Gary McDaniel is a member:
The Kids Aren’t Alright
West Virginia Focus
“It’s hard to learn on an empty stomach,” says Morgan County Schools Social Worker Gary McDaniel, back on the subject of the morning’s radio call. A joyful bear of a man who tops his graying curls with a bowler hat, he’s a main architect of the school system’s common-sense mental health interventions, which have few parallels in West Virginia. “You gotta meet the fundamental needs first. School isn’t shelter, food, belonging—but it can help with those things, if we let it. Then we can teach and kids can learn.” Quiet hallways and kids who wave from the cafeteria line when their principal walks by seem to suggest McDaniel is onto something.

Plano police to partner with UTA social work program
The Dallas Morning News
Student interns from the University of Texas at Arlington’s social work program will soon be working with the Police Department’s Victim Services Unit, thanks to a new agreement approved by the City Council on Monday. The deal will let students observe and participate in the unit’s routine operations, giving them practical experience. City officials said the program would allow the Police Department to process more cases and provide comprehensive, long-term case management support. The partnership will be conducted at no cost to the city.

Bonn Wade is a member:
Youth trans group announces launch on South Side
Windy City Times
Gendernauts will be facilitated by Bonn Wade, who is a licensed clinical social worker, consultant, trainer and psychotherapist with Chicago Counseling Associates & Beverly Therapists, which is based out of the Beverly neighborhood on the far South Side. To find new members, Wade explained that, to find new members, they’ve reached out to local high schools, youth groups and churches in the Beverly area and surrounding neighborhoods. “We also know that once young people start coming and experience the space as affirming and inclusive, they will invite their friends to come,” said Wade. Wade received a master’s degree from the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration and has worked on the South Side for most of their career in social services.

Carmen Weisner is the ED of NASW-LA:
Report: Louisiana earns poor rating for mental health care access, but new approach coming
The New Orleans Advocate
Carmen Weisner, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers — Louisiana, worries that behavioral health providers who once had to deal with Magellan now have five companies to contract with. “I think there will be some transition problems for some of these practices,” Weisner said. But she said the approach is a good one. “That is where health care service delivery is moving,” Weisner said. “They are now training family practice physicians in their residency program to practice with a behavioral health provider,” she said.

[Video] Help over handcuffs in illegal Snohomish Co. homeless camps
King 5 News [Seattle, WA]
The team of three deputies and a social worker also keep tabs on who comes and goes from these camps. Over time, they hope to build trust and respect among the homeless community. “Once they trust us to do what they say we’re going to do,” said [Sgt. Ian] Huri, “then we can start making some small incremental steps to better health.”

Joe Kort, the author, is a member:
How sexual addiction treatment fails when working with gay and bisexual men
The Huffington Post
I thought I was done with the coming-out process, but I am coming out again, only this time on Psychology Today as a former sex-addiction therapist. Today I treat those struggling with out-of-control sexual behaviors much differently and more successfully with my current education and understanding about what sexual health is, and tailor it to each individual. The reason? The longer I was in the field of sex addiction treatment the more I found both the label and many of the interventions antiquated, limiting and sometimes even harmful — especially when working with gay and bisexual men. Sex addiction treatment began to reveal itself to me as simplistic, moralistic and judgmental rather than truly diagnostic.

NASW California Chapter Statement on San Bernardino Shootings
Social Work Blog
The National Association of Social Workers expresses sorrow and concern regarding the horrific mass shooting in California at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. Our deepest sympathy goes out to those who lost their lives and the injured and their families,  friends and colleagues.  We also express our concern and care to the greater San Bernardino and southern California community.

Psychological first aid: Migrant trauma demands alternative therapies
Reuters
Europe’s migrant crisis is forcing the advancement of new psychological therapies that go beyond existing treatments to help victims not of one traumatic event, but of multiple traumas such as rape, war and torture. Among the hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Syria, Afghanistan and other war-torn areas, significant numbers are likely to have severe psychiatric illnesses, including complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), according to studies in peer-reviewed scientific journals. PTSD plagues sufferers with flashbacks and panic attacks, and can render them sleepless, emotionally volatile and less likely to be able to settle into a new home. Deploying mainstream therapies designed for victims of single-event trauma in stable, well-funded settings – such as returning soldiers or car crash survivors – will not tackle this migrant mental health crisis effectively, specialists say.

US News & World Report ranks best social service jobs
US News & World Report
Child and Family Social Worker: Whether working with a neglected child or someone battling a years-long addiction, the day-in, day-out responsibilities of a child and family social worker can be an emotional grind. But knowing that your counsel profoundly improved someone’s quality of life is a reward that surpasses monetary compensation. This profession should grow by about 15 percent by 2022.
Social and Community Service Manager: The responsibilities of social and community service managers vary widely depending on where they are employed, but the passion for being an advocate and leader in the community or institution is non-negotiable. By 2022, the BLS predicts this field to have 27,700 new jobs because of older adults requiring more social services.

Justin Bennett and Tjitske Tubbergen-Maglio are members:
Gov. Nixon makes board and commission appointments
The Missouri Times
State Committee for Social Workers: The Governor has appointed Justin M. Bennett, of Leadington; Frances L. Klahr, of Jefferson City; Rachell M. LaRose, of Holt; and Tjitske (Tish) G. Tubbergen-Maglio, of Kirksville, to the State Committee for Social Workers.  The State Committee for Social Workers protects Missourians through the licensing of licensed clinical social workers and baccalaureate social workers and assessing their competence to practice, and investigates all complaints against its licensees in a fair and equitable manner.

NOPD hires social workers to help sexual assault investigators
nola.com
The New Orleans Police Department announced Friday (Dec. 4) the hiring of three full-time social workers who will accompany detectives to sexual assault scenes to offer victims assistance and support, and help guide them throughout the investigation. The announcement comes a year after the Office of Inspector General released a report detailing systemic failures in the Special Victims Unit, including the mishandling of hundreds of reported sexual assaults and child abuse cases. Hiring social workers to help investigators was part of a series of recommendations proposed in August by the Sexual Assault Response Advisory Committee convened by Mayor Mitch Landrieu.

Eilis O’Herlihy is the ED of NASW-VT:
Advocates oppose further group therapy cuts
VTDigger.com
“Group therapy is one of the most effective and cost-effective treatments out there, and so I worry that it’s going to reduce access,” said Eilis O’Herlihy, the executive director of the Vermont chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. “I’ve done (group therapy) in the past in a past job, but in my current life I help people find access to it and it’s hard,” O’Herlihy said. “One-on-one therapy is really hard work. Couples therapy is really hard work. Family therapy is really hard work. But group is the hardest work I’ve ever done.”

The hardest job: Could you raise four children in a homeless shelter without spanking?
The Atlantic Monthly
PACT’s social workers believe that while these families may not have much materially, they can at least knit the loving family ties that protect kids from the ravages of homelessness. PACT’s hope is that its participants’ parenting will become less harsh, and that there will be fewer reports of abuse and neglect after they move out.… At the front of the room, an energetic, middle-aged, white woman named Kim Cosgrove is deep into an interminable rendition of “Wheels on the Bus.” She’s up to butterflies on the bus saying “I am curious” and turtles saying “I am shy” before the room finally quiets.… Kim is a licensed clinical social worker and leads many of PACT’s activities.