Book Addresses Healing For Survivors Of Abuse
Webster Kirkwood Times
“We will be presenting it in March at the National Association of Social Workers of Missouri at the Lake of the Ozarks.” This is the second book by the Kirkwood psychotherapists.

Photo-Op: Steel Nerve
Wall Street Journal
Trained as a teacher and social worker, Hine (1874-1940) picked up a camera in 1904 so that he could offer photography classes at his school. Soon he was advertising his services in the field of ‘Social Photography,’ with a specialty in ‘graphic representations of conditions and methods of work.’ Commissions from the National Child Labor Committee produced some of his most haunting images: photographs of newsies, including one sleeping with papers for a pillow; a crowd of boy miners whose ghostly faces barely break the enveloping coal dust; a 5-year-old Mississippi shrimp picker.

Dancers say no to drugs: Crew helps teenagers stay sober
Pacific Daily News
On Talavera’s desk — which occupies a space that was once a set of toilets — is a picture of his original crew. There’s also an award from the National Association of Social Workers for exemplary service in 2011.

Has the sex stopped?
MyNews.in
“I’ve been a marriage therapist for 20 years, and I’d estimate that one in three couples struggles with this issue,” says Michele Weiner-Davis, author of The Sex-Starved Marriage. “It affects all types of people, regardless of age or years spent together.”

Mentor teaching young men in Detroit how to dream, see themselves in a better …
Detroit Free Press
Without that man, Lewis, who has a master’s degree in social work from the University of Michigan, says he could have easily been another statistic. African-American men remain twice as likely as white men to be unemployed, three times as likely to live in poverty and more than six times as likely to be incarcerated, according to a 2009 National Urban League report.

Aging and Life Quality: What Does the Future Hold?
Scientific American (blog)
“There seems to be a sort of fear, if you will, of aging,” said Valentine Villa, a California State Los Angeles Social Work professor and the director of the Applied Gerontology Institute. “In aggregate we are doing better in terms of health, in terms of socioeconomic status. We’ve been living longer.”

Kentucky social service workers face ‘crushing caseloads,’ panel told
Louisville Courier-Journal
Steve Beshear proposed adding $21 million to the state social services department that would be be used to hire 300 more workers — 91 front-line social workers and the rest family-support workers who handle public assistance cases for people seeking Medicaid, food stamps or other benefits.

Picking a therapist
Chicago Tribune
An Internet search for umbrella organizations can also lead the way: The American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the National Association of Social Workers, for example. “We all have national professional associations.

Fatality raised more questions about Kimberly Even’s credentials as drug counselor
The Chicago Tribune
He died in 2009 of a heroin overdose while being counseled by Kimberly Even — a woman who had been warned to stop claiming she was a certified counselor by the professional organization that sets the standards for drug counselors, records show. The state also was investigating her credentials at the time of the death.

China’s unfledged social workers looking for support, recognition
Shanghai Daily (subscription)
Wang first came across social work while employed as a dustman in Beijing. When Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome swept the city in 2003, social workers called on his dorm to hand out disinfectants and masks. “At a moment when everyone was panicked by the epidemic, I had never known that there were still people who cared about the needs of strangers. I found social work a worthwhile career,” says the 31 year old from north China’s Hebei Province.

Johns Hopkins University and the University of Minnesota are helping the agency create the screening tool.

Ten to 20 percent of the nation’s children are exposed to domestic violence, according to researchers. Information social workers gather through the questionnaire could be used in court to help judges decide whether families need counseling or other treatment.

“There is no specific protocol, and particularly for the really young kids, on how you assess the level of domestic violence,” said Kathleen King, a supervisor with Child Protective Services. “Social workers now get bits and pieces of that information, but it’s not all pulled together.”

Social workers help young people overcome life’s hurdles. To learn more visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Kids & Families Website by clicking here.

Debbie Peagler on "Crime After Crime" movie poster.

The award-winning documentary “Crime After Crime” charts the heroic campaign to free Debbie Peagler, a domestic violence victim who was sentenced to 25 years to life in a California prison for being complicit in the murder of her abuser.

But social workers may also be proud to learn social worker and lawyer Nadia Costa, MSW, plays a pivotal role in the film, which airs Nov. 3 at 9 p.m. Eastern on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Costa was part of Peagler’s defense team and was also an abuse victim, film director Yoav Potash said.

In the film Costa made a point of making it clear not all domestic abuse victims are poor, minorities, or come from the inner city. Costa grew up in an upper middle class California suburb.

“It took a lot of patience and back-and-forth for (Nadia) to even say what she did in the film,” Potash said. “I was able to convince her that it was important that people understand her story.”

Debbie Peagler met Oliver Wilson in the late 1970s when she was just 15 years old. At first he seemed charming but Wilson soon lured Peagler into prostitution. He also repeatedly and brutally abused her. Although Peagler went to the police for help authorities did not intervene.

Finally, Peagler’s mother enlisted two neighborhood gang members to scare Wilson away. However, they ended up murdering him and police charged Peagler with being partly responsible for the crime.

“Crime After Crime” follows the legal and emotional rollercoaster ride lawyers Joshua Safran and Costa and Peagler and her family endured to try to free Peagler after a new California law allowed domestic violence evidence in criminal proceedings.

The hearts of viewers will go out to Peagler. While in prison the mother of two daughters became a model inmate earning a college degree, leading the Gospel choir, tutoring illiterate inmates, and working for a prison industry electronics maker.

Lawyer and social worker Nadia Costa (right) comforts Debbie Peagler's daughter Natasha. Scene from "Crime After Crime."

Potash filmed the Peagler legal battle for five years. He said Costa’s social work skills were invaluable. In fact, it was Costa who reached out to Oliver Wilson’s family to gain evidence that might help Peagler.

“When they wanted to interview Oliver’s family it was a very delicate situation so it fell to Nadia to go and have those conversations in a sensitive way,” Potash said. “And she was successful.”

“Crime After Crime” has already garnered attention at the Sundance Film Festival and 14 awards, including top prizes at the Heartland Film Festival and San Francisco Film Festival, said Potash, 38, who grew up in San Diego and now lives in Oakland, Calif.

He is hoping the film will help other states pass laws to include domestic abuse evidence in courts. The day before “Crime After Crime” premieres on OWN Potash will be doing a free screening at New York University. The screening will support passage of New York’s Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act.

Yoav Potash. Photo courtesy of IMDB.com.

At least four other states are considering similar legislation, although New York is farther along, he said.

“I want to wake people and shake people up around the issue of incarcerated survivors of domestic violence,” Potash said. “I feel a responsibility to do the most that we can with this film. Move audiences beyond what is being seen on screen.”

Social workers often help clients who are victims of domestic abuse. A team of social workers reviewed an advanced copy of “Crime After Crime.” To read their conversation click here.

Police officer Jillian Michele Smith. Photo courtesy of the Star-Telegram.

The University of Texas at Arlington has named a $250,000 professorship in social work in honor of Jillian Michele Smith, an Arlington police officer who was murdered last December while investigating a domestic violence complaint, according to this article in the Star-Telegram.

Smith graduated cum laude from UTA in 2009 with a bachelors degree in criminology and criminal justice and a minor in sociology. The endowed chair will allow further research into domestic violence.

Smith was investigating a domestic violence complaint. The alleged abuser entered the apartment and began shooting a gun, killing Smith and the woman who was filing the complaint before killing himself. The 11-year-old daughter of the woman was left unharmed.

“Anything positive that results – for example, better training for police officers responding to family violence calls -would be good,” Smith’s father Doug Smith said in a statement.

Social workers often help victims of domestic violence or other incidents. To learn more visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Family Safety Website by clicking here.

Terri Schmidt

National Association member Terri Schmidt, MSW, LCSW, DCSW, in Illinois is doing a series of articles on domestic violence for Chicago Sun-Times publications.

In one column Schmidt offers excellent advice on how to help a family member or friend who is a victim of domestic violence. The first thing she advises is have an open mind and listen.

“Believe the story that you are hearing, even if it’s difficult. Usually people minimize the abuse they are experiencing. I have never known a client to exaggerate it,” Schmidt wrote.

To read the full column click here.

In this second column Schmidt gives readers a guide to how the Illinois criminal justice system handles domestic violence complaints.

To learn more about how social workers help clients handle domestic violence, visit NASW’s “Help Starts Here” Domestic Violence Web page by clicking here. You can also read The Social Work Response to Domestic Violence on NASW’s Website by clicking here.

Catherine Arney. Photo courtesy of ThirdCoast Digest.

ThirdCoast Digest, a news organization that covers politics, culture and other issues in southeastern Wisconsin, talked to National Association of Social Workers member Catherine Arney about domestic violence.

Arney, MSW, is vice president of clinical services at Pathfinders, a Milwaukee shelter and resource center for homeless youth. Arney said children who grow up in homes where domestic violence is common are at risk of becoming abusers or being abused.

“It doesn’t mean that every child who witnesses domestic abuse grows up to be an abuser or grows up to be abused, but the statistics are really high that they will,” she said. “Especially with young boys.”

Arney also talked about why women stay in domestic relationships, how men who are abusers get help, and how people can help friends and family members who are battered or mentally abused by their partners.

To listen to Arney’s ThirdCoast Digest interview, click here.

You can learn more about how social workers help clients who are victims of domestic violence by clicking here to visit NASW’s “Help Starts Here” consumer Web site. Tricia Bent-Goodley, Phd, LCSW-C, a Howard University social work professor who is a nationally recognized expert on domestic violence, and other social workers also met with Hollywood writers to educate them about women’s health issues, including domestic violence, mental illness and cancer. To read about that meeting, click here.

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.

Panel participants from left: Tricia Bent-Goodley, Stacy Owens, moderator Elizabeth Laviter, Kathy Gurland, Jacki McKinney and Colleen Keenan.

Social worker Jacki McKinney, with her sweet smile and silver hair, could be your grandmother.

But the stories she told a group of screenwriters at Writers Guild of America, west in Los Angeles on March 31 were not sweet fairytales you would expect to hear from a grandparent.

McKinney, 76, MSW, was sexually abused as an infant and was later ostracized by her community because of it. She later developed depression and mental illness, which is common among people who experience severe trauma in their youth.

“There were people who wouldn’t let their children play with me and I was cute and bright,” said McKinney, who now works with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) as a consumer advocate for other people with mental illness.

Tricia Bent-Goodley

McKinney was part of a panel to educate Hollywood writers about women’s health issues. Other social workers on the five-member panel were Kathy Gurland, MSW, LCSW, who founded the Peg’s Group cancer care navigation consulting service in New York City after she lost two sisters to cancer, and Tricia Bent-Goodley, Phd, LCSW-C, a Howard University social work professor who is a nationally recognized expert on domestic violence.

 The other members of the panel were Dr. Colleen Keenan, a nurse and interim director of the University of California, Los Angeles Nurse Practioner Program who is an expert on women’s reproduction issues; and Stacey Owens, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2005 at age 20 and is now in remission and works with I’m Too Young for This! Cancer Foundation, a support group for young people adults with cancer.

The event was produced by the Entertainment Industries Council in partnership with the National Association of Social Workers, NASW Foundation and SAMHSA. Also in attendance was past NASW President Suzanne Dworak-Peck, who managed a Hollywood-based entertainment consulting organization for 20 years, and NASW Communications Director Gail Woods Waller.

Kathy Gurland (left) and Suzanne Dworak-Peck.

McKinney, Gurland and Bent-Goodley answered questions from the writers about their work, weaving in stories that could be turned into plotlines or developed into social work characters.

For instance, writers asked Gurland what it is like working with doctors.

There is a slew of medicals shows on television, including “Grey’s Anatomy” and ABC and “Nurse Jackie” on Showtime. However, writers rarely depict the fact that social workers are in hospitals advocating for treatment and services for patients and their families, Gurland said. Often, this advocate role is given to doctors and nurses, which rarely happens in real life.

 Bent-Goodley said the treatment of domestic abuse in Hollywood is too narrow and does not show the complexity of the problem.

The stories that do not get told are that girls as young as 11 to 13 can be the victims of abuse at the hands of boyfriends, and since Americans are living longer women over the age of 55 can also be victims of abuse as they form new relationships.

Domestic abuse also affects women of all socio-economic levels, the effects of the violence can haunt victims long after they escape the abuse, and Hollywood writers fail to capture how resilient and resourceful domestic violence survivors can be, Bent-Goodley said.

Bent-Goodley’s other pet peeve is that Hollywood shies away from how spirituality and religion can sometimes harm victims.

She told the story of a minister’s wife whose husband went online to get sex. When she confronted him alone at church he banged her head against the pulpit.

Jacki McKinney and Tricia Bent-Goodley.

The woman is trapped because her husband is a respected member of the community and no one suspects he is an abuser, Bent-Goodley said. He also plays the role of a faithful husband, driving her to doctor appointments.

“She now has epileptic seizures — she blacks out,” Bent-Goodley said.

Gurland urged writers to go “straight to the source” and seek out social worker experts when writing about medical care and other social issues.

 McKinney said television shows and movies never show people who suffer from mental illnesses getting well — instead they are made fun of or portrayed as psychopathic murders.

Bent-Goodley challenged writers to better educate the public about violence and other issues social workers help people overcome.

“You have the power to break the stigma, to show women are resilient and not just sitting around as victims,” she said. “They are trying to come up with solutions.”

 Maria Elena Rodriguez, a writer who has worked on the 2003 miniseries “Kingpin” and the television series “Resurrection Blvd,” said social workers must work hard to gain influence.

 Rodriguez has written a pilot television program about a social worker in a teen group home but has not sold the project.

She thinks this is because Hollywood is now obsessed with police shows. Crime programs continue to be popular so studios have little motivation to try other formulas, including plotlines that include social workers or issues important to that profession, Rodriguez said.

“There is no shortage of cop shows, no shortage of crime,” she said. The studios “feel it is a place where the well will never run dry.”

Tom Bourgeois, who works in the standards and practices department of CBS, said there is hope Hollywood will turn more to social workers for expert advice and story ideas. Bourgeois said social workers can do this by appealing directly to executives who run television shows, who in turn will direct writers to include more social workers and their issues in storylines.

Bourgeois also said he and other entertainment industry officials came away from the meeting with an interesting new angle for possible future storylines — that social workers in the healthcare field are part of an interdisciplinary team that works with doctors, nurses and others to help the sick and mentally ill.

“That is fresh and new,” he said.

The Entertainment Industries Council, in collaboration with NASW, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation, and the National Association of  Broadcasters, previously hosted “Picture This: Women’s Health.” The event was a forum for health experts and advocates to recommend priorities for writers, directors, producers and other creative talent. To read the report on “Picture This: Women’s Health” click here.

The county reported five domestic violence deaths in 2010, down from 11 the previous year. There were no child deaths in 2010, compared to three in 2009.

“The district attorney gives credit to countless hours of hard work by police, social workers, and the medical community with reducing the number of domestic violence deaths last year,” the article said.

Want to know more about how social workers help prevent domestic violence? Click here to visit the National Association of Social Workers “Help Starts Here” Web page on this issue.

Scholarship fund set up in honor of slain Giffords aide
Washington Post
A social worker, Zimmerman was a Tucson native who had worked for Giffords since her first campaign in 2006.

Jenice Armstrong: Where were Loughner’s parents?
philly.com
“With teenagers and young adults, there’s often a pattern of school failures, truancy, academic and behavioral issues in school. A consistent pattern of defiance toward authority, defiance toward parents, defiance toward teachers, defiance toward bosses at work, people in positions of authority,” said Frederic Reamer, a Rhode Island social-work professor.

When terrible things happen, what do the schools do?
Minuteman News Center

When contacted for comment, a clinical social worker that did not want to be identified and whose work does not involve children did say that, when terrible things happen, one typical reaction is to make it go away. Another thing that one might do is to open up discussion to questions.

Is Your New Year’s Resolution A Divorce? You’re Not Alone
Huffington Post (blog)
Mark Sichel is a New York City-based licensed clinical social worker and the author of Healing from Family Rifts. In his book, he describes in great detail the concept of the “Family Myth,” which consists of “the well-rehearsed notions, wholly fictitious, about the nature of a family unit. This Myth dictates that surface appearance is more important than individual happiness, and that every family member is compatible, possesses the same goals, and loves all the others without question.”

Wayne State University Researchers Determine Quake’s Effect on Mortality and …
PR Newswire (press release)
With pre-disaster data, Royce Hutson, Ph.D., assistant professor of social work at Wayne State University, and Athena Kolbe, MSW, WSU School of Social Work alumna, principal investigator of the study and joint doctoral candidate at the University of Michigan, conducted follow-up interviews with 93 percent of the 1,800 initial respondents to comprehensively study the earthquake’s impact on mortality, crime and access to basic needs in the greater Port-au-Prince area.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu chooses point person for homelessness
NOLA.com
Horn-Koch, who has a master’s degree in social work, served as director of Covenant House for nine years. Covenant House helps at-risk, abused, runaway and homeless youths through a residential program called Rites of Passage.

Women’s Fund to hold social justice event
SouthCoastToday.com
Dr. Gentlewarrior has 25 years’ experience as a social worker committed to social justice; she will share research findings on how people with various social identities experience discrimination.

Helping Children Complete College
Wall Street Journal
More than a decade ago, Ms. Schulman, a psychologist and social worker, began leading support groups for domestic-violence victims.

Social work rooted in passion and social justice
Hilltop Views
One of the core understandings within the social work profession is that we are social beings who are intricately connected to other people and our environment.

Carcieri chooses DCYF employee as child advocate
Providence Journal
She graduated from Stonehill College in 1981 with a bachelor of arts degree, and earned a master’s degree in social work from Rhode Island College, as well as a Juris Doctor degree from the New England School of Law.

On beekeeping and social work: is City out of touch?
Rochester City Newspaper
The latest Occupational Handbook of the Bureau of Labor Statistics says, “Employment for social workers is expected to grow faster than the average (ie, 14-19 %) for all occupations through 2018.

Social Workers Are Awesome
GeriPal.org
It is often the social worker on the team that understands what is really going on with the patient and identifies the key details that make it possible to effectively care for them.

Home > Moving Beyond Addiction > How a Loved One in R…
Beliefnet.com
by Sherry Gaba, LCSW As I walk this road of recovery with my loved one, I need to remind myself constantly to remember two very important words, “forgiveness” and”compassion”.

Dr. Roberta Greene Named Board Trustee for Barbara Jordan Freedom Foundation
University of Texas at Austin News
AUSTIN, Texas — Roberta Greene, Ph.D., MSW, a professor at The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work, has been named to the Barbara Jordan 2010 Charitable Trust Board of Trustees.

Va. Social Worker Pleads Guilty To Fraud
WJZ
(AP) ― A former Grayson County senior social worker has pleaded guilty to defrauding two elderly patients under her care. US Attorney Timothy Heaphy said 36-year-old Jennifer Edward Hall of Galax pleaded guilty Wednesday to bank fraud, access device fraud and conspiracy to commit access device fraud. Sentencing is set for Jan. 24 in U.S. District Court in Abingdon.

Social worker studying domestic violence finds herself becoming a victim
CultureMap
Melinda was pursuing her master’s degree in social work at the University of Houston and working at the Women’s Center when she began to notice similarities in the abuse cycles she was studying and her own relationship with her boyfriend.

The power of restorative justice
University of Texas at Austin News
The Institute for Restorative Justice and Restorative Dialogue in the Center for Social Work Research is concerned about how we, as a society, respond to the harm that comes from wrongdoing and oppressive social forces.

Fighting for life
Hamilton Spectator
But among organizations working to lower the toll, there’s still the “silo effect” — medical, social work and therapeutic communities work without adequate communication and co-ordination. A suicide-prevention conference in Hamilton this week is working to change that, looking for action strategies to prevent suicides.

Social class may impact treatment for depression
PhysOrg.com
Depression has a profound impact on an individual’s productivity. That’s particularly true among individuals in lower social classes and with lower levels of education, such as many of those in sales and support jobs, says Lydia Falconnier, assistant professor in UIC’s Jane Addams College of Social Work.

Barbara White to Step Down in August As Dean of the School of Social Work
University of Texas at Austin News
She is a former president of the 155000-member National Association of Social Workers, and was a member of the board of directors of the International Association of Schools of Social Work.

A generation gap in understanding porn of today
Mormon Times
Dan Gray, a licensed clinical social worker and director of the LifeSTAR Network based in Salt Lake City, said 40 years ago when he was in high school, a person wanting to access pornography “really had to go looking for it.”

The National Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths Endorses Second Edition of We Can Do Better: Child Abuse and Neglect Deaths in America
DigitalJournal.com
The Coalition is comprised of five national organizations — the Every Child Matters Education Fund, the National Center for Child Death Review, National Children’s Alliance, the National District Attorneys Association, and the National Association of Social Workers.

Adolescent Girls Especially Susceptible To Cutting
W*USA 9
“It’s becoming more and more common,” said Gwen Corley, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Virginia. Corley says cutting actually releases endorphins into the body, giving a temporary sense of relief.

Food stamp eligibility expands
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
“We’re happy this is finally coming into play,” said Debbie Shimizu, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers-Hawaii chapter.

‘Economic Control’ Up 40 Percent As Local Domestic Violence Cause
Falls Church News Press
Eighty percent of domestic violence victims using the Women’s Center in Vienna are now citing “financial changes” during as a key issue between them and their abuser, a number that’s risen from 40 percent in the last 18 months, said Women’s Center Psychotherapist Susan Folwell, LCSW.

Schools add healthy eating as key to student success
The Herald-Mail
Superintendent David Banks and the schools’ social worker, Gary McDaniel, have designed a strategic plan for addressing Morgan County students’ challenges.

Texas Dad Accused of Killing His 3 Kids Had History of Abuse
AOL News
A Texas man accused of shooting and killing his three children while they slept had a history of domestic violence and for years had allegedly threatened to kill himself and his wife, a social worker involved in the family’s case said.

College, alliance sponsor domestic violence prevention workshop
The Daily Citizen
Dalton State College’s School of Social Work and the Conasauga Family Violence Alliance will co-sponsor their annual domestic violence conference on Friday, Oct. 1, with the Rev. Pat Merchant as a featured speaker.

New social services commissioner takes the helm
Greenwich Post
When Mr. Barry set out for a master’s degree in social work at St. Louis University, he wanted to be a therapist. His first course, however, got him sidetracked and he hasn’t looked back. It was public policy, administration.

Nashua feeling effects of nation’s rising poverty rate
Nashua Telegraph
Eileen Brady, a social worker for the Nashua Soup Kitchen & Shelter, said her organization first noticed a bump in the need for its services in March 2008, an indicator that something bad was about to happen with the economy. Brady said the soup kitchen’s food distribution numbers have tripled since that time.

Source counseling center at Red Bank Regional High School has new director
Asbury Park Press
“One of the things that Suzanne brings is a unique blend of social work background and business acumen,” said Principal Risa Clay, who founded the Source 10 years ago. “She brings the best of both worlds to the program.”

Retired social worker joins Beaufort City Council race
Hilton Head Island Packet
Kimberlee Kolton, 62, a retired social worker who moved to the Beaufort area from Boston about three years ago, said she decided to join the race after reading that only one person — incumbent Councilwoman Donnie Beer — had filed to run for the open seats.

More refugees en route to Grand Forks
Grand Forks Herald
Dupper, who holds a master’s degree in social work, previously worked with refugee programs in Alaska and Colorado. She said the office had to scramble this spring and early summer but will be fully staffed by the start of the new fiscal year in October.

Take the Government Out of Marriage: Do It for the Children
Huffington Post (blog)
The authors (from the College of Social Work at Ohio State University and the Brookings Institution respectively) went on to outline the advantages that state-recognized marriage would confer on these children.

Remembering victims of domestic violence
Charlotte Observer
The facility is a safe haven for battered women and children. They can stay up to 45 days, but that’s flexible. Usually, the six-bedroom shelter is full. Currently it houses 21 women and children. There are two full-time employees: Cloninger and social worker Jennifer Cannon, who joined in February.

Close-up: Love of teaching leads to social work
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
When I was at the Brown School of Social Work, I knew I didn’t want to be a social worker so I studied non-profit management. I liked it and knew I wanted to work in a situation where I could put my skills to good use and work for something I believe in.

WV Social Worker of the Year
Public News Service
Gary McDaniel, named for the distinction by the West Virginia Chapter of the national Association of Social Workers, is the social worker for the seven schools in rural Morgan County, where the schools are the largest employer.

Living Life by the Tweet
Demo Dirt (subscription)
Dr. James Huysman, PsyD, LCSW, CAP, CFT, shares his valuable insights regarding recent study findings featured on demodirt.com stating the possible influence that reality makeover shows have on the self esteem and body image of teens and young adults.

Judy Postmus. Photo courtesy of Rutgers University.

Victims of economic abuse are better able to manage finances after taking a money management curriculum, according to an exploratory study from the Rutgers University School of Social Work’s Center on Violence Against Women and Children.

Abusers often use economic methods, including running up credit card debt and withholding paychecks, to control victims. Victims of domestic abuse can also be reluctant to leave because of money.

The center studied 120 women and one man who completed their “Moving Forward Through Money Management” curriculum. The curriculum gave participants more confidence in handling finances. For instance, 88 percent of participants set financial goals for themselves after taking the course.

The exploratory study highlights a trend that needs more attention, researchers said. “Ask people about abuse and economics abuse is way down on the list,” said Judy Postmus, an assistant professor at the Rutgers social work school, director of the Center on Violence Against Women and Children, and National Association of Social Workers member.

To read a press release on the study click here and to read a myCentralJersey.com article on the study click here.

To learn more about how social workers help domestic violence victims visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Domestic Violence Web page by clicking here.

Coping Skills of Military Families Focus of Research
Baylor University
In a case of students inspiring the professors, two faculty members in Baylor University’s School of Social Work came to their latest area of research partially because of how they witnessed graduate students in the program who are military spouses cope with their challenges.

Parenting Questions
Metro Weekly
As early as 2002, the NASW Delegate Assembly adopted a formal policy supporting ”second-parent adoptions in same-sex households” and stating that ”[l]egislation seeking to restrict foster care and adoption by gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people should be vigorously opposed.”

Jay Noren resigns as Wayne State president
Chicago Tribune
School of Social Work Dean Phyllis Vroom will take over as acting president until an interim president is selected. Noren was hired in August 2008 as Wayne State’s 10th president.

For Domestic Violence Victims, a Little Financial Literacy Goes a Long Way
News from Rutgers
Postmus and her colleague Sara Plummer, an instructor in the School of Social Work, examined the impact of a curriculum, Moving Forward Through Money Management, created by The Allstate Foundation’s Economics Against Abuse Program.

University of Houston’s Meghan Baker named Social Work Student of …
EurekAlert
She personifies the core values in the NASW Code of Ethics, with two values in particular standing out. The first is her dedication to service, volunteering and advocating for three distinct service organizations while undertaking a rigorous full-time dual degree and working part time.

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“I don’t think most parents go running down the path that you have an emerging addict on your hands anytime they try something,” says Jan Ligon, a member of the National Association of Social Workers.

Kameri Christy-McMullin. Photo courtesy of 4029TV.com

Employees should be aware that domestic violence in their homes or the homes of their co-workers can come into the office with tragic results, social worker Kameri Christy-McMullin said in this interview with Arkansas’ 4029TV.com.

“Oftentimes an abusive partner will call the job a lot either harass the woman while she’s at work or her colleagues and even will show up at work and interfere with her time, will prevent her from going to work,” said Christy-McMullin, DSW, an associate professor at the University of Arkansas School of Social Work.

4029TV interviewed Christy-McMullin after a recent workplace shooting in New Mexico left three people dead and four injured.

Christy-McMullin, who is a National Association of Social Workers member, said more companies have become aware that domestic violence could spill over into their premises and are posting professional security guards.

To learn more about how social workers help end domestic violence visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Web page on the issue by clicking here.

Ironically, Kelly may be a victim of the domestic violence. She was shot to death in her home on base. Her husband, Maj. Detric Kelly, 37, an assistant professor of military science at Tulane and a member of the school’s Army ROTC cadre, is a suspect.

Our sympathies to the Kelly family. To read the full nola.com article on the incident, click here.

And the more these men overestimated how common violence against women is the more likely they were to abuse their partners in the previous 90 days, the study said.

“Men who engage in violent behavior justify it in their mind by thinking it is more common and saying, ‘Most guys slap their women around so it is OK to engage in it.’ Or it could be that misperceptions about violence cause the behavior,” said Clayton Neighbors, lead author of the study.

Neighbors is  a University of Washington affiliate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and a professor of psychology at the University of Houston.

Co-authors of the study include Lyungai Mbilinyi, a research assistant professor of social work at the University of Washington; Joan Zegree, an adjunct assistant professor of social work at the University of Washington; Jeffrey Edleson, a social work professor at the University of Minnesota; and Roger Roffman, University of Washington emeritus social work professor.

To learn more about the study click here. And to find out how social workers help stop domestic violence visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Web section on domestic violence by clicking here.

Amy Coha. Photo courtesy of WCSH-6 TV.

We like  WCSH-6 TV’s coverage of a seminar in Maine that uses a play to teach future health care professionals how to detect signs of domestic violence.

One of the people putting on the play is National Association of Social Workers member Amy Coha, MSW, LCSW. Coha is clinical associate professor at the School of Social Work at the University of New England.

“We are still finding that a number of professionals are not taking the time to ask the questions,” Coha said.  “If you don’t ask the question, you will never know how many survivors you are working with.”

To learn more about how social workers help stop domestic violence visit NASW’s “Help Starts Here” Domestic Violence Web page by clicking here.