work program to help marginalized people achieve social and economic justice. However, it also meets the Cross-Cultural Learning and Peace, Justice and Conflict Studies requirements for Bethel’s General Education program.

Sunflower House: A gentle path to the harsh truths of child abuse
Kansas City Star
But once the disclosure is made, a police officer or a social worker will talk to the child to ensure safety. Parents are notified. And very quickly, a referral is made to go to a place where a team of professionals comes together to help the child.

David’s Cancer Journey Gets National Attention
Palliative Social Work
For months now, we at SWHPN have been following David’s Cancer Videoblog, a chronicle of David Oliver’s journey as a cancer patient diagnosed with nasal pharyngeal carcinoma.

Occupy Hartford Protester Was Arrested and Fired On Same Day
Hartford Courant
Hiskes, a social worker, was the only Occupy Hartford protester to be arrested in last week’s evacuation of the camp at Farmington and Broad. And when word of her arrest got to her employer, NAFI CT, they let her go. Earlier that Tuesday morning, Hartford officials put out word that the camp would be dismantled at 6 p.m., and any one left on the premises would be arrested. A line of police cars formed a barrier around the site in a show of (potential) force rarely seen in Connecticut’s capital city.

DSS finds disproportionate contact with blacks
Durham Herald Sun
“Our system is overloaded with contact with African-American families as opposed to any other family in Durham,” said Toina Coley, an in-home services social worker who serves on a committee looking to tackle the issue of disproportionate minority contact (DMC) in agencies across the county.

After abuse tip, case worker never verified child got life-saving medicine
Lexington Herald Leader
Child-welfare workers also have to juggle the dual mandates of protecting children and reuniting families, said Walker, a licensed clinical social worker. Many mistakes workers make might come from not knowing which side of that fence to come down on,

After abuse tip, case worker never verified child got life-saving medicine
Lexington Herald Leader
Child-welfare workers also have to juggle the dual mandates of protecting children and reuniting families, said Walker, a licensed clinical social worker. Many mistakes workers make might come from not knowing which side of that fence to come down on, he said.”These are conflicting goals in many cases,” he said.

Aided by referral bonuses, hospice industry booms
The Washington Post
VistaCare Hospice, a unit of Atlanta-based Gentiva, paid enrollment bonuses to doctors, admissions directors and branch managers, according to Misty Wall, a former social worker for the company and now an assistant professor at Boise State University in Idaho.

Bully Proofing Michigan Schools
Public News Service
However, Maxine Thome, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), disagrees. “Our response to that is, ‘It’s an empty bill.’”

Instead the NASW Kentucky Chapter said in this article that the public should focus on the factors that led to the childrens’ injuries or deaths.

“Our response should target what we already know — frontline workers in Kentucky carry caseloads well above the national recommended number, have low salaries and high turnover rates, and are not required to be degreed or licensed social workers,” the chapter said in statement. 

The full NASW Kentucky Chapter press release is available at the chapter’s Website. Go there by clicking here.

Gov. Steve Beshear announced in November the state would release records of children who have been killed or nearly killed due to abuse or neglect. However the records that were released were heavily censored, with the names of children who were killed redacted and the names of counties where incidents occurred deleted.

The National Association of Social Workers is part of the National Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths. The coalition supports new bicameral legislation from Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) and Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) that could make significant impact toward reducing fatalities from child abuse and neglect. To learn more about the coalition click here. You can also learn more about how social workers protect children by visiting NASW’s “Help Starts Here” Kids & Families Web page by clicking here.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) said the 1974 Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act may have to be changed to prevent more Penn State scandals from occurring, according to this article in the Baltimore Sun.

The law provides federal funding to states that enact procedures for responding to allegations of child abuse and neglect and define who must report abuse, said Mikulski. The reporting requirements may need updating, said Mikuski, a social worker who worked on child neglect cases.

For instance, Maryland has mandatory reporting requirements for all adults but no criminal penalties for those who fail to report abuse or neglect. This makes reporting laws “essentially unenforceable,” the senator said.

In the Penn State case police claim former football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky molested 10 boys over a 10-year period. Two college administrators have also been accused of being told about the alleged abuse but not reporting it to authorities.

To learn more about how social workers protect children visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Kids & Families Website by clicking here.

A New Theory for the Foreign Policy Frontier: Collaborative Power
The Atlantic
I will call it collaborative power and define it as the power of many to do together what no one can do alone. Consider the power of water. Each drop is harmless; enough drops together create a tsunami that can level a landscape.

Reclaiming Margaret Sanger’s legacy
Salon
Now is a fitting time to reconsider the life of Margaret Sanger. The United Nations marked Oct. 31 as the day the global population reached 7 billion, a milestone greeted with both celebration and consternation around the world.

Native Americans Expose the Adoption Era and Repair Its Devastation
Indian Country Today
“In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, children were removed from Indian families because auntie was taking care of them, and the system called that neglect. But it was simply a different cultural way of meeting the child’s needs. To this day, social workers who remove Native children don’t know what an Indian family is and what supports are available in the extended family and tribe.”

Lifting the Veil of Secrecy: Stopping Sexual Abuse in Sports and Every Institution
Huffington Post
It is not one or two individuals who have failed the survivors of child rape and sexual assault at Penn State, Syracuse University, and in our churches and schools across the country. We are failing our children. We have created a system that often colludes with perpetrators, supports them and creates a norm that allows sexual assault and child rape to continue. And by blaming individuals alone, we lose the opportunity to upend that system and create policies and systems that protect our children, instead of perpetuating harm.

How an interfaith family can celebrate the holidays
The Washington Post
This is particularly true this year since Christmas and Chanukah overlap. The convergence brings up new questions for parents of different traditions. Questions that Jennifer Kogan, a D.C.-based clinical social worker and occasional contributor to On Parenting who has worked with families on this issue, says are best worked out between parents privately before they’re opened up to other family and friends (or Web forums).

Will Latinos Help Re-elect Obama?
The American Prospect
Two studies cited in a report from the National Association of Social Workers found that that, depending on the jurisdiction, anywhere from 55 percent to 87 percent of “serious criminal” arrests through ICE’s programs stem from misdemeanors such as traffic violations.

Former Penn State University Assistant Coach Jerry Sandusky (left) has been charged with sexually abusing boys. Football coach Joe Paterno, who allegedly knew of the abuse but did not report it to police, was fired.

Sex crimes against boys, such as the ones that allegedly occurred at Penn State, are often unreported because society is still uncomfortable with male-on-male assaults, according to this ABC News article.

National Association of Social Workers member Frederic Reamer compared the Penn State case to the Catholic Church, which also has a male-dominated culture where such abuse may go unreported. Reamer is a professor of social work at Rhode Island University.

“The parallels seem striking (head in the sand, massive denial, magical thinking about making this problem go away),” Reamer wrote.

To learn more about how social workers help clients overcome sexual abuse, visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” family safety articles on the issue by clicking here.

Alliance for Children and Families Appoints Mason as New Editor
PR Web (press release)
Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, a top-ranked professional social work journal published by the Alliance for Children and Families, has appointed Dr. Susan E. Mason, professor at Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University in New York City, as editor.

Social worker wins termination case against county
Ventura County Star
By Tony Biasotti Special to The Star By Tony Biasotti The county of Ventura illegally retaliated against a social worker by firing her after she complained about potentially unsafe working conditions, the state labor commissioner has ruled.

From ‘Staycation’ to ‘Workation’
WABC-TV, New York
Licensed psychotherapist, Karol Ward, is the author of “Worried Sick”. She says the phenomenon of working while on vacation is about our struggle to achieve work-life balance.

Bystanders rarely step in with bullies
Youngstown Vindicator
Slovak surveyed school social workers in the Midwest. She published the results in the Journal of the National Association of Social Workers. Slovak found that only 32.9 percent of them said their school had a cyberbullying policy, and only two-thirds of them called the policy effective.

Foster children routinely housed in office waiting room, social worker alleges
Los Angeles Times
Supervising Social Worker Lincoln Saul says Department of Children and Family Services officials have grown defensive about their inability to cope with the problem and take steps to hide it. The agency’s acting deputy director denies Saul’s allegations.

Hogg Foundation Awards Scholarships to Graduate Social Work Students in Texas
University of Texas at Austin News
AUSTIN, Texas — Five outstanding Texas graduate students of social work have been awarded the prestigious Ima Hogg Scholarship for Mental Health for the 2011-2012 academic year, at a time when Texas is facing critical shortages in the state’s mental health workforce.

Human Services and Health Director learning the ropes
Sauk Prairie Eagle
He said he went into social work to help people. “I looked at psychology and social work actually appealed to me,” Pritzl said. “It’s like taking all that research that gets done in the soft sciences, like psychology, and applying a lot of those things into direct interactions with people and programs. So it was like taking those neat things, all the research things, and saying, ‘How can we use that in the real world?’ It was a really unique way to look at the world and provide a service.”

Living with Alzheimer’s : When memory slips away, caregivers are …
Los Altos Town Crier
As a licensed clinical social worker, Bollwinkel conducts education seminars for caregivers in nursing and assisted-living homes, nurses working for in-home-care agencies and the community in general.

It’s ok if you don’t breastfeed
Washington Post (blog)
Guest blogger Jennifer Kogan is a clinical social worker who works with parents in Northwest DC As a mom who meets lots of new moms, I have noticed something lately. In my conversations with new mothers who breastfeed, there is an almost universal belief that breast milk is akin to the nectar of the gods.

Ask the Expert: Early-onset dementia and Alzheimer’s
Baltimore Sun
Marina Tompkins, a certified social worker and director of Keswick Multi-Care Center’s adult day program, talks about how to tell the difference between normal behavior for an aging population and what could perhaps be the early onset of dementia or Alzheimer’s.

Child abuse-prevention professionals say the job gets a little easier when …
Newsworks.org
Over 600 professionals who work in the field of child abuse prevention are gathering in Philadelphia for their annual conference, and will look at this troubling issue from a variety of perspectives.

Room for Debate: A Running Commentary on the News
New York Times
Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes is co-director of the Center on Aging and Work/Workplace Flexibility and an associate professor in the Graduate School of Social Work at Boston College:  In response to the labor market’s supply and demand, employers fluctuate between a focus on the war for talent and lean and mean approaches to human capital.

Sex Rehab for Weiner? How Sexual Addiction Treatment Works
PsychCentral.com
By Robert Weiss LCSW, CSAT-S As reports that “Congressman Anthony Weiner heads to rehab” continue to dominate headlines (and the Twitter-sphere), I am receiving an increasing number of media calls asking to explain exactly how sex addiction treatment works.

COMEDY CENTRAL’s® “Ugly Americans” Returns for a Second Season of Demons …
PR Newswire (press release)
Take New York City, add every horrifying beast, science-fiction freak and fantasy faerie, shake thoroughly, and you’ve got “Ugly Americans,” an animated series that follows Mark Lilly, a social worker at the Department of Integration, as he helps new citizens both human and “other” adapt to hectic life in the Big Apple.

Public Allies Maryland Brings Together Baltimore Teens and Civic Leaders
UMB News
Local and federal officials engaged in a give-and-take with young people during a ‘Give a Care’ summit held June 4 at the University of Maryland campus in Baltimore by Public Allies Maryland, a partnership between the UM School of Social Work (SSW) and a national program supported by AmeriCorps.

New child protection leader says Church can help society fight sex abuse
Catholic News Agency
And I’ll hopefully be able to carry that out when I go to Washington, DC” A husband and father of two who has served with the US Marine Corps, Deacon Nojadera said his work with child victims began after he received a master’s degree in social work from San Jose State University in 1991.

Run honors Teri Zenner
KC Community News
Teri’s death focused national attention on safety for social workers. The efforts of her widower, Matt Zenner, and Sky Westerlund, the executive director of the National Association of Social Workers for Kansas, resulted in the April 2010 passage of egislation by the state of Kansas requiring safety training for first-time licensure renewals for master social workers and specialist clinical social workers.

‘Invisible’ youths need adult assistance
Evansville Courier & Press
Youth First’s School Social Workers often meet that need. They help motivate students to focus on the future and set goals to achieve their dreams. They also help kids develop coping, communication and social skills to navigate life’s inevitable challenges.

Transplant Recipient speaks out: “Shame on the American Diabetes Association”
San Francisco Chronicle (press release)
A transplant recipient and past National Public Citizen of the Year as awarded by the National Association of Social Workers, Dr. Richard Darling, is criticizing the American Diabetes Association (ADA) for not taking a proactive stance with organ-donor policy makers in support of trial projects of new organ-donor policies to reverse America’s crisis.

NJ: DYFS head to explain to judge how case of 8-year-old Irvington girl was mishandled
The Star-Ledger – NJ.com 
Department of Children and Families Commissioner Allison Blake will appear before a federal judge today to describe how the hotline appears to have mishandled a call last month, nine days before an 8-year-old Irvington girl was found dead in her home.

Your tweeting heart
Boston Globe
Risa Garon, a licensed clinical social worker, and executive director of the Maryland-based, nonprofit National Family Resiliency Center, also took a nuanced view. “If the couple has a solid relationship, and there’s a commitment to work on the marriage, whether or not it’s cheating becomes inconsequential,” she said.

WMU students get into building communities, block by block
WMU News
They now are being offered in partnership with the WMU School of Social Work. “The students were eager to continue such a course, the neighborhoods’ loyalty to the program was clear and the city was eager to keep it going as well,” Cummings says.

Student who started out homeless to graduate from Cal State San Bernardino
San Bernardino Sun
Dominic Ruffin was homeless for his first seven months at Cal State San Bernardino. Ruffin will receive his bachelor’s degree Sunday. He intends to pursue a master’s degree and a career in social work.

Making Sure Children in Military Families Are Not Left Behind
The Huffington Post
The men and women of our armed services deserve all the support they need to do their jobs. Making it easier for their children to navigate and achieve in public schools should be part of that support.

Students advocate for sex education in schools
The State Press
Five social work graduate students started an intervention as part of a class to help lower the rate of teen pregnancies in Arizona. They are working to educate ASU students about sex education facts and statistics.

Man from SLC’s west side a top 10 “energizer”
Salt Lake Tribune
In addition to recently earning his master’s degree in social work, and beginning a job as the new Program Manager for Cancer Wellness House, Uckerman’s attitude carries over in his bold smile and lyrical laugh.

Got Oncology Social Work?
LiveStrong.org
Oncology Social Work is shrouded in mystery in many cancer treatment centers. I could have neon posters, flyers and brochures promoting Oncology Social Work (OSW) services and they were too easily passed over for the medical information available in a resource room.

Allergies at school; handling teens
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Sadly, her embarrassment might be stemming from her treatment at school, says elementary school social worker Judy Freedman, author of “Easing the Teasing.” “There is a disturbing trend that many children who cannot eat certain foods are teased,” she says.

Battered women’s greatest advocate to retire after 33 years
Brainerd Daily Dispatch
By JODIE TWEED Louise Seliski grew up in poverty in Minneapolis and knew, even while in seventh grade, that she wanted to become a social worker. She had a passion for helping others.

Mother accused of punching caseworker found
WDAM-TV
Caneema Atkins, mother of five, is accused of punching a social worker in the face when she arrived to take her children. (Source: WSCN/CNN) MIAMI (WSCN/CNN) – A mother accused of attacking a Florida caseworker and taking off with her kids earlier this

Punishing Social Workers
Governing Magazine
When a child is hurt, punishment seems to be the go-to response. But pursuing that direction has serious consequences.

Grieving pet owners get needed support through social worker’s partnership …
AnnArbor.com
Colleen O’Brien, a state-licensed master social worker, says no, it’s really not, and for many reasons. “When you love another living being, you love them,” she says. For many people in our culture, O’Brien explains, the relationship with pets is the most solid, enduring connection that they have.

New website advises about DADT repeal
Daily Trojan Online
By lauren march · Daily Trojan Members of the Military Acceptance Project, an organization started by graduate students from the USC School of Social Work, launched a website earlier this month to educate service members about the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

New Alzheimer’s guidelines target early stages

Msnbc.com

CHICAGO â€” The first new U.S. diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimer’s disease released in 27 years paint the disorder as a disease that occurs gradually over many years, starting with changes in the brain, then mild memory problems and finally progressing to full-blown dementia.

Foster Care’s Web Of Policies, Problems And Promise Keeps Kids In Waiting
Huffington Post
As a foster care alumnus, he now works as a social worker within the system that took him, and his five siblings, from his parents when he was only 9. Montiel advocates for teens who share the experiences he endured and the problems that persist in America’s foster homes.

Marathon County Agencies Support Child Abuse Prevention Month
WSAW
“This is something that Social Services has done just to support Child Abuse Prevention for the month of April and I think this is also just a good way to get county employees just to work together to support our community,” says Marathon County social worker Sara Klebenow.

Tim Roth Thinks Sam Rockwell Should Do Some Social Work
Screen Junkies
Actor Tim Roth has done a lot of acting in his life, and now he wants to do something else: Curing cancer. Just kidding, he’s directing a movie (his second after The War Zone). It’s called Turning Stones, based on the memoir by Mark Parent.

The Visiting Angel, By Paul Wilson
The Independent
As does Paul Wilson in his gruelling novel set in the world of social work. If he sometimes wears his heart on his sleeve in a way that would have brought out the acidic critic in Nabokov, he knows how to display it in a complex and exciting work of ficton.

Social workers form a safety net
Newton Kansan
By Vincent Tafolla, Newton Professional social workers form society’s social safety net. More than 640000 social workers across the country provide critical resources and services to help individuals, families, and communities in need.

Texas dad charged after son found dead in box
The Associated Press
HOUSTON (AP) — The family of a 10-year-old disabled boy whose decomposing body was found in a cardboard box had twice been investigated by Texas social workers, though no abuse was found in the first case and the second claim couldn’t be fully investigated, officials said Monday.

Government should value social workers
China Post
The word disaster is usually visually linked to images of dramatic destruction such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcano eruptions and nuclear explosions. But the fact is disaster happens all the time and often in fashions much less attention-gripping.

California Focus: No Wisconsin here, but unions taking cuts aplenty
Hanford Sentinel
When public employees from police and schoolteachers to park rangers and social workers lose their jobs over fiscal issues, it’s hard to continue claiming union-backed candidates will never face up to financial realities.

Unfriended: Cyberbullying in Minnesota
Spot.Us
Photo by Robb Long – David Winkler-Morey, a social worker at Anthony Middle School. When students at Benilde-St. Margaret’s School received laptops at the start of the 2010-11 school year, the idea was “to prepare students for the dynamic and ever-changing world in which they’ll study, live and work.”

PT. Beach cancer patient support group feels economic pinch
Asbury Park Press
They joined 11 others and Lakewood resident Pat Spillane, a breast cancer survivor and retired clinical social worker who leads the 90-minute sessions each Tuesday at noon.

How Do You Find Good Food When You’ve Got Bad Allergies?
Wall Street Journal (blog)
Now make way for Allergic Girl. That’s the moniker that Sloane Miller, a New York social worker and food allergy advocate, has given herself in connection with her various enterprises, from an award-winning blog (Please Don’t Pass the Nuts) to a group-dining program (Worry-Free Dinners).

Homelessness a ‘major’ issue in Knox, UT College of Social Work report finds
Knoxville News Sentinel
A new report by the University of Tennessee’s College of Social Work concluded that homelessness is still “a major community problem in Knoxville and Knox County.” The report is an annual product of the Knoxville Homeless Management Information System, a Web-based database for collecting and reporting data on homeless individuals and families in the area.

Knowledge, understanding combat child abuse
Idaho Press-Tribune
She is the director of the Social Work Policy Institute in Washington DC and she was visiting Idaho for a conference. Dr. Zlotnik’s work includes advancing evidenced-based practices to benefit the wellbeing our nation’s children.

Social Work Dean Jeanette Takamura: A Personal Account of Japan’s Resilience
Columbia University
Written by Jeanette Takamura, dean of Columbia’s School of Social Work, who was in Tokyo to attend a conference when the March 11 earthquake and tsunami struck northern Japan. She was able to leave the country two days later. Dean Takamura is a sansei (third generation) Japanese American, born and raised in Hawaii.

The Innocent Victims of the Recession
MyFox Phoenix
“We are seeing a higher number of children that have more severity in their injuries,” says Nicole Schuren, a hospital social worker. “I think that the children suffered paid the price for that,” says Dr. Jennifer Geyer. And they’re sometimes paying with their lives.

Meth ‘Cook Houses’ Gone, Demand For Drug Lingers
NPR
Five years ago, Christine Brown was a social worker with CPS. Today, she is a supervisor. “We’re still seeing the same behaviors in the families, and we’re still seeing the same effects on the kids. They’re still exposed, it’s still happening, and it’s a battle. It’s a battle every day,” Brown says.

Texas’ reimbursement rate for abortion alternatives mentors …
The American Independent
The state program, whose subcontractors are primarily faith-based organizations that include maternity homes and crisis pregnancy centers, “is an issue of great concern to our association,” said Vicki Hansen, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers — Texas Chapter.

Social workers will celebrate National Health Care Decisions Day
Lakenewsonline.com
“It’s a tragedy when a person’s wishes are unknown at the end of their life,” said Susan Major, MSW/LCSW, director of Social Work Services at Lake Regional Health System. “It’s important for all adults to define ‘quality of life’ for themselves and to make their decisions known in case they become incapacitated.”

College of Social Work receives grant to explore demographics of kidney …
The Gamecock
Courtesy of College of Social Work For years, research has indicated that a disproportionately low number of African-American patients in need of kidney transplants actually receive them compared to white patients in South Carolina and nationwide.

Parents of girl who hanged self sue school district
Brandon News and Tribune
Donna Witsell said school officials told her a social worker from the school tried to call the family the day Hope signed the contract.

Students Bare Their Soles for Poverty Awareness
Hood Today
The event, sponsored by Hood’s Student Social Work Organization, was inspired by Toms Shoes, a company that donates a pair of shoes for each pair sold. “A Day Without Shoes,” held April 5, was designed to encourage students to reflect upon poverty and what it must be like to live life without basic necessities, such as shoes.

Myths about the homeless, Part Two
Bangor Daily News
By Meridith Bolster, LCSW, Penobscot Community Health Care AP photo There are many myths and stereotypes about the homeless. Myths and stereotypes come about due to misconceptions born of ignorance, overgeneralizations from a single experience, and poor access to the real facts.

See something? Say something!
Valencia County News Bulletin
Once a case is referred to CYFD — and Valencia County had almost 800 such cases in 2010 — an investigative social worker teams up with the assigned law enforcement officer and district attorney to conduct a forensic interview, Martinez said.

In Helping Others, Finding What Was Never Truly Lost
New York Times
She turned to John Sullivan, the tall, smiling social worker who had discovered her on a bench in the Broadway median. The woman was a nurse who had lost her grip and had been living in a tent on the Upper West Side, until Mr. Sullivan coaxed her off the street.

Real money, real world
Wapakoneta Daily News
Kylee Sommers, who grew up in the foster care system and feels strongly about the difference she wants to make as a social worker, felt first-hand the impact it could have on her own family if that is the route she continues to pursue.

Taking up for children
Laurel Leader Call
Rosie Donaldson, area social worker supervisor for the local Department of Human Services, said it’s important to spread awareness about the issue of child abuse. “Parents cannot treat their children as personal property as they did in the ’70s,” she said. “We now have laws that protect children against abuse.”

Surge of seniors to lessen tax intake
News & Observer
Lisa Gwyther, a clinical social worker and senior fellow at Duke’s Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, said many boomers hitting retirement age are stuck in homes they can no longer afford. In today’s market, they risk selling it for far less than it is worth or less than they owe.

Expert Advice for WV Parents This Week
Public News Service
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – One big topic this week at the annual conference of the National Association of Social Workers West Virginia Chapter in Charleston is a discussion of ideas that could help both social work professionals and parents in dealing with children.

Social Workers lobby for title protection
Daily 49er
On April 11, county social work supervisors lobbied in Sacramento to push for AB 671. Many people often wonder what title protection is and why is it a big deal. Title protection requires precise positions to require specific academic degrees.

On the record with … Nancy Hiatt
Northwest Herald
Hiatt earned a degree in psychology from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., before heading west to Arizona State University in the mid-1990s to graduate with a master’s degree in social work. After graduation, Hiatt worked in social service in Flagstaff, Ariz.

Social Workers’ Rally Supports Dayton’s Wealthy Tax
MyFox9.com
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Social workers gathered in the Capitol rotunda on Monday to show support for Gov. Mark Dayton’s proposal to raise taxes on wealthy Minnesotans.

MICHELE’S ADVICE: Lesbians! Don’t Move So Fast!
10 Thousand Couples
By Michele O’Mara, LCSW Fri, Apr 01, 2011 What is it that you will have when you live with her that you don’t have now? I am 46 years old and have been with women for most of my adult life, with many failed relationships under my belt. I’ve lived with four other partners, and I’ve been seeing a woman for just four months now.

Teen Scene
Cedar Valley Daily Times
A nurse, a physician, a home health aide, a social worker, a chaplain and a volunteer. These are the people involved in Hospice care. It is primarily run with the help of volunteers and donations. The word Hospice descended from the Latin word hospes meaning serving double-duty or guest and host.

Charges: Roseville man whips his kids with belt for changing TV channel
Minneapolis Star Tribune
On Dec. 13, a social worker for Central Park Elementary School in Roseville told police about marks discovered on a female student’s arm. The complaint listed “large welts on her right forearm, as well as bruises and marks on her left arm, right shoulder and behind her ear.”

Inside Washtenaw County Public Health: Domestic Violence
AnnArbor.com
My name is Martha and I am a social worker with Washtenaw County’s Public Health department’s Maternal Infant Health Program (MIHP). Most of the work in the MIHP is with families that have the ongoing stresses of tight finances, serious illness, (both physical and mental), unemployment and homelessness. It’s a challenging job, but it has its rewards.

Head Start-Fraser partnership bids to help kids
Coon Rapids Herald
Jen Sommer, a clinical social worker for Fraser who has led the training, said her hope is that if a young child gets the treatment he or she needs at an early age then perhaps they will not need to enter into any special education program once their parents enroll them in a public school.

Connected social workers: technology brings professionals and users together
The Guardian
Likewise, by writing about social work and social care online, I hope I have been able to present some of the attitudes and feelings at the front line rather than those who usually are asked for opinions — the consultants, managers and academics who look at how things may have been when they were last in practice.

Myths about the homeless
Bangor Daily News
The other way works for some people, but it hasn’t worked for the people who are chronically homeless. Meridith Bolster is a licensed clinical social worker at Penobscot Community Health Care’s Summer Street Health Center in Bangor.

Guest opinion: Preventive health programs losing out in Legislature
Billings Gazette
Kathy McGowan of Helena is executive director for Community Mental Health Centers and represents National Association of Social Workers, MT Chapter at the Legislature. She collaborated on this column with John Wilkinson, Travis Hoffman, Jill Steeley, Joan Taylor, Anita Roessmann and Stacey Anderson, all advocates for human services and prevention.

Social work a challenging field for many
Tahlequah Daily Press
Dr. Kathlyn Shahan, assistant professor of social work, is the department chair, and her focus is to train students and prepare them for the work force. “[Graduates in social work] can do all kinds of things,” said Shahan.

Let’s work to stop child abuse
GoErie.com
In 2005, I graduated from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in social work. Afterward, I began working at the Erie County Office of Children and Youth. I was excited to start my career in child welfare and truly felt I had the passion and drive to make a difference in our local community.

Britain’s child migrants
The Guardian
The scandal was discovered by social worker Margaret Humphreys Margaret Humphreys. Photograph: Fabio de Paola for the Guardian In 1986, Margaret Humphreys was a social worker in Nottingham, specialising in child protection.

Boomer Beat: Getting a nudge in the right direction
Northwest Herald
After his return to civilian life, he worked as a mental health specialist at Elgin Mental Health Center while he completed his master’s degree in social work, and then settled into a lifelong career as a social worker. After getting his feet wet as a mental health specialist at Elgin Hospital, Bennett was offered the position of deputy director of child psychiatry at the University of Illinois.

Center helps leaders learn how to change lives
Rapid City Journal
In a legal system that focuses on crime as an offense against the state – not an individual – the voices of crime victims are frequently unheard, according to Mark Umbreit, founder of the Center for Restorative Justice & Peacemaking at the University of Minnesota’s School of Social Work.

Child welfare workers second-guess stressful jobs
AP
NEW YORK — When child welfare worker Kelly Mares investigates an abuse case, she doesn’t know what’s going to greet her on the other side of the door. A ferocious dog. Or a gun. Or a meth lab, or angry parents who lash out violently.

New Coping Model Inspires Proactive Change for Survivors of Lost …
ParamusPost.com
So says Susan A. Berger, LICSW, EdD and the hundreds of bereaved loved ones she’s encountered in her career. Susan Berger, founder of the Massachusetts Center for Loss, Bereavement, and Healing , says that the survivors of loss often do not understand their own unique brand of grief; they can be misunderstood and misdiagnosed by therapists as well.

How March Madness Can Lead to Problems for Some Gamblers
WBEN 930
March Madness is one of the biggest sporting events for gamblers, and clinical social worker Matthew Jost, who specializes in gambling addictions, says the issue is “the brackets give people all sorts of opportunities to gamble.

New Social Work Caucus Tackles Social Safety Net Issues in Congress
PR Newswire (press release)
WASHINGTON, March 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Today, US Congressman Edolphus “Ed” Towns (NY-10), with the support of other professional Social Workers in Congress and national organization leaders, launched a Congressional Social Work Caucus, and reintroduced the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act (SWRA).

Anxious parents keep a tight grip
Kansas City Star
“I think most parents really want to do the right thing,” said Leslie King, a licensed clinical social worker and counselor at Crossroads School in Santa Monica, Calif. “But when they hear all the opportunities other parents may be giving their children, their own hearts get lost, even parents who have that feeling that enough is enough.”

New Social Work Caucus Tackles Social Safety Net Issues in Congress
Sacramento Bee
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for social workers is expected to grow faster than average for all occupations. However, educational debt, workplace safety, and comparatively low salaries threaten the profession’s ability to meet increasing demands for social work services in a range of settings: hospitals, schools, prisons, private practices, private and public agencies, and the military. 

Baby’s Death Under Investigation In Bryson City
WHNS Greenville
BRYSON CITY, NC — The death of a Bryson City baby last month is under investigation as warrants say social workers failed to protect the child. Swain County deputies said 15-month-old Aubrey Littlejohn died at Cherokee Indian Hospital on Jan. 10.

Swain DSS investigated for cover-up in child’s death
Waynesville Smoky Mountain News
The social worker who handled the child’s case, Craig Smith, altered his reports, fabricating a hospital visit and doctor’s exam that never occurred, according to law enforcement statements. Smith claims he did so at the direction of his immediate superior, Candace Lassiter, according to a search warrant executed by the SBI at the DSS office in Bryson City.

Addiction costs state millions of dollars
Morehead News
The master clinical social worker at the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy—the public defender’s office—is well known for thorough and personalized work to find treatment options for indigent clients. The DPA social worker program came about as a means to lessen the taxpayer burden of overcrowded prisons and jails, according to an agency report.

Pamela Vescera is an active member:

Barbie educates public on eating disorders
Utica Observer Dispatch
How many people locally battling eating disorders is difficult to calculate, said Pam Vescera, a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in eating disorders.

Health professional moves on, leaves crucial vacancy in West
West Yellowstone News
Licensed Addiction Counselor and clinical social worker Michael Hagenlock explains how to identify an employee who may have a substance abuse problem at a drug testing information session last November. Community West Outreach hosted the info session.

La Familia was one of many mental health centers to struggle with budget cuts …
Pioneer Press
Avina, a licensed clinical social worker and a marriage and family therapist, oversaw the organization’s clinical work, leaving Santos to recruit foundation support as director of community affairs.

Will young people shun government work?
Minneapolis Star Tribune
You’ve thought about teaching or social work that helps the poor. You’re also interested in protecting the environment and promoting sustainable agriculture and renewable energy. But those interests tend to lead to careers in government.

Black community in Atlantic City struggles to find, retain leaders
Press of Atlantic City
Today, role models of that caliber are comparatively rare in black communities, said Patricia Reid-Merritt, a professor of social work and African-American studies at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.

Giffords and staff remember victim on his birthday
CNN International
By the CNN Wire Staff (CNN) — Gabe Zimmerman used his degree in social work to help children in need. The avid runner and his fiancee had a lot of plans. On January 8, those plans came to an end when he and five others died when a gunman opened fire at Representative Gabrielle Gifford’s “Congress on Your Corner” event in Tucson, Arizona.

Societal changes dividing nation; Some tolerate trends others see as harmful
Middletown Press
Mark Gaynor, a licensed clinical social worker in New Haven, says it’s not surprising to find such a range of views. “Change is stressful by definition,” he says.

How conducting trauma therapy changes the therapist
Scientific American
About the Author: May Benatar is a licensed clinical social worker in practice as a psychotherapist in the DC metro area. She has her PhD in clinical social work and has published, taught, and consulted on the topics of adult development, parenting, and the treatment of the long term effects of psychological trauma.

I Am ME: Rebecca Denslow, Charleston, SC
The Fatherhood Channel
As a licensed clinical social worker, Becky Denslow maintains an active practice in nearby Mt. Pleasant, where she introduced relationship and marriage education to the community after being personally trained by PAIRS founder Lori Gordon in 1993.

Aging Gracefully: Social workers invaluable in role as advocates …
The News-Press
Today kicks off National Social Work Month. The National Association of Social Workers focuses on calling attention to the social work profession throughout the month of March.

Financial Worries Top Psychosocial Concern of Cancer Patients
Internal Medicine News Digital Network
Highlighting shifting priorities after the recession, nearly half of all recent psychosocial consultations with patients at a leading cancer center involved financial worries, rather than adjustment issues or other pressing mental health concerns.

Help for area veterans returning to civilian life
Journal and Courier
Our office has been in contact lately with Amy Blue, licensed clinical social worker, of the Gary Area Vet Center. She has informed us that the Lafayette area falls under their vet center’s catchment area and that she would like to provide service to our veterans in this area.

Coalition: End the ‘National Media Blackout’ on Child Abuse and …
PR Newswire
Joan Zlotnik, director, Social Work Policy Institute, National Association of Social Workers, said: “Every day, too many children are abused, neglected and and murdered in our communities. The only way to truly protect these vulnerable lives is to address the most serious problems facing families in crisis. Well-trained professionals serving in community-based prevention programs and in adequately funded service agencies are essential, but they are not enough. Our national leaders must decide that vulnerable lives are also valuable lives, and then support policies that make real change possible.”

6 Ways to Ward Off Depression
lifescript.com
When faced with a tough situation, “there’s the sense that you’re no longer in control of your life,” says LeslieBeth Wish, a psychologist and clinical social worker in Sarasota, Florida.

10 Careers with High Rates of Depression
health.com
It’s probably not a huge surprise to find social workers near the top of this list. Dealing with abused children or families on the brink of every imaginable crisis—combined with bureaucratic red tape—can make for a demanding, stressful job that’s often 24-7.

BSU Honors First Graduating Class Of Social Work Program
KMVT
Boise State University officials honored the first graduating class of 28 students from the new bachelor of Social Work program offered in Twin Falls.

109 resident puts personal touch on the big screen
The 109
Morris, a social worker specializing in limb loss, received a telephone call several months ago that opened a door she had never imagined. Just a few weeks later, she was being flown to a movie set to act alongside Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon in a film called “True Grit.”

Why There’s ‘No Health Without Mental Health’
Huffington Post
Old or young, neglecting your mental health is bad for your physical health and vice versa.

Warm the Children is a help up, not a hand out, says Whitmore Lake social worker
AnnArbor.com
For Whitmore Lake Public Schools social worker Terry Bond-Manville, Warm the Children is not a handout, it’s a help up. Bond-Manville has been referring families to WTC for several years and has volunteered as a shopper for two years.

Lucy Liu gets romanced in Lifetime’s mumbly ‘Marry Me’
ChicagoNow (blog)
I’m not buying Liu as Rae, a social worker who gets dumped, gives up on love, meets a cutie and then, ka-pow!, gets marriage proposals from Steven Pasquale, Bobby Cannavale and Enrique Murciano.

Getting hitched may become obsolete as many opt to stay unmarried
Shreveport Times
Leesa Sitter, a licensed clinical social worker in Shreveport, says that marriage isn’t necessarily becoming obsolete but people’s childhoods play a significant role on their views about matrimony.

Target Offering In-Store Social Workers For Some Employees
The Consumerist
And so Target decided to bring in a social worker who could offer staffers a place to vent or to come to for advice on anything from family problems to advice on buying a home or adopting a baby.

Baylor School of Social Work Begins Move to Downtown Waco
Baylor University
Baylor University’s School of Social Work begins the move today from campus to its new home in downtown Waco, placing the School in the “heart of the community” it serves.

Black scholars reach into their own pasts to help beleaguered young black men
Chicago Tribune
Johnson, whose doctorate is in social work, said that as he was conceptualizing “Social Work With African American Males: Health, Mental Health, and Social Policy” (Oxford University Press), he thought about a book from the early 1980s that examined adult black men in a comprehensive way that hadn’t been done before.

Jim Loach’s Debut Film Deals With Child Abuse
ABC News
In the movie, the story is told through the eyes of social worker Margaret Humphreys, played my Emily Watson, the Oscar-nominated British actress.

Become the dream mother-in-law
Shreveport Times
But for moms who want to prove that wrong, Leesa Sitter, licensed clinical social worker in Shreveport, gives some advice on becoming the ideal mom-in-law.

Woman inspired to begin support group
Morning Sentinel
Even for someone like Labul, a clinical social worker at Tri-County Mental Health whose husband is a physician, the diagnosis left her confused and unsure what to do next.

Your Child Can Control Bullies: Use Unruh’s “Stop Bullying Now …
NewsReleaseWire.com
Gary M. Unruh, MSW LCSW, forty-year veteran family and child therapist, sees the evidence every day in his practice: “School programs aren’t working parents don’t know what to do, and children are being damaged. There’s no escaping bullying; it’s 25/8, thanks to cyberspace technology,” he says.

Experts: Adoptive families need help
Florida Today
The conference at the International Palms Resort in Cocoa Beach targeted social workers who work with families in crisis and the community faith leaders whose congregation members may be considering or coping with adoptions.

Summit explores nature of poverty
Indiana Gazette
The summit, called the Community Sustainability Summit on the Effects of Poverty, brought together professors, social workers and community members from Indiana County and elsewhere in the state.

Care centers provide fun for elders, relief for family
Columbus Dispatch
Both are assistant professors in Ohio State’s College of Social Work. The centers not only give people a place to go, they also help with health concerns and can alert clients and their doctors to problems.

U. of Ill. leads in faculty Fulbright scholarships
Chicago Tribune
The (Champaign) News-Gazette reported that Illinois’ recipients included associate social work professor Susan Cole, history professor Kristin Hoganson and and education professors Richard Hunter and Christopher Lubienski.

Six-point resolution adopted for women welfare
Times of India
MANGALORE: A three-day international conference on women and mental health organized by School of Social Work, Roshni Nilaya, Mangalore, and Flinders University, Australia, adopted a six-point resolution.

Democrats see losses as bump in the road
Twin Falls Times-News
Lora Ohlensehlen, a Twin Falls social worker, said the National Association of Social Workers has been encouraging social workers to go into politics.

Cornered: Therapists on Airplanes
New York Times
“I often say, ‘I run a nonprofit association in  Washington,’ ” said Betsy Clark, a social worker who serves as executive director of the National Association of Social Workers, a professional group.

Without grant funding, school social worker jobs could be cut
York Daily Record
By ANGIE MASON Ginia Moorehead, a senior at York’s William Penn High School, said social worker Barb Leonard helped her find a home when she was nearly homeless.  She knows she can call Leonard whenever she needs to, she said. Other students seek Leonard out, too.

Doctor’s wife had legacy as leader
Denver Post
By Joanne Davidson Ernestine Wallace Gipson, here with her husband as a newlywed, made a quiet impact as a social worker and community leader.

New campaign aims to end hunger in Minnesota
Minnesota Public Radio
Clinical social worker Cheryl Champion sees the toll of hunger on children every day. And it extends far beyond tummy aches.

Tips for dealing with unnecessary worries
Herald Times Reporter
Diane M. Berry, MSW, LCSW, JD, is the clinic director and clinical social worker with Blue Waters Family Counseling in Manitowoc.

When the Abuser Is No Stranger: The Quest for Erin’s Law
TIME Magazine
She was taught how to ride out a tornado, instructed in the eight steps for turning down illegal drugs, and told how to react to a friendly stranger who might try to abduct her. But nothing prepared her for two traumatizing events that have turned Merryn, now 25, into an activist, determined to prevent the same thing from happening to other children.

Oberlin: Psychiatric service dogs to help veterans
WKYC-TV
Jane Miller is a Clinical Social Worker and dog trainer who is using her skills to not only help the mentally ill, but also help returning veterans dealing with the scars of war.

The biography Jane Addams deserves
Salon
Louise W. Knight’s riveting new biography, “Jane Addams: Spirit in Action,” rescues this fascinating figure from the twilight of textbooks and polemics to bring her complex career into view.

Platitudes Won’t Help Ailing Economy; Steady Paychecks Will
New America Media
“Black leadership, starting with the president, knows full well the dire circumstances, but needs to provide more resources to be aimed toward the Black community that has been hit the hardest,” said Chad Dion Lassiter, president of Black Men at Penn School of Social Work.

New Report Addresses Suicide Among Natives
KTVA
A new nationwide report aimed at preventing suicide in the American Indian and Alaska Native youth communities is hitting home here in Alaska.

Moving toward marriage equality with each pedal
Anchor
As executive director of the Rhode Island Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, Harris has a passion for addressing social issues and injustices, he said. Over the past six years, Harris has adopted marriage equality as his cause and volunteered for Marriage Equality Rhode Island.

Center assists Marion County abused, neglected children
Marion County Record
Wilma Mueller, social worker specialist for Marion County for more than five years, and Harold Murphy, a longtime Children and Families Services supervisor, made the presentation. They focused on the reporting of child abuse or neglect.

Even well-to-do schools like Hamilton have homeless kids
Arizona Republic
Social worker Dia Mundle wanted to make sure the student stocked up on supplies so he didn’t have to take time away from his classes again for several months.

Working Families Grant making a difference
Fond du Lac Reporter
“… Her mentoring me at a very difficult time opened me to the field of social work as a career. I am so thankful for the support I received as a single parent.”