The article used the term social worker and caseworker to describe Cuyahoga County officials who monitored the family and decided to place him in foster care.

The child is severely obese and in danger of developing hypertension or diabetes. This is the first time state officials recall a child has been put in foster care for purely weight-related issue.

To learn more about how social workers help children overcome life’s hurdles visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Kids & Families Website by clicking here. Social workers also help clients live healthier lifestyles. To learn more visit the “Help Starts Here” Health & Wellness Website by clicking here.

Jobs Act has elements all can support
Idaho Press-Tribune
“It is time for Idaho’s congressional delegation to come together with the Democrats in Congress and support passage of the Jobs Act.” —Delmar Stone is the executive director for the Idaho Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.

Social workers laid off by Jackson Public Schools ask district not to privatize jobs
The Jackson Citizen Patriot – MLive.com
Kathryn Fortune-Gallagher, who was a social worker at Bennett Elementary School, said if the district hires social workers who work for a company the positions would become a revolving door because the workers will always be looking for something better and not be “invested in the district.”

Combat veterans invited to join new Tahlequah support group
Cherokee Phoenix
Tulsa Vet Center Social Worker Matthew Tiger works with combat veterans and their families to help these veterans readjust. He is currently forming a new combat veterans’ support group in Tahlequah and is asking veterans to contact him.

The main lesson from a down job market? Stay in school. As long as you can.
The Washington Post
Sadly, the degrees in least demand — and that pay the least — lead to jobs that help other people the most. Counseling, psychology and social work are among these.

After Abduction of 8 Children, Sense That Mother Was Desperate
The New York Times
“Imagine if someone took your children away from you,” Forestdale’s executive director, Anstiss Agnew, said Wednesday from the leafy campus where the abduction took place. “What would you do to get those children back?”

Growing service offers help to those who struggle
Bucyrus Telegraph Forum
Kenzie Klamfoth, Licensed Social Worker, front; Barb Wirebaugh, Licensed Independent Social Worker and Supervisor; and Jean Ollis, Licensed Independent Social Worker, in front of Affinity HealthWorks’ new location at 106 E. Warren St. in Bucyrus.

Social Work advisory board establishes endowment to support family violence …
CisionWire (press release)
ARLINGTON — The UT Arlington School of Social Work Advisory Council has created a new, $250000 endowed professorship focused on issues of family violence in honor of the Arlington police officer and University alumna who was killed in the line of duty last year.

UPDATE: Atlanta Hawks’ Etan Thomas, Former Mayor Wilson Goode to Serve on Juvenile Justice Panel
PRLog
With an alarming number of African American youth ensnared in the juvenile justice system, U.S. Rep. Edolphus “Ed” Towns (NY-10) has convened a diverse group of leaders to explore solutions to this growing crisis. Entitled, “An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Re-entry Programs,” the panel will explore the juvenile justice system in America at a time when critics say it neither reforms young offenders nor protects the public.

Talking to Kids about Cancer
Newark Post
By Elizabeth Wood, LCSW, ACSW [Editor's note: Elizabeth Wood is a Clinical Social Worker for the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/BBMT at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children.] Chances are you know someone who has had cancer, but when your own family is affected, the word cancer takes on a new meaning — one that can feel personal and frightening. Cancer can be especially confusing to children who may be coping with a family member’s diagnosis or their own. 

Local district talks about bullying
WANE
On Friday, NewsChannel 15 spoke with a social worker for Southwest Allen County Schools about how that district is handling the issue. Anita Gross, a social worker for the district for 22 years, said she hasn’t seen a dramatic increase in bullying over the past few years.

Statehouse Live; About 250 people rally against Brownback policies
Lawrence Journal World
McComas, a social worker, and Tamara Werth, a psychologist from Lawrence, organized the event to protest recent Brownback decisions. They formed a group called Kansans United in Voice & Spirit and said they hoped the rally would initiate local chapters across the state.

Separated in Foster Care, Siblings Reunite in Camp
NYTimes
Camp to Belong, a nonprofit organization that reunites siblings separated in foster care, recently opened its first camp in New York on the grounds of YMCA Camp Chingachgook in Kattskill Bay. The organization was founded in 1995 in Las Vegas by Lynn Price, a former foster child who was separated from her sister growing up. It seeks to create healthy sibling relationships for foster children, who often have difficult family lives.

Snyder’s Health Goals Hard to Swallow for Michiganders Struggling …
WILX-TV
“It’s a well-intended vision. it’s missing guts and substance,” said Maxine Thome, executive director of Michigan’s National Association of Social Workers. “Everyday, we have people living in the woods behind us. We have people going though the trash here to find food, do those people have time to go to the gym to work out or to lose weight or to get healthy nutrition?” she asked.

Behind the poverty numbers: real lives, real pain
The Associated Press
Instead, she was standing in line at a Manhattan food pantry, where hundreds of people waited patiently to fill suitcases with groceries or meet with a social worker. Going on a year without a job, Gray likes to rise early and ride the subway down from the Bronx to visit the West Side Campaign Against Hunger, New York’s largest food pantry, which is tucked inside a church basement.

Fire victims face tough emotions
Austin American-Statesman
The coming weeks, months and even years will be an emotional struggle for many people, said Michael Gianotti, branch chair of the National Association of Social Workers-Texas Chapter. Gianotti, who has helped coordinate social workers volunteering in Bastrop County, said that right now, people are dealing with a range of emotions: anger, sadness, fear, anxiety.

WorkWise: Button-pushing and responsibility at work
The Modesto Bee
Work that brings stress, impossible demands, anxiety over job security and poor management creates a negative environment, even when co-workers are well-intentioned, according to Karol Ward, a licensed clinical social worker in private practice in New York City.

Wendy Logan holds a scrapbook of her foster family. Photo by Ed Murray of the Star Ledger.

Former foster child and social work grad student Wendy Logan said a judge should have allowed her to speak about whether she should remain with her drug addicted birth mother, according to this article on NJ.com.

However, the judge told then 13-year-old Logan to sit outside in the hall in a courthouse in Camden, N.J. The judge then ordered Logan to go to counseling with her mother. That counseling was unsuccessful and Logan stayed in foster homes.

“Nobody ever heard me or asked me to come into court or asked my opinions. I felt really devastated,” said Logan, 25, who attends the University of Pennsylvania.

Child advocates are pushing for children to be allowed in family court proceedings, the article said. Do you agree?

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

Riley’s ‘code lavender’ eases stress of caring for very ill kids
Indianapolis Star
The past year has been tough for the social work department at Riley Hospital for Children. Trauma cases have been more acute, child deaths even more heartbreaking. Then, the department experienced a “code lavender” — part coffee klatch, part employee appreciation and all compassionate presence.

Some of those hurt most by the Great Recession spend time helping others
San Jose Mercury News
“I’m sitting here with a master’s degree in social work and not using my skills. I wanted to keep them sharp.” The sharpening stone she was seeking turned out to be the homeless drop-in center on San Jose’s Commercial Street, tucked in among plumbing-supply stores and electrician shops.

Matt Noel’s family unprepared for his sudden death, but fond …
Altoona Mirror
“There is a special component when an identical twin dies,” Paula Pimentel, a licensed clinical social worker with a practice in Altoona, said. “It’s like a telepathic connection when they’re identical. The surviving twin feels there’s a piece of them missing.”

Grand Jury to CPS: Missed cases should trigger policy review
The Union of Grass Valley
In a report released on its website, Nevada County’s Grand Jury reported a Child Protective Services social worker failed to enter in one case of alleged child abuse into a state computer system, and subsequently failed to do a follow-up investigation on the case.

Hear from our social workers
Idaho Press-Tribune
As a school social worker in Blaine County, I find that people sometimes feel like my position is a luxury. Unfortunately, our county frequently has the highest rates in the state for teen drug and alcohol abuse and suicide attempts. One of my primary roles is working with families and community organizations to prevent or reduce these negative outcomes for our youth.

Lost in Cyber Space: Does Your Teen Prefer Cyber Reality to Real Life?
Patch.com
Toni Nagel-Smith, a Katonah-based licensed clinical social worker at Courtyard Nutrition & Therapy Associates, said this issue surfaces again and again with her clients. “I see this (heightened attachment to electronics) to some extent with every child I see,” Nagel-Smith said.

Foster Care Gets an Overhaul
Wall Street Journal
On the heels of hiring about 50 social workers and opening a new community center last month, Alameda is preparing a job-placement program for some of its foster-care kids who have become too old for the system. The new program is part of an expansion that began in 2007 when the county started to overhaul the operation by questioning established ways foster care operates.

Department ‘crippled’ by staff shortage: DA
Times LIVE
“There are 303 vacancies for social workers out of 1 115 posts (27%) and 46 nurse vacancies (31%) out of 147 nursing posts,” Democratic Alliance social development spokeswoman Rika Kruger said in a statement. “This is resulting in severely negative consequences for the children and the elderly who are dependent on state support.”

The stakes in school budget cuts
Ct Post
In this plan, the district will cut 20 social workers. This will affect students who receive individualized education plans, special education services, and behavior plans, as well as those who have other social and emotional needs (including bullying!).

The human touch
University of Texas at Austin News
Helena Harvie has one more year before she receives her master’s degree in social work. While living in San Diego, she became close to several US Navy families and has wanted to work with the military ever since. She believes a social worker can help in every aspect of a veteran’s life — from physical to emotional needs.

Pain of program cuts felt at school board finance hearings
Ct Post
The level of frustration felt by school employees upon hearing the damage $18 million in program cuts will have on the school district next year can probably best be summed up by Susan Smith, director of social work. “There will be 1,800 students not seen,” Smith said. Despite whatever issues they face on a daily basis at home, they and their parents are simply going to have to suck it up, she said, adding she felt like crying.  

New commission will review juvenile facilities
West Virginia Record
State Supreme Court Chief Justice Margaret Workman announced Monday the creation of the Adjudicated Juvenile Rehabilitation Review Commission to investigate juvenile justice facilities and procedures in the state. The commission was established to look into the Feb. 23, 2009 death of Benjamin Hill at the Industrial Home for Youth in Salem, the state’s only maximum security correctional facility for juveniles, and the Honey Rubenstein Center in Davis.

Movie Poster

Social workers who watched an advance copy of “Field of Vision” said NBC’s made-for-television movie, which aired on June 11, accurately depicts bullying and the plight of foster children and could encourage young people to speak out against mistreatment of others.

“I believe it could influence youth to be more tolerant,” said David Shrank, MSW, who has worked with young children in the past but is currently an integrated case manager for the mentally ill in Trenton, NJ. “The movie was fairly accurate in showing the issues faced by a teen that has been in foster care.”

Despite generally positive feedback there was some criticism of the film.

Margaret Lorenz, MSW, a social worker from Floral Park, NY who has worked in schools for 15 years, said the characters in “Field of Vision” were “hokey” and the clichéd plot would turn off her middle school students.

“I did not like the movie — not at all,” she said.

“Field of Vision” is the latest in a series of Family Movie Night Films sponsored by Proctor & Gamble and Walmart and supported by Moms4FamilyTV.

 Social workers are some of the nation’s leading experts on bullying and foster care. Officials at Moms4FamilyTV reached out to the National Association of Social Workers to get social workers’ opinions on the film.

“Field of Vision” centers around Corey (actor Joe Adler), a shy yet smart foster child who must adjust to a new town and school, and Tyler McFarland (Tony Oller), the popular captain and quarterback of a high school football team on the cusp of winning the state championship.

Corey (Joe Adler), right, is assaulted by bully Nick Burris (Dane Davenport). Scene from movie.

Corey, who keeps a cherished photo of his dead mother with him at all times, joins the football team but is soon bullied by some of his teammates. Tyler must decide whether to keep silent or report the bullying and jeopardize his team’s championship bid.

Tyler’s mother Jody (Faith Lord), who is also the high school counselor, tries to help Corey acclimate to his new environment, learn more about his deceased mother, and find the birth father he never knew. And Tyler’s little sister Lucy (Alyssa Shafer) has a magical video camera that shows images that confirm Corey is being bullied and offer hints to where Corey can find his father.

“I loved the movie,” said Artan Hughes, MSW, a school social worker from Detroit. “It started out slow and I was confused about the video camera but when things started picking up I was on the edge of my seat to see what was going to happen next.”

 Francine Parker, LMSW, a certified school social work specialist from Hutchinson, KS, said some of the scenes in the movie of family members kissing each other, eating together, and reading at bedtime were a bit Pollyannaish. Still, it was wise for filmmakers to include the scenes to show young people what family relationships can be like, she said.

Parker said children will also get a better picture of what it is like to be a foster child who may be grieving a dead parent and absent siblings and compelled to live in the homes of strangers in unfamiliar communities.

Tyler (Tony Oller) in a scene from "Field of Vision.'

“Youth may see they take their family relationships for granted,” Parker said.

Lois Swearington, MSW, just ended her master’s degree internship at two schools in Los Angeles Unified School District 8. Bullying was also the subject of her research proposal this past year, she said.

Swearington said the use of football in the film is a good way to draw in young people, especially middle school children. She also said Tyler’s decision to do what is morally right or what is best for self is a good lesson for children, although Lorenz said Tyler’s character is so “heroic” it would be difficult for anyone to believe he was conflicted about helping Corey.

 ”I think it was a great concept because that is something that teens will not only be faced with in school but as they enter the work field as they get older,” Swearington said. “This seems like a great family movie that can start conversation in small groups or classrooms.”

Two National Association of Social Work staffers who reviewed the movie, Bekki Ow-Arhus, MSW, LICSW, and Kamiilah Omari, MSW, LLMSW, also thought the portrayal of bullying was accurate. However, they had serious concerns about the actions of Jody, the school counselor and mother of Tyler and Lucy.

 Jody actions may have violated ethical and regulatory rules in some states, they said. These violations included discussing Corey’s case with her family, talking to Corey about his foster care status and deceased mother in a hallway where other students could hear, and independently searching for Corey’s birth father without consulting the courts or a social worker who may have handled his foster care case.

 ”She had huge confidentiality issues,” Ow-Arhus said. “All that private detective stuff was inappropriate.”

“If they are going to truly portray the reality of school personnel having to deal with a foster child and finding out information about biological parents and connecting them to biological parents, they have to connect to that system (social workers and the courts),” Omari said. “That is not optional.”

The filmmakers could have gotten around this problem by having Jody mention that she consulted with authorities before attempting to connect Corey with his birth father, Ow-Arhus and Omari said. Still, the two social workers liked the movie and thought it was uplifting and educational.

“Corey was dealing with what a lot of foster kids or kids who have lost a parent deal with — grief and loss,” Omari said.

“It was an interesting movie and I liked the fantasy camera,” Ow-Arhus said.

To watch the “Field of Dreams” trailer click here.

Social workers play a vital role in helping young people overcome life’s hurdles. To learn more visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Kids & Families Web page by clicking here. NASW has also taken a strong stand against bullying. To read more about NASW’s position, click here.

A child's riding toy sits in front of the Akron home where the meth lab exploded. Photo courtesy of Ohio.com.

In April social workers took three children from a home in Akron, Ohio less than two hours before a methamphetamine lab in the house exploded, according to this article in Ohio.com.

Social workers had been called to investigate child neglect in the home. They found the house filthy and the mother admitted on a second visit she was a drug user. The mother also told them a man lived in a basement.

The social workers, who were also described as caseworkers in the article, along with their supervisor determined the children should be put in foster care. One was placed with a relative and the two with a foster family.

Ninety minutes later the meth lab in the home exploded, burning two individuals in the home. One man was treated and released from the hospital. The mother was arrested this month on related charges.

“‘Sadly this kind of home environment is not atypical of the situations we see,” said Summit County Children Services intake director Sushila Moore.

Cheers to Ohio.com for running an article about the life-saving work social workers do!

To learn more about how social workers keep children out of harm’s way click here to visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Kids & Families Website.

Mariah Carey visited by social worker, Nick Cannon says
Washington Post (blog)
(Frazer Harrison – Getty Images) Nick Cannon said a social worker visited new mom Mariah Carey in the hospital this week over allegations of drug use and drinking. On Thursday’s “Piers Morgan Tonight ,” Cannon said someone called child protective services after Carey followed a nurse’s suggestion to drink a small amount of dark beer to help with breast-feeding.

Dad gets college degree to help soldiers after his son dies in Iraq
KWCH
What made sense was to go back to school full time and get a master’s degree in social work. “The first month my brain almost exploded because I hadn’t studied or read that much in a number of years.”

For House Speaker Boehner at commencement address, scrutiny of Catholic charity
Washington Post
Doing so defied the Catholic church’s teachings, she said, and will hurt the people she hopes to help with her newly minted master’s degree in social work. “His policies reflect different values than the values of social work professionals, which are to help people who are poor, vulnerable and repressed,” Jamison said.

Phoenix VA Medical Center aide counsels sexually abused
Arizona Republic
15, 2011 12:00 AM For the past four years, a full-time social worker at Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Phoenix has been helping men and women who were sexually abused, harassed or assaulted in the armed forces.

Troops seek help for military sexual trauma
USA Today
The problem is so large that the Phoenix VA Medical Center has hired a full-time social worker who does nothing but provide individual counseling and support groups for sexual trauma victims. Social worker Judith Orosz said anger, anxiety, depression and an inability to hold a job are typical among those who seek help.

New ‘Bridges Out of Poverty’ program to help Poconos poor
Pocono Record
Keith R. Stevenson/Pocono Record Monroe County social workers hope a new program will help the area’s poor cross over to a better lifestyle. “Bridges Out of Poverty,” part one of a three-part workshop that studies the effects of poverty and how to deal with them, was held for the first time in Monroe County on Thursday.

Brinkley uses lockout to earn degree
Minneapolis Star Tribune (blog)
Brinkley accomplished his goal when he graduated last weekend with a degree in African-American Studies with a concentration in social work. Brinkley took part in the graduation ceremony held in South Carolina’s basketball arena.

Career change can do a number on many relationships
MSNBC.com
So how do these shifts manifest themselves in relationship problems? Karol Ward, a licensed psychotherapist and author of “Worried Sick: Break Free from Chronic Worry to Achieve Mental & Physical Health” offered a list of the reasons career changes can lead to divorce.

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.”

Curtis McMillen. Photo courtesy of Washington University in St. Louis.

University of Washington in St. Louis social work professor Curtis McMillen, DSW, is quoted extensively in this stltoday.com article about an epidemic of pregnancies among foster children who are in or just aged out of the foster care system.

McMillen completed a study on the issue in 2005. That study examined 400 Missouri female foster children aged 17 to 19.

At age 17 more than one out of five reported having a baby or being pregnant at one time. By the age of 19 that figure had climbed to 53 percent.

“It’s sort of known about but rarely talked about in a public forum in Missouri,” McMillen said.

Missouri authorities are taking a more active approach to the problem. For instance, the Washington University School of Medicine’s teen outreach medical clinic got a $2 million federal grant to do a 5-year program to prevent pregnancy among foster children.

To learn more about how social workers help, visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Adoptions and Foster Care Web page by clicking here.

Virginia Tech point guard Erick Green. Photo courtesy of the Roanoke Times.

Cheers to the Roanoke Times in Virginia for this article on Erick Green, a point guard for the Virginia Tech basketball team.

Why does SocialWorkersSpeak.org like this article? Green is the son of Tami, a social work supervisor for the Frederick County Department of Social Services, and Erick Green Sr., a parole officer.

Erick and Tami Green have been foster parents for 13 youth and set an example for Erick Jr. of offering compassion and shelter to others.

 ”All kids just want a place where they’re wanted and cared for and it’s a safe place,” Tami Green said.

Erick may follow in his parent’s foosteps. He is majoring in sociology and may become a parole officer like his father or work with children like his mother.

To learn more about how social worker help foster children visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Adoptions and Foster Care Web page by clicking here.

From left: Joe Flanigan, Brooke White and Phylicia Rashad star in "Change of Plans."

Actress Phylicia Rashad (“The Cosby Show”) played social worker “Dorothy” on Fox televisions’s “Change of Plans,” which aired Jan. 8.

In the film, Dorothy helps a reluctant couple  who have become guardians of four children whose parents died.

The couple are aspiring musician Sally Danville (played by former American Idol contestant Brooke White) and fighter pilot Jason (Joe Flanigan).

Did any social workers watch the movie? How was Rashad’s performance? To watch a trailer of the movie, click here.

Social workers often help foster children find temporary and permanent homes and get needed services. To learn more, visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Adoptions and Foster Care Web page by clicking here.

If you want to watch the full episode online click here.

Scene from Detroit 1-8-7 featuring shot of the murdered ex-social worker Maria Young.

Karen Wussow. Photo courtesy of the Brainerd Dispatch.

Cheers to Minnesota’s Brainerd Dispatch for this article on Karen Wussow and the social worker who helped her, Peter Brinda.

Wussow, 51, and her four brothers were placed in foster care. Later Wussow grappled with alcohol and poverty.

However, she devoted her life to helping others in similar circumstances.  Wussow has worked for 20 years as a social worker with Minnesota Social Services and became a public speaker and author.

She credits her grandmother and social worker Peter Brinda with helping her succeed, despite having a family torn apart by addiction issues. Wussow said the care and guidance Brinda gave her and her brothers reminded her that someone cared.

 ”He didn’t talk down to me,” she said.

To learn more about how social workers help children, visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Adoptions and Foster Care Web page by clicking here.

Danielle Pleasant, left, and daughter Louran use an elevator on moving day. Photo courtesy of the Washington Post.

Cheers to the Washington Post for this story on Danielle Pleasant, a woman who struggled to reunite with her five children in foster care.

Pleasant has battled a host of problems, including HIV, drug addiction, mental illness, and improving her parenting skills.

The article highlights the help the family got from Chanell Scott, a 31-year-old social worker from Youth Villages. “She wants what’s best for them and she knows that being together is what’s best for them,” Scott said.

To learn more about how social workers help children in foster care visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Adoptions and Foster Care page by clicking here.

Q. Social workers, do you think reuniting foster children with their birth families should be a top priority, even if parents are struggling with addictions and other problems?

Her moving opinion piece in the Atlanta Journal Constitution portrays the plight of former foster children. She was accepted into a master’s degree program at  New York University’s Silver School of Social Work. However, Gifford is $15,000 short of the money needed because she has no parent available to cosign a loan.

“While I don’t have a problem with being a statistic, I no longer want to be a negative statistic,” she wrote. “I want more than anything to be one of the few who made it. But even more than that, I want to be one of the ones who remembered to reach out to help someone else.”

To learn more about how social workers help foster children, visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Adoptions and Foster Care Web page by clicking here.

Matt Anderson

Matt is a social worker and filmmaker living in the heart of the Rocky Mountains in Missoula, Montana.

Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Matt was drawn to Big Sky Country by its natural beauty and quality of life. Matt  eventually earned his master’s degree in social work from the University of Montana in 2008.

Matt’s background is in youth engagement and youth leadership as well as non-profit management. Since completing his maste’r's degree he has focused on developing his clinical skills as a psychotherapist, and his community organizing and policy analysis skills through child welfare reform and filmmaking.

 In 2009 Matt became the co-owner of the award-winning film production company, Porch Production “where good stories are told”. Porch has produced feature and short documentaries about homosexuality and religion in the Deep South and poverty and community health in Haiti.

Matt is producing Porch’s newest feature documentary about America’s foster care system. From Place to Place gives voice to the 30,000 kids who age out of foster care every year by spending two years in the lives of six young adults who recently aged out. Through filmmaking Matt has found a creative outlet to utilize his integrated practice training to simultaneously work towards social justice at the individual, community, and policy level. It is Matt’s belief in the power of story and reverence for life that bridges the gap between social work and filmmaking.

Biography and photo courtesy of Matt Anderson.

Hogg Foundation Marks 70th Anniversary with $50000 In Scholarships to Texas …
University of Texas at Austin News
Ten students at Texas graduate social work programs have received $50000 in special scholarship awards honoring the 70th anniversary of the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health.

Building happy families: Foster parent recruiter Erica Jourdan lives her work …
Asheville Citizen-Times
“Social work is hard. It is heartbreaking. It is exhausting. But that’s exactly what makes it so rewarding,” she said.

DC social workers fired in maelstrom of Banita Jacks case should be reinstated
Washington Post
All of the social workers who had anything to do with the Jacks case were thumped in grand fashion by an angry and decisive Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D).

Nonprofit administration a new niche for Baylor School of Social Work
Dallas Baptist Standard
But they were administrative workers, not clinical social workers, and they signal the emergence of a niche specialty for the Baylor School of Social Work.

Camp helps foster children reconnect with siblings
Baltimore Sun
Social workers often organize visits, but those usually occur within a limited time frame and in a more structured environment.

Tribute | Joan King Upshaw left her mark on the field of social work
Kansas City Star
She was the quintessential social worker, he said. “She also was a true clinician,” Griffith said. “She could relate well to people at all levels.

Cop-turned-felon making the most of his second chance
Pioneer Press
Wollack, a former New York City cop turned social worker, later founded an award-winning social services non-profit for abused and neglected kids and and juvenile offenders.

Young illegal immigrants get chance to learn but not earn
Sacramento Bee
Their legal paradox has become a central issue for illegal immigrant students, said Roberto Gonzales, an assistant professor of social work at the University of Washington who studies the demographic.

Social work: fulfilling but not high-paying
Times Record (blog)
“Social workers … believe in social justice, they believe in fairness, they believe in assisting people in finding the resources they need … whatever resources might be,” she said.

UTC social work program gets accreditation
Chattanooga Times Free Press
More than 60 percent of mental health treatment is delivered by social workers. More than 600000 people in the US hold social work degrees.

Gay Racists: On the Fringe of the Fringe
EDGE Boston
Gary Bailey, is the chairperson of the National Social Work Public Education Campaign, an out-gay man who teaches the racism coursework at the Simmons College School of Social Work.

Social worker deals with ER patients
Dayton Daily News
She was then able to refer to herself as a social worker. She said her early work in the mental health field served her well when pursuing the master’s.

Richard Barth. Photo by Peter Howard.

National Association of Social Workers member Richard Barth’s research has helped lawmakers improve child welfare, according to this article in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Barth, dean and a professor of social work at the University of Maryland at Baltimore, this year earned the distinguished-achievement award from the Society for Social Work and Research.

His research helped persuade Congress to pass legislation to remove barriers that prevent parents from adopting children from another race. Barth’s work on homelessness among former foster children also influenced legislation to extend financial support to children who are not ready to leave home at 18.

Barth and his wife, who is also a social worker, adopted two children. His experiences in the child welfare system on a personal level helped shape his career and research.

“Being a client as well as a professor is both humbling and identifies areas where you realize there are major gaps,” Barth said.

To learn more about how social workers such as Richard Barth help children visit NASW’s “Help Starts Here” Adoptions and Foster Care Web page by clicking here.

Jourdan specializes in finding the right families to adopt children and become foster parents. She practices what she preaches. Jourdan and husband have adopted three children — 20-year-old Cynthia, Julian, aged six, and Julian’s two-year cousin Adrian.

“If you have any sort of concern or question or problem going on, and she has any way of figuring out information for you, she will go and keep hunting until she can hand you something that will help,” said Jenny Vial, a friend of Jourdan who also adopted a child.

To learn more about how social workers such as Jourdan participate in the adoption process and help foster children, visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Adoptions and Foster Care Web page by clicking here.