Photo courtesy of Home Post.

Public schools should try to help ease the burdens faced by children of military families during war, including frequent deployments and absent parents, according to a research review from the USC School of Social Work, San Diego State University and Bar-Ilan University in Israel.

“Some of the recent studies that have come out show that the deployments are really, really causing tremendous impact on the children,” said National Association of Social Workers member Ron Astor, DSW, said in this article posted on the Southern California Public Radio Website.

Astor collaborated on a video that demonstrates what military children experience. One child in the video talks about being home alone with no one to help him with homework while another speaks about moving seven or eight times as his parent took on new assignments.

Astor said the research review shows public school teachers, counselors and even classmates should give specific support to children of the military.

 Only 86,000 of 1.2 million children of military service members attend Department of Defense schools. Most attend public or charter schools.

To learn more about how social workers help people in the military visit NASW’s “Help Starts Here” Veterans Affairs Website by clicking here.

From left: Army Reserve Capt. Chad Lauro, Kina Wilkening and Professor Nancy Brown talk about the military social work program. Photo courtesy of the Aiken Standard.

The University of South Carolina is creating a program to train social workers to work with military personnel, according to this article in the Aiken Standard.

“There is a growing need for social workers in this field,” said Nancy Brown, an associate professor at the University of South Carolina College of Social Work.

The program is in its final stage of academic approval. The course could prepare 3,000 social workers for the field in the next decade, dean Anna Scheyett said.

You can learn more about how social workers help people in the armed services by visiting the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Veterans Affairs Website by clicking here. And to learn more about social work activities in South Carolina vist NASW’s South Carolina Chapter’s Website by clicking here.

Program helps make transition from foster more successful
MiamiHerald.com
Casa Valentina now has a licensed clinical social worker and case manager on staff, and provides a host of support services to its residents, many of whom have never learned the life skills they need to live on their own. “When a new girl moves in, we help her pick out linens and hygiene products, help her get a bank account, show her how to use public transportation, take her to the grocery store,” Executive Director Chelesa Wilkerson said. “We offer incredibly intensive services.”

A Local Life: Lael Stegall, adventurer-activist who helped found Emily’s List, dies at 70
The Washington Post
At a midnight political rally at Colby in the fall of 1960, she heard then-Sen. John F. Kennedy (D-Mass.) describe his plans for a Peace Corps should he be elected president, and she vowed then and there to become part of it. After receiving a master’s degree in social work at the University of Chicago in 1964, she joined the nascent Peace Corps and served for two years in Turkey.

Improving Child Welfare Programs
Reporter-News
David Cory, education chair of the Texas Council of Child Welfare Boards, was employed for more than 20 years in Child Protective Services agencies in Abilene. He believes child protective services in Texas are underfunded.

Occupy LA to bring social workers to aid homeless
San Jose Mercury News
By CHRISTINA HOAG AP LOS ANGELES—Social workers will be visiting the Occupy Los Angeles camp this week in an effort to provide services to the influx of homeless people who have moved into the tent village surrounding City Hall.

Calming Schools With a Broader Approach to Troubled Students
New York Times
For schools in tough neighborhoods where many principals say they can barely see their teachers’ work through the fog of students’ extreme behavior, Turnaround offers a whole-child model that requires the hiring of social workers and the training of teachers in how to respond to outbursts in ways other than sending children to the principal’s office.

College offers training in counseling veterans
Chicago Tribune
By Michelle Manchir, Chicago Tribune reporter Chris Johnston, a former Marine who counsels veterans enrolled at College of DuPage, believes social workers need specialized training to help vets — especially those who return from a war zone.

Adults have the duty to report and prevent child abuse
Times Leader
In every case of child sexual abuse that I know, some adult knew something was not right long before a call was made. Step up and do what is right, send a message that you will not tolerate child abuse in your community.—Jenna Mehnert is executive director of the National Association of Social Workers — Pennsylvania Chapter.

Sex Crimes Against Boys Often Go Unreported Because of Queasiness Among Males
ABCNews
Frederic G. Reamer, a professor of social work from Rhode Island College, said that the male-dominated culture at Penn State, comparable to that of the Catholic Church, may make it harder to report these crimes.

Peter LaBarbera scapegoating gay men for the Penn State tragedy
LGBTQ Nation
To whit, there is no link between homosexuality and pedophilia. None whatsoever. And this is backed by the American Psychological Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the American Academy of Child Psychiatrists and the Child Welfare League of America.

Human Services By the Batch
Governing
Back in quainter days, human services casework was handled by one person managing the entire process. A staffer would meet prospective clients face-to-face, assess needs versus assets, figure out what benefits that client was eligible for and then manage the case through its lifetime, including tending to changes in income, address or family status. Those days could soon be over, if they’re not gone already.

Gary Sinise On Music, Marriage, and His Work On Behalf Of Our Armed Forces
Parade
Q: Last year you launched your foundation (GarySiniseFoundation.org). What’s going on with it now? A: The University of Southern California has a wonderful social work department, and I was thrilled to find out that they have a whole veterans initiative program there. They approached me, and I set up a scholarship that would go to a military-oriented person, to learn techniques and skills to better help veterans. We hope to do it on a broader scale around the country.

Group asks FirstEnergy for energy-efficiency measures
Charleston Gazette
“Our neighboring states hold companies to more efficient standards,” said Sam Hickman, executive director of the West Virginia chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. “In West Virginia, we have among the highest rates of home ownership. But many elderly and low-income folks have no access to loans or equity” on their homes, Hickman said. “We need a more robust plan.”

Time for West Virginia to Improve Social Workers’ Safety?
Public News Service
Sam Hickman, executive director of the Association’s West Virginia Chapter, says lawmakers should create one central place in state government with the job of protecting the 1000 or so field employees and contractors at the various agencies. He says, without that, the issue falls through the cracks and the people going out in the field will tend to take too many risks.

Bleak Portrait of Poverty Is Off the Mark, Experts Say
The New York Times
“The official measure no longer corresponds to reality,” said Jane Waldfogel, a professor of social work at Columbia University. “It doesn’t get either side of the equation right — how much the poor have or how much they need. No one really trusts the data.”

Aggie soldier dies in combat
Texas A&M The Battalion
The life of David E. Cabrera, class of 1992, was taken on Oct. 29. The Lieutenant Colonel, who was a licensed clinical social worker and assistant professor of family medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, was stationed in Afghanistan’s capitol city, Kabul, when his NATO convoy was attacked.

Wealthier age more slowly, are more mobile
UPI.com
Study co-author Virginia Richardson, a professor of social work at Ohio State University, said the disadvantage for the poor in walking, bathing, eating, dressing and getting in and out of bed snowballs over time and determines when someone elderly needs to be institutionalized.

Victims speak out about North Carolina sterilization program, which targeted women, young girls and blacks
Rock Center
Despite the state social workers who declared Riddick was “mentally retarded” and “promiscuous”, she went to college and raised the son born moments before she was sterilized.  Her son is devoted to his mother and a successful entrepreneur.

Updated Handbook of Health Social Work reflects changes in health care
Washington University in St. Louis News
By Jessica Martin Increased complexity in health care demands a greater body of knowledge for health social workers. The newly released Handbook of Health Social Work, Second Edition is a key resource for social workers, offering a comprehensive and evidence-based overview of social work practice in health care.

Progress, but Still a Race Gap
New York Times
Sandra Edmonds Crewe, a professor of social work at Howard University, is the director of the Multidisciplinary Center for Social Gerontology. There are credible signs that older people are faring better than younger cohorts, in part because the recent recession has often hit young people hardest.

Sandusky case shows where Pa. child protective services law fails
Patriot-News
Today, I am a licensed clinical social worker and also a state-mandated reporter of suspected child abuse. So were/are the staff at Penn State. Pa. law should be changed to require all child abuse allegations to be reported straight to the Department of Public Welfare.

Responsibility means reporting abuse
Lebanon Daily News
While strangers do abduct children, the rate of stranger abductions is only about .0017 per 1,000 children. The real danger for children comes from neighbors, relatives, coaches, priests and teachers.

Penn State scandal triggers worries, numbness
Ventura County Star
The scandal has focused attention on the adequacy of laws protecting children and mandating teachers and others to report the abuse. But that’s not the issue, said Ferol Mennen, a social worker and USC professor who researches child abuse and neglect.

Mt. Hebron’s Safety Net Project Aims to Prevent Bullying
Patch.com
[This article was written by Kristin Cole, a social worker and director of the Safety Net Project.] For last week’s Anti-Bullying Program within the Montclair Public School District, a number of schools developed and delivered various activities and programs aimed at preventing bullying.

Conference inspires ideas to help military families
Fayetteville Observer
Anthony Raphael, a social worker at Owen Elementary School, said the conference inspired him to start a support group for military parents at his school on Raeford Road. The idea is for military families to share their concerns and suggest where to find help, from either Fort Bragg or in the civilian community, he said.

Feeding the masses, fueling a movement
Wall Street Journal
Seventy-year-old Phyllis Coelho plunged her blue gloved hands into a plastic sink of gray soapy water and spent an afternoon last week cheerfully washing dishes “to support the revolution.” The retired social worker had traveled from Belfast, Maine, the day before with her 78-year-old friend and fellow dishwasher, Jane Sanford. They headed directly to the protest at Zuccotti Park because, they said, it was time to “show up.

Social worker Catherine Crisp (left) and partner Kaye McKinzie. Photo courtesy of CBS News.

The repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was not just a victory for gay and lesbian military personnel, according to this CBS News article.

Partners of military personnel who had to help hide the relationship from the public are also relieved. This includes National Association of Social Workers member Catherine Crisp, a professor of social work at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock.

Crisp is the long-time partner of career Army officer Kaye McKinzie. Under DADT McKinzie could have been discharged from the Army if authorities discovered she was a lesbian.

“In hindsight it seems ludicrous that we had to spend time and energy on stuff like that,” Crisp said. “We lived in fear not of ‘the enemy’ but of our government and the fear of disclosure and discovery under this horrible policy.”

Social workers are devoted to equal treatment for all, including the GLBT community. To learn more visit NASW’s Diversity and Equity Website by clicking here.

Public divided on CVTC and group homes
Lynchburg News and Advance
A vivid warning also came from a Lynchburg social-work supervisor who described dangers and neglect that he’s investigated in some community-based homes. Heidi Dix, who oversees a division of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services in Richmond, said the hearing was held because the General Assembly created a $30 million trust fund this year to reduce the occupancy of training centers.

GLAAD Calls On NPR To Correct Its “Ex Gay” Therapy Broadcast
Instinct Magazine
The American Psychiatric Association; The American Psychological Association; The American Medical Association; The American Counseling Association; The American Academy of Pediatrics; The National Association of Social Workers — These are IMPARTIAL expert groups that shape the way the country learns and thinks about our well-being, have all stood up against this type of “counseling.”

Vouchers provide housing for homeless vets
Lebanon Daily News
The program is making a difference in the lives of homeless veterans in Lebanon County, said Joe Getway, a licensed clinical social worker and HUD-VASH program coordinator at the Lebanon VA Medical Center.

Strengthening military marriages
Fredericksburg.com (blog)
The Virginia Wounded Warrior Program for Health Planning Region I, in partnership with the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work, is presenting “Mission: Healthy Relationships” in Fredericksburg. This weekend relationship enrichment workshop for military veterans and their spouses will be held Aug. 26-28 at the Fredericksburg Hospitality House and Conference Center.

Child welfare workers to get extra pay for hazardous duty
The Advocate of Baton Rouge, LA
The state Civil Service Commission on Wednesday approved a hazardous duty pay supplement for child welfare workers investigating abuse and neglect complaints.

Office Stress Expert: West Virginia Social Workers Risking Burnout
Public News Service
Jennifer Powell is both an attorney and a licensed social worker. She says it is most important to recognize that sometimes those in professions such as social work can find their job overwhelming. “It’s the end result of unrelenting stress.

NH Groups: Debt Ceiling Debate Over, More Drama to Come
Public News Service
Steve Gorin is the executive director of the New Hampshire Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). “One of the things I’m concerned about in this whole debate is that Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are all lumped together as ‘entitlements.’ Many people think that we face an ‘entitlement’ crisis in this country, but we don’t. We face a health care crisis, a health care cost crisis.”

Why Social Media Matters to Therapists
PsychCentral.com
By Julie Hanks, LCSW You’re in the mental health field because you want to make a difference and make a living, right? Technology and new media now allow therapists to educate and interact with worldwide audience and to talk directly to ideal clients…for free.

Stranded in ‘food deserts,’ hundreds of thousands of NJ residents lack access to health, fresh food
NJ.com
Shanique Coleman, 21, lives in a food desert in Somerville. She has to rely on a social worker to shuttle her twice a month to neighboring Raritan to get groceries at a Stop & Shop for her two young children. Without the ride, she would have to rely on her grandmother in New Brunswick, nearly a half-hour away, to give her a lift.

Creator of Comedy Central’s ‘Ugly Americans’ is sitting pretty
Washington Post
The show follows Department of Integration social worker Mark Lilly (voiced by Matt Oberg) and his creature cohorts as they help new citizens — both human and others — adapt to life in the Big Apple.

Brian T. Watson: Sheriff shows prison can be place for rehabilitation as well …
The Salem News
He has a master’s degree in social work from Boston College and started his career by running the first of the Downey Side Homes, back then a group residence for eight homeless teens. He and his wife became their permanent parents, and it was there that he first field-tested and honed some of his progressive approaches to the circumstances and ingredients that contribute to dysfunctional human behaviors, values and motivations.

An update on two vets struggling to put the war behind them
Los Angeles Times
And Zenner was such a rookie social worker that Valentini began calling him Green. Even today, they see the drinking incident differently. “Tell him why,” Valentini pleaded, explaining that the beers were to celebrate President Obama declaring the end of the combat mission in Iraq.

At Camp No Worries, cancer patients are just kids again
Philadelphia Inquirer
Programs such as Camp No Worries give cancer patients a much-needed respite from medical routines and put them back on equal terms with their siblings, said Susan Stephens, a pediatric social worker with the Cancer Institute of New Jersey.

Experts say Mass. tornadoes scars could linger
Boston Globe
Those who lived through the devastation of their homes and neighborhoods may just now be dealing with the accumulated stresses of their tornado-related experiences, says Dorothy A. Brier, a licensed clinical social worker who has been volunteering her services here in Western Massachusetts since June 11.

Danieal Kelly murder trial opens | Philadelphia Daily News | 2011-07-02
Philadelphia Daily News
“These three defendants failed to act,” Selber said, referring also to former city social worker Dana Poindexter and Mickal Kamuvaka, the former head of a social-service agency hired by the city to help Danieal.

A special journey with a message
Marshall Independent
The irony was, I had a Masters in social work, but didn’t work with depression.” After Mark got out of the hospital he focused his efforts from a social work perspective. Now he teaches on mood disorders at the University of Minnesota graduate school of social work and has a consulting practice focusing on depression.

A Mixed Message about Stigma in Military Mental Health Care
Time
The military keeps talking about eliminating stigma related to seeking mental health treatment. Then why don’t they change the policies that promote it?

For Seemayer, Gambling Addiction Could Have Gotten Worse
Patch.com
A compulsive gambling habit can lead an addict to follow through with even more destructive decisions, says Terri Rodriguez Ohlms, a licensed, clinical social worker who practices in the St. Louis area. “He (Seemayer) is fortunate he was caught before he got deeper into the hole of despair,” Ohlms said.

Charlie Sheen’s New TV Show — ‘Anger Management’
TMZ.com
The plan as of now — Charlie’s character will be an ex-jock who got his master’s degree in social work during the offseason. He becomes a counselor to defendants in the criminal justice system with anger management problems.

Richmonder Recognized By National Association of Social Workers
GayRVA
Dr. Jonathan Lebolt was recognized by the National Association of Social Workers during the month of June for his work with the LGBT community.

Thought Leader in Health Care Lorissa MacAllister: Designing for change
Michigan Business Review – MLive.com
By Business Review West Michigan Education: BS in social work, University of Vermont; MS in architecture, University of Michigan; Ph.D. candidate from the School of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology. Properly designed health care spaces can improve operational efficiency and the quality of care provided within those spaces. 

Some soldiers are getting help from social workers, the article said.

The Phoenix VA Medical Center hired social worker Judith Orosz to do nothing but provide counseling and group support for victims of sexual assaults in the military.

“They leave the military with a lot of trauma, a lot of anger and they feel like they can’t trust anyone,” she said. “It makes it very hard for them to hold a job.”

And civilian social worker Joice Jones coordinates with Luke Air Force Base’s sexual assault prevention and response program and helps run prevention workshops. Luke Air Force Base is also located in Arizona.

“Correcting the culture within the military is being done in a very pointed way,” Jones said.

To learn more about how social workers help the military, visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Veterans Affairs Website by clicking here.

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.”

The controversial policy, which allowed gay and lesbian members to serve as long as they did not reveal their sexual orientation, will soon be phased out. But there is nowhere for servicemembers to go to find out about policies during this transitional period.

So students at the social work school created the Military Acceptance Project, or MAP. The Web site is a place for servicemembers to anonymously get information about policies concerning lesbian and gay soldiers. And policymakers can go there to find out what concerns servicemembers may have.

There are also resources on the Web site for people who experienced stress from living under DADT.

“We are addressing these issues from a social-work perspective,” said  Kristen Kavanaugh, a retired Marine officer who hid her sexuality and is now a student at the social work school. “Our biggest issue is mental health support. Everyone who is forced to hide under DADT has got some degree of post-traumatic stress disorder.”

Social workers are committed to social justice for all, including people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered. To learn  more, visit the National Association of Social Workers’ Diversity and Equity Web page by clicking here.

Astor, who is project leader of Building Capacity in Military Connected Schools, said children of military families are under enormous stress. Many change schools frequently, have difficulty keeping up academically, and have to cope when parents are deployed overseas.

Astor talked about efforts to support military families, including President Obama’s Strengthening or Military Families directive. To read the complete column click here.

Social workers play a vital role in helping members of the U.S. armed services and their families. To learn more, click here to visit the National Association of Social Workers” “Help Starts Here” Veterans Affairs Web page.

Petty Officer Sarax, a computer simulation used to train social workers to help soldiers suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and other mental illnesses. Photo courtesy of USC School Social Work.

The USC School of Social Work is using computer simulations to train social workers on how to interact with military personnel who may be suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, brain injury, depression and other mental health issues, according to this article in the Los Angeles Times. 

“Petty Officer Sarax,” the computer simulated soldier, says statements and uses facial expressions that can help students identify PTSD, the article said.

The article said there is a growing demand for social workers and other behavioral health professionals to treat soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army said 12 percent of these positions are vacant and the Navy, which also provides services to the Marine Corps., said 13 percent are unfilled.

However, the article also said behavioral health professionals face high burnout.

Did you know the Department of Veterans Affairs employs the greatest number of social workers with master’s degrees. To learn more about the services social workers provide the men and women in the armed forces, visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Veterans Affairs Web page by clicking here.

Sally Dana and Danny Krueger star in "Arousal," a play by social worker George Pfirrmann.

Social worker George Pfirrmann, MSW, LCSW, was inspired to become a playwright after working with military families in Germany.

He was particularly impressed by the resilience of the spouses who had to keep families intact while their mates were deployed to battle zones.

So when Pfirrmann returned to the United States he wrote about his experiences working with the military and began studying playwrighting. His hard work has paid off.

His play “Arousal” won Best New Comedy at the San Francisco Fringe Festival last September. And this week it got a favorable write-up in this Huffington Post article  on movies and plays about people with Asperger’s syndrome.

“Arousal” is about a young man with Asperger’s syndrome who visits a call girl who is an immigrant from Ukraine. Both have problems communicating but end up helping each other overcome social isolation and loneliness.

Pfirrman has a private practice and has worked with clients with Asperger’s, a type of autism that can make it difficult for sufferers to interact socially. Pfirrmann also trains doctors in cognitive behavioral therapy at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco.

 ”It was great to see (my play) come to life,” he said.

Pfirrmann, who earned a master’s degree in social work at Rutgers University, wrote an expanded version of “Arousal” and is now working to get the play shown in other theaters.

“It’s a play of the heart,” he said. “There’s a lot of heart in it.”

UB Offers First-ever Regional Wellness Conference on Better Health Care for …
UB News Center
In collaboration with UB’s Native American Center for Wellness Research in the School of Social Work, the conference is the first of its kind to be held in the Haudenosaunee territory, for Native Americans residing and working in the Western New York and Southern Ontario area.

Iowa National Guard: Big age difference, but similar goal for 2 Iowa medics
DesMoinesRegister.com (blog)
Grinstead went into social work, beginning his career as a psychiatric social worker at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, where he still works in the in-patient psychiatric unit.

New Orleans called family back home
Montgomery Advertiser
Today, five years after the storm, Watson, 59, is back in New Orleans, trying to help her fellow residents in her job as a social worker.

Healing of students all in a day’s work
Albany Times Union
The job of the school psychologist, social worker and guidance counselor has grown more demanding as student needs have changed.

As unemployed lose benefits, more seek welfare benefits
Philadelphia Inquirer
Out of a strip mall in South Camden, county and state social workers operate a virtual fix-it shop for displaced workers on welfare.

Crime issues still vex library
San Francisco Examiner
A full-time social worker is stationed in the Main Library in order to do outreach with homeless people, and there’s a homeless outreach team that goes to the site.

Myth Of The Well-Adjusted Asian-American Challenged By Researchers
Biomed Middle East
In their paper, “Barriers to Health Care Among Asian Americans,” UB School of Social Work professors Wooksoo Kim and Robert H. Keefe write that Asian Americans cannot be carelessly lumped together with such easy stereotypes as “well adjusted” or “successful.”

One person’s clutter is another’s disorder
Boston Herald
By Tenley Woodman Childhood trauma is common among hoarders, according to Boston University School of Social Work’s Compulsive Hoarding Research Project.

Thousands strain Fort Hood’s mental health system
USA Today
Chaplains provide marriage counseling, but for soldiers who want to see a licensed marriage counselor, the base’s social work department has two, each with a caseload of 60 couples, says Lt. Col. Nancy Ruffin, department director.

5 Ways to Get Kids’ Butts Outta Bed
Momlogic.com
Momlogic friend and parent educator Jill Spivack, LCSW, tells us that the key to establishing bedtime again actually starts in the morning: Wake your kids earlier so they’ll be tired earlier at night.

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.

Want to keep your child drug-free? Here are five signs of possible trouble
CNN
“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.

With Help After Storm, a Chance to Give Back
New York Times
Ms. Heintz and the staff — two psychiatrists, two psychologists and a clinical social worker for about 300 clients — are reaching out to the wives of the fishermen, holding focus groups to learn about their needs and teaching them breathing techniques and other coping mechanisms.

UC awarded contract for children’s mental health treatment
The News Record
The University of Cincinnati’s School of Social Work will soon be lending its expertise to Clermont County after being awarded a $1.1 million contract to evaluate a new mental health program in the county.

USC To Study Local Children Of Military Members
KGTV San Diego
According to USC’s School of Social Work, the program will monitor and address the social, academic and emotional challenges faced by children whose parents are deployed.

Column: Health care bill helps, but medical costs are still sickening
MLive.com
That dovetails with another recent survey, this one by the Association of Oncology Social Work. They found that two-thirds of cancer patients experienced financial hardships due to medical bills.

‘Top Ten Myths About Homosexuality’ Is a Huge Homophobic Fraud
Huffington Post
Ten Myths pushes the inaccuracy that a man who molests a boy is automatically gay even though the American Psychological Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the American Academy of Child Psychiatrists and the Child Welfare League of America, all say that the homosexuality and pedophilia are not linked.

Slaying of Citizen of the Year stuns Eastern Shore
The Virginian-Pilot
She received a degree in social work from Norfolk State University and her master’s from Ohio State University.  She was a board member of Eastern Shore Rural Health System and part owner of Therapeutic Intervention, where she worked with at-risk kids.

County Children & Youth ordered to provide info to social workers
York Daily Record
Jenna Mehnert, executive director of the state branch of the National Association of Social Workers, said Pennsylvania’s a bit lax when it comes to standards for social workers.

Social worker sees kids’ stress
Norwich Bulletin
Carolyn Trasko, a social worker in Preston who has spoken about families and stress, said children are reflecting an increased level of stress as their families struggle with issues such as financial problems.

EDITORIAL: Social worker could be influence
The Daily News Journal
With that partly in mind, Murfreesboro City Schools Director Linda Gilbert hired Tonya Hobbs last week as the system’s social worker to focus on the “whole child.”

New VA Rule to Help Vets with PTSD
New America Media
The rule change, which the New York Times reports could take affect as early as Monday, would eliminate the need of returning soldiers diagnosed with PTSD to document specific events, called stressors, in order to receive disability compensation.

House Calls For Elderly Could Relieve Squeezed ‘Sandwich Generation’
NPR
Older folks with lots of chronic illnesses aren’t the only ones who could benefit from a Medicare experiment funded through the new health law that will send doctors and nurse practitioners to visit them in their homes.

Vietnam Child-Abuse Case Exposes Lax Protection Services
TIME
In May, social work was officially recognized as a profession, a vital legal distinction in Vietnam’s communist society, in which nothing can happen without the central government’s assent.

Pressing for the passage of the Massachusetts Transgender Civil Rights Bill
Bay Windows
Rebekah Gewirtz of the National Association of Social Workers, Massachusetts Chapter, spoke after Springer. Gewirtz described the roll of social workers in the fight for transgender rights, explaining that social workers often work with transgender people, and they understand the difficulty that transgender people experience in their lives every day.

CPS To Review Decision On Hero Social Worker
CBS2 Chicago
Chicago Public Schools chief executive officer Ron Huberman says he will personally review a decision to fire a hero social worker if he continues to live outside the city.

Relief for the Spirit: A Lay Mental Health Worker Project in Post-Earthquake Haiti
Huffington Post (blog)
After all, as good social workers know, mental health intervention is most likely to succeed when the entire family, if not the whole community, is targeted.

Spill Takes Toll on Gulf Workers’ Psyches
New York Times
Beyond the environmental and economic damage, the toll of the mammoth spill in the Gulf of  Mexico is being measured in hopelessness, anxiety, stress, anger, depression and even suicidal thoughts among those most affected, social workers say.

Economy has Dad in transition
Elmira Star-Gazette
Whether caused by economic forces or personal decisions, the phenomenon is a growing trend, said George Tomaras, a licensed clinical social worker who has been practicing in Binghamton for 30 years.

USC deploys military social work program
San Diego Union Tribune
RANCHO BERNARDO — USC has opened an academic center in San Diego that is offering a military social-work program — the first of its kind in the nation.

USC San Diego Academic Center even features “Lt. Rocco,” a virtual-reality hologramlike patient to help train students to treat post traumatic stress disorder, the article said.

“Someone needed to step forward and develop a social-work program to address the needs of military personnel, vets and their families,” said Jose Coll, the center’s director. “Why not us?”

To learn more about how social workers help the military and veterans vist the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Veterans Affairs Web page by clicking here.