Speaker recalls social justice work
Buffalo News
Agnes Williams’ work on Native American issues and social justice as a member of the Seneca Nation goes back to the early 1970s, around the time she earned degrees in social work and Native American studies from Syracuse University and the University at Buffalo.

Opinion: New Law Helps Foster Youth to Succeed After 18
San Jose Mercury News
Sokhom Mao is a data specialist with the California Social Work Education Center at UC Berkeley, and a commissioner with the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Commission of Alameda County. She wrote this for the Contra Costa Times.

Professor considers factors behind childhood obesity
RU Daily Targum
Lenna Nepomnyaschy, a School of Social Work assistant professor, connects low-income with childhood obesity yesterday in Davison Hall on Douglass campus. Researchers have found a link between childhood obesity and father involvement among children with unmarried parents — a growing epidemic that is on the rise in the United States.

Outbreak of family tragedies
The Western News
According to many mental-health professionals, there is a stigma attached to the idea of seeking help from a professional — a therapist, counselor, clinical social worker, psychiatrist or psychologist — and is considered weak or embarrassing.

Interns help teens through unique program
Roseville Press Tribune
Now, the 23-year-old master’s student at Sacramento State said she has found her calling — social work. As part of her master’s program, Elias must devote 16 volunteer hours each week to social “field work” for hands-on experience, hours that she spends with the Roseville Police Department.

Reliance on shrinking government funds doomed Hull House
Chicago Tribune
Addams and Hull House eventually earned international reputations for public service. In recent decades, however, the association departed from Addams’ reliance on private donors and turned instead to government funding. That dependence — as much as 85 percent of its budget in recent years — along with the inability of its leadership to adapt to declining revenues eventually sealed the organization’s fate, those familiar with the association’s operations said.

Luis Zayas Appointed School of Social Work Dean at The University of Texas at …
University of Texas at Austin News
AUSTIN, Texas — Luis H. Zayas, a professor at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., has been appointed dean of the School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin.

Hunter College’s School of Social Work to Open in East Harlem
DNAinfo
Hunter College’s school of social work will celebrate the official opening of its new East Harlem location Tuesday at a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring school officials and local politicians.

School of Social Work to celebrate 100 years of giving hope and changing lives …
IUPUI Newscenter
On Monday Oct. 24th, the Indiana University School of Social Work will host a day-long celebration of its 100th anniversary. The School’s story is one that starts in June of 1911, when a letter from Indiana University President William Bryan arrived at the home of Edna Henry asking if she would be interested in a position in a new department the university was setting up: the Department of Social Service.

Through KidSafe Foundation, two South Florida women teach children to avoid …
Palm Beach Post (blog)
by Community Post Sally Berenzweig (MEd, MA) and Cherie Benjoseph (LCSW) created KidSafe Foundation to teach children ages 4-11 how to avoid bullying, stay cautious online, and be aware of abduction threats. The women bring this education through the nonprofit organization — based in Boca Raton and Coral Springs — to parents, teachers and counselors. They lecture, teach, write blog posts and have published two children’s books.

Charleston County schools get $1.2 million grant for social workers
Charleston Post Courier
Five of Charleston County’s highest-need elementary schools will be able to add a social worker to their staff rosters as a result of a $1.2 million, three-year federal grant announced this week. Charleston is one of 43 school districts nationally and one of two in South Carolina — the other is Union County — to receive an Elementary and Secondary School Counseling grant from the U.S. Department of Education to expand or establish counseling programs.

Holding on to hope: Young and unemployed in America
CNN
Bridget Coyle wants to be a social worker, but an underwhelming job market and devastating national unemployment rate are making it difficult. Despite this, she remains optimistic. “I’m hopeful because I see a lot of opportunity (for me), and it’s the only option I have,” the 24-year-old college graduate said. “I don’t want to be hopeless, because then I’ll be stagnant. I need to keep hope in the back of my mind so that I don’t stop moving forward.”

Did Berkeley’s ‘racist’ bake sale go too far?
Christian Science Monitor
To some, the bake sale represented a backward view. The satire “is rooted in the historical and racial contract fabric of white supremacy and the decline of whiteness in a continuous browning society,” says Chad Dion Lassiter, president of Black Men at Penn at the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder: Interview with Scott Granet, LCSW
LovetoKnow.com
How often do you or a loved one look in the mirror and think, “Ugh…I am so fat!”…”Look at this ugly nose!”…”I am just not pretty at all.”? These are passing thoughts for some people. For others, these thoughts linger and begin to affect them mentally, emotionally, and even physically. These individuals may actually suffer from body dysmorphic disorder(BDD). Get an inside look at this disorder so you can understand what you or a loved one may be struggling with inside.

Putting families in emergency shelters in hotel rooms can cost an average of $2,400 a month. So Patrick is looking at other options.

Under his proposal the state would hire 120 social workers,  housing specialists, and other contractors to use about a third of the state’s emergency assistance budget to help families avoid eviction or cover the cost of housing families in temporary apartments.  

SocialWorkersSpeak.org commends the Patrick administration is considering hiring social workers to help address the state’s homeless problem.

To get an example of how social workers help the homeless click here to read “Family Safety Real Life Stories — From Homelessness to Independent Living,” an article posted on the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” consumer Website.

Slow down when talking to the elderly
UPI.com
Rebecca Axline, a clinical social worker with the Nantz National Alzheimer Center in Houston, says as the number of elderly with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia increases so do the number of caregivers. Caregivers are often advised to take time to sleep seven to eight hours, eat a healthy diet, build a support team and try to find time to re-energize.

Grieving Detroit mom works to build her baby’s connection to her late husband
Detroit Free Press
Laurie Epstein Kach, a clinical social worker who has been in the profession for almost 30 years, says times have changed drastically from when children were to be seen and not heard. If parents want to bolster a better relationship with their children, they must be open to hearing their children and telling them their feelings are valid.

Special training helps city police respond safely to mental health emergencies
TheDay.com
She dialed, said she needed help with crisis intervention, and 10 minutes later two cruisers pulled up, minus the lights and sirens but accompanied by a social worker. “It was like, a traveling social worker? Social workers make house calls?”

Palliative care focuses on life
Lansing State Journal
Patient navigators or social workers—These experts can help make sure that cancer patients and others don’t get lost in the system, receive timely follow-up tests and get their results quickly.

VA: In southwest Va., as more need help, aid organization has less to give
Washington Post
At a time of such high demand, poverty-assistance programs across the country are facing a financial crisis of their own. Hancock’s organization, which totals four employees in a rundown, two-story house, is almost out of money. Local businesses that once donated thousands each month have yet to donate a single dollar this year. As the national deficit continues to skyrocket, federal and state governments are proposing the most severe budget cuts to social service programs in decades, threatening to reduce spending by 50 percent or more.

Tips for Overcoming Online Gaming
Associated Content
To help understand what type of impact online gaming can have on someone’s overall life and for tips on overcoming online gaming, I have interviewed therapist Mike Langlois, LICSW.

Caring for the caregiver: Peer Counseling Program offers help
Naples Daily News
A licensed clinical social worker, she and her husband Norm Johnston took care of her father Ivan Escott, Jr. for five years as he dealt with Parkinson’s disease and ultimately, dementia. “I wasn’t prepared for it,” says Escott.

Incest Survivor Credits Treatment For Recovery
KMGH Denver
“Treatment interrupts the cycle of child abuse by helping children be aware of what’s happening to them and being able to talk about it,” said Diane Baird, a licensed clinical social worker at the Kempe Center.

Study Finds Keys To Working With Latino Church To Fight Domestic Abuse
WebWire (press release)
The study, “Latino Church Leaders and Domestic Violence: Attitudes and Knowledge,” was co-authored by Dr. Tina Hancock, professor of social work at NC State, and Dr. Andrew Behnke, assistant professor of family and consumer sciences at NC State.

A record number of children have been placed in the care of the Hancock County Department of Human Services because of the lingering stress on families from Hurricane Katrina and a methamphetamine drug epidemic, the article said.

It has been difficult to find qualified social workers because of low pay, high caseloads and the stress associated with the job, according to Terry Latham, director of Hope Haven Children’s Service. Hope Haven Children’s Services is a nonprofit that supports DHS.

The county needs 15 social workers but has less than half that number. It also has just 10 foster families and needs at least 20 more, the article said.

To learn more about how social workers help families in crisis, visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Kids & Families Web page by clicking here.

Special-needs teens paired with peers to help communication
Westport-News
Three current clients with Asperger’s syndrome — a milder form of autism characterized by social isolation and impairments in both verbal and nonverbal communications — are paired with three volunteers, said Hogan, a licensed clinical social worker.

O’Malley gives shout out to Prince George’s job-seeker
Washington Post
Logan, a social worker, turned to one of the state’s “One Stop Centers” for guidance when she lost her job. “After 13 months of unemployment, she landed a new job which pays more than the one she lost. … This is what it’s all about,” O’Malley said during his remarks, prompting applause for Logan from the audience of state lawmakers and other elected officials.

DADT repeal strong beginning, but not good enough, panel says
Daily Trojan Online
About 40 people listened to experts discuss the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in a panel held by the Queer and Ally Student Alliance and the School of Social Work Rainbow Alliance on Thursday night.

Just plain mean: Bullying isn’t only a boy thing
Peoria Journal Star
 ”I probably end up seeing more of the victims of bullying (than the bullies themselves) – and it is girls bullying,” said Kellie Branch-Dircks, a licensed clinical social worker at Proctor Hospital’s Counseling Center.

Beverly Hills Counts Homeless Population
The Beverly Hills Courier
Human Services Administrator James R. Latta, LCSW, attributed the decrease to the ongoing placement services of the City’s homeless outreach team and whether or not the area’s food kitchens offered meals that day.

Jennifer Kingsley Neighbors: Schuyler students honored by Rotary
Elmira Star-Gazette
She plans to study social work at Keuka College after graduation.

A local woman reinvents herself with a new business that focuses on helping people
WXYZ
“For twenty-five years I’ve been working in social work and have been a trainer in social services and private practice,” Jiordano said.

Study published on how local authorities work with domestically abusive fathers
Family Law Week
The Charity Family Rights Group has published findings from the first research study in the UK which specifically examines how social workers work with fathers who are domestically abusive.

Munro interim report published
Family Law Week
In the view of Professor Munro, the amount of prescription and bureaucracy currently in the system has meant social workers are not able to do the jobs they came into the profession to do.

Illegal immigrant’s ouster from Isle hospital raises questions
Houston Chronicle
“I even asked the social worker, where I can go, because a social worker is supposed to help people,” Aguillon recalled. “She said nowhere.

Research aims to help stressed soldiers cope
Baylor University The Lariat Online
It spans over many areas of research, including Baylor’s School of Social Work, family and consumer sciences department, and psychology and neuroscience department, as well as the Center for Excellence at the Central Texas VA and the Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood.

A D.C. family works to reunify, in and out of court
The Washington Post
Danielle Pleasant knows this is her last shot. Her five children have been in and out of foster care for more than a decade, as Pleasant struggled to overcome addiction, mental illness, HIV and her own parental shortcomings.

Do It Anyway: The Top Ten Ways that the Next Generation is Shifting Activism
Huffington Post (blog)
Whether social worker, political strategist, social issue filmmaker, or community organizer, we are all re-humanizers.

$1.5 million grant to teach U of L students how to ease pain, comfort dying
Louisville Courier-Journal
A $1.5 million National Institutes of Health grant to the University of Louisville — announced Wednesday at a press conference — is designed to teach future doctors, nurses, social workers and clinical pastoral care professionals how to provide that type of “palliative” care, so that someday every cancer patient can receive it.

Celebrations as Hull House Museum reopens
ABC7Chicago.com
It marks the grand opening of a building that was once Jane Addams’ home and is now a tribute to her pioneering social work.

Popular lunchtime lecture series continues for 15th year
Washington University Record
Pollak has been lead organizer of the series for the past 14 years. The co-organizer is Michael W. Sherraden, PhD, the Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development and director of the Center for Social Development at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work.

USC partners with Temecula Valley Unified to help military families
Southwest Riverside News Network
Three interns will be supervised and mentored by a field instructor from the USC School of Social Work under a graduate-level military social work specialization with the Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans and Military Families, according to a staff presentation.

Lauren Shapiro, director of Brooklyn Family Defense Project.

Cheers to WYNC Radio in New York City for their story on the Brooklyn Family Defense Project, a team of social workers and lawyers who help parents accused of neglect and abuse regain custody of their children.

Many news articles focus on the role of social workers in removing children from homes. This one highlights the often unnoticed role of social workers in reuniting families and strengthening them.

For more on how social workers help families, visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Kids & Families Web page.

Lisa Furtkamp. Photo courtesy of Branson Tri-Lakes News.

Thanks to the Branson Tri-Lakes News in Missouri for this article on a Christmas Assistance Program started by National Association of Social Workers member Lisa Furtkamp.

The program provides clothing, shoes, toys and other items to needy families. The article said the program will serve 294 families in the Branson School District this year, up from 104 in 1997.

Despite the increased need Furtkamp, who is a school district social worker, said the program manages to get enough donations. “The community really does step up,” she said.

For more information on this issue, visit NASW’s “Help Starts Here” Schools and Communities Web page.

The current recession is proving just how distressed the system is, the writers said. More families are relying on unemployment insurance and food stamps to ride out the economic storm because TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), the new name for welfare, is no longer as available.

The authors wrote:

“Why the huge difference between unemployment insurance and food stamp usage and welfare caseloads? People have a legal right to food stamps if they meet the statutory requirements, but since 1996 there has been no legal right to cash assistance. And so welfare, generally speaking, has not cushioned the impact of the recession.”

For more information on the National Association of Social Workers’ position on this welfare and other issues read “Promoting Economic Security Through Social Welfare Legislation,” policy briefs prepared by NASW’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Economic Security. And to find out what legislation NASW is currently pushing visit its Advocacy Web page.

Susan Parish

The recession  is adding a greater financial burden to some of our nation’s most vulnerable families — those with disabled children.

More than a quarter of low-income families are spending three percent of their total household income on their disabled children’s health care needs, according to a study from social work researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. Read the full story here.

That adds up to about $1,200 a year for a family of four living at the federal poverty level, said Susan Parish, Ph.D., an associate professor at the UNC School of Social Work and lead study investigator. That may not sound like much, but is a big expense for poorer families, she said.

“The current recession makes the situation for families much worse,” said Parish, who is a member of the National Association of Social Workers. ” We must consider what families are forgoing if they are spending such a high proportion of their income on their children.”

Some may be struggling to pay for housing and food, researchers said.

To find out how social workers help people with disabilities visit the NASW’s “Help Starts Here” Disabilities Web page.

These tasks include doing home visits, reducing child abuse incidents, and helping families gain economic security. Head warns this is the wrong way to go and Congress could battle these problems by boosting spending on social services:

“Congress could address human services disparities more effectively if it adequately funded social work–but trying to subcontract social work through the health care system, creating a two-tiered system where nurses act like social workers but don’t have the power or the training to do the job right, is a recipe for disaster. It’s not even an efficient use of funds, when we consider the fact that nurses make substantially more money, on average, than social workers (an average of +/-$42,000/year versus +/-$33,000/year).”

The National Association of Social Workers is also urging Congress pass the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act (H.R. 795 and S. 686). The bill would help prevent a pending shortage of trained social workers.

Many seriously ill women are abandoned by men.

New York Times health blogger Tara Parker-Pope put a spotlight on a troubling trend in a recent article. When women get long-term illnesses, their mates are more likely to abandon them.

There is scientific data to support this. Women who were told they had a serious illness were seven times more likely to become separated or divorced than men, according to a report published in the journal Cancer.

Social workers are not surprised. Many have been helping families address this issue for years. Social Workers Speak! gathered some experts in our field to talk about this issue, how they handle it in their practices, and what women can do to overcome the pain of abandonment.

The experts are Melanie Barton, LCSW, Ed.D, who was in the process of a divorce before being treated for colon cancer; and Maribel Quiala, MSW, LCSW, an expert on Latino and immigrant families who often appears on local and national television to discuss mental health, alcohol abuse and other issues.

Q: The New York Times article cited a study that said husbands are seven times more likely to separate or divorce from wives who are seriously ill. What is it about our culture that makes men less likely to take the caretaker role than women?

Barton: Many men do not deal well with women being emotionally, financially, or physically dependent on them even though they may have unconsciously fostered it. They want it, encourage it, but then resent it. The husband may fear the wife will outgrow her need to depend on him.  He may then get angry when the wife tries to assert her independence believing it means the husband is no longer needed and that she will find someone else to replace him. I often see men starting affairs when their wives get cancer.  Men divert all that painful emotion into something to distract them that feels good.

Quiala: Men become fearful and are at times unable to handle the unknown. Women are better caregivers because many times they have to be more nurturing, loving and caring. Few people have a plan for dealing with diseases and men are less organized for such occurrences. Many times cancer patients withdraw from those around them, even those that love them. If the relationship is shaky the (healthy) partner will also create greater resistance and find this is their exit out of a “dysfunctional relationship.”

What can we do to reverse this troubling trend?

Quiala: We live in an emotionally bankrupt society and everyone is disposable. We should try to humanize our society more, increasing our compassion for others and placing true value in what is really vital (which is each other) and not material things. If we can achieve these first steps we might begin to shift the paradigm of our emotionally bankrupt society.

Barton: In our culture we do not normally allow males to express their emotions unless it is lust, anger, or some other negative feature.  To combat this programming we need to instruct both our male and female children that it is healthy to discuss feelings without needing to violently display them.  We need to give children an opportunity to see illness not as a weakness, but a fact of life.  We need to teach boys and girls how to be self-sufficient learning to do things like cooking, cleaning, ironing, sewing on a button, and balancing a checkbook. As married people we need to talk about how we will handle situations when one of the couple gets ill.

Q: Are you dealing with this issue in your personal life or practice? How are you helping clients deal with this issue?

Barton: Yes, seven weeks after I separated from my spouse of 39 years I was diagnosed with colon cancer.  Prior to going on medical disability, I was helping clients deal with the issue in relation to my treating them while going through a divorce.  I let them know I have the tools to make a marriage work and the tools are valid, but you have to have people who are willing to use them.  Sometimes the tools let you know that ending something that is unhealthy for both parties is the most humane thing you can do.

Quiala: In therapy I empower clients, helping them gain control or regain control and assisting them in finding the internal courage to move forward and fight. Everyone is courageous. However, they lose sight of that when they are diagnosed with disease. I assist them with relaxation techniques, controlling what they can in their lives such as health care, increasing their ability to allow others to help them, and removing the guilt of feeling like they are a burden. Placing oneself first is foremost in order to heal. I also help them in finding their higher power, whether through religion or spiritual practice.

Q: Is it difficult for women to deal with serious illnesses such as cancer and lupus and build a new life after separation and divorce? What advice can you give them?

Quiala: Yes, after a traumatic disease and journey to heal having to rebuild a life is difficult but not impossible. Patients need to talk about and (resolve issues) with the healthy spouse in a mutually respectful and understanding manner. Thoughout the journey many times women come to realize that they are able to make remarkable transitions and transformation for the better. One patient told me “I realized that although I would love to heal the cancer permanently from my body, also wanted to heal the many insecurities I had in my marriage that had caused me to live such a sheltered, dysfunctional relationship.”

Q: Is this issue a matter of life and death? In other words, is there evidence that seriously ill patients do better physically when they are in a loving environment?

Quiala: Many of the techniques not widely evaluated are at times not recognized as potentially powerful therapeutic interventions. Simply keeping company with a patient who is in distress can many times be a very powerful intervention. Gently touching, massaging the patient’s hands and feet and anointing their skin with oils can be a very soothing intervention.

Barton: According to Steven Muse in a Yale University School of Medicine study of people undergoing coronary angiography, atherosclerosis (a waxy buildup in blood vessels) significantly decreased  for persons who felt solved and supported when compared to those who did not, even after other risk factors had been controlled, including age and sex. Most interestingly of all, researchers discovered that sharing feelings by way of writing in a journal even when no other person was actually present had important physical benefits.

For more information on how social workers guide families that need mental and health care, visit the National Association of Social Workers Web site on Health and ”Help Starts Here” Web site on Health and Wellness.

Victoria Johannes, courtesy of the St. Cloud Times.

Kudos to the St. Cloud Times for its story on an innovative approach social workers in some Minnesota counties are using to keep children in homes. Instead of removing mistreated children from homes, social workers develop a plan with the family to keep their offspring safe. Social workers also recruit a network of relatives, friends, neighbors and acquaintances to support the families and ensure they are following the plan.

“We’re seeing that by involving parents and their extended support early in the case that we’re able to allow the family to make the important ongoing decisions for the kids, rather than having judges make decisions for the kids.” — Social Service Supervisor Victoria Johannes

Q: Should social service departments in other parts of the country adopt a similar strategy to reduce the number of children placed in foster care? Please leave your comments below.

A Massachusetts social workers union overwhelmingly voted no confidence in Department of Children and Families Commissioner Anthony “Angelo” McClain, according to a  Boston Globe article. McClain, a social worker who once lived on a Texas ranch for troubled teenagers, says the agency is making progress but he must become a better communicator. However, social workers say he is not in step with the needs of families and children or the work they do.

QUESTION: Would any NASW members in Massachusetts like to give us their perspective on this dispute? Please leave comments below and make them anonymous if you wish:

Christina Garris. Photo by Shamus Ian Fatzinger, Fairfax County Times

Kudos to Washington Post for taking time to describe the work social workers do to help hungry families. The article “Pantry shelves becoming bare while needs increase” did the usual take on the bad economy and the rising numbers of families seeking food assistance. What set this article apart was that it took the time to mention the role of social workers in this process.

“Families and individuals are referred by county social workers to the program, (Our Daily Bread Food Organizer) Christina Garris said. Once their four-month service period is over, families go back to their social worker for an additional referral if they need more help from the pantry.”