How Can Social Workers Get More Politically Involved?
Social Justice Solutions
Social workers interested in getting more involved in politics can start by visiting the National Association of Social Workers‘ PACE webpage. Political Action for Candidate Election (PACE) is NASW’s political action arm.  The site provides a wealth of information about social work elected officials at all levels of government.  PACE tracks key legislation and provides information on the voting records of members of Congress on that legislation.

Social Workers Score Farm Bill Victory Thanks to Rep. Barbara Lee
Social Justice Solutions
Barbara Lee (D-CA13), chair of the Congressional Social Work Caucus, stood tall among her peers in Congress last week leading the fight against $20 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the farm bill offered by House Republicans.  SNAP provides food stamps to about 47 million low-income Americans.

Military Social Work scores at baseball game
USC News
“I know that you are needed now more than ever,” Davis, a trained social worker and a former school board member, told the educators, social workers, military school liaison workers and others gathered at the pregame awards ceremony. “You are the safety net for millions of families across the country.”

Holmen receives grant to combat teen drug, alcohol abuse
WXOW.com
HOLMEN, Wisconsin (WXOW) – The Holmen School District is taking steps to combat drugs and alcohol use among students. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction provided a $19,589 grant to help the efforts. Holmen schools social worker Tiffani LaJeunesse said the grant will be used where peer pressure is at a high: high school.

[Audio] Cambodia hosts international social work conference
Radio Australia
Delegates from 18 countries, including Australia, India, China and the United States, have gathered in the Cambodian capital for an International Social Work Conference on Children and Youth. Cambodia hosts international social work conference.

Use of social networks in teen suicide prevention, intervention urged
UPI.com
“Obviously this is a place where adolescents are expressing their feelings,” lead study author Scottye Cash, a professor of social work, said. “It leads me to believe that we need to think about using social media as an intervention and as a way to connect with people,” she said in a university release Monday.

School of Social Work Presented $5000 for Betty Spencer Scholarship
Southern Miss Now
The check was given by Spencer’s daughter, Adrienne Spencer, along with Virginia Adolph, president-elect for the Gulf Coast Program Unit of the Mississippi Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW).

Health Happenings…
The Beverly Hills Courier
The conference, sponsored by the USC School of Social Work and the L.A. Department of Mental Health, brings together social work practitioners and academics from all over the world to examine how the latest research in health and mental health can be translated into practice.

Old stereotypes fuel a new crackdown on welfare recipients
Boston Globe
In the mid-1990s, as director of governmental affairs of the National Association of Social Workers‘ Massachusetts chapter, I watched the state Senate debate a welfare proposal at the same time the Globe and the Herald ran a series of articles on Claribel Rivera Ventura and her extended family, who used many public benefits. Each day the debate became harsher, and only three state senators voted against the welfare plan, despite knowing that the Venturas were not a typical welfare family.

Thelma Payton, Former Tuskegee University First Lady, Dies at 81
Washington Informer
Thelma Plane Payton, a renowned social worker and the wife of Tuskegee University’s fifth president, died June 20 at the Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers, Fla. She was 81. Payton, who served as first lady of the university from 1981 to 2010 during her husband Benjamin Franklin Payton’s tenure, was also highly regarded in the fields of psychiatric social work, family practice and social work education.

Howard School of Social Work Receives Kellogg Foundation Grant to Study …
Afro American
The Howard University School of Social Work has received a grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation to evaluate the effectiveness of racial equality standards in countering the overrepresentation of African Americans in child welfare systems.

Understanding the special education process
Block Island Times
In terms of mental health support, Hawk explained that Social Worker Summer Riker was available four days a week and Betty Gomes for two, assuring appropriate coverage. ”Statistically, islands have a tradition of isolation and [those issues that go along with it] such as depression and substance abuse,” said health teacher Victoria Carson.

How to empower public leaders with evidence on the frontline
The Guardian
Professional bodies, such as the College of Social Work or the College of Teachers for example, are well placed to support the sharing of expertise and knowledge between academic research and practitioners. There is a case for successful schemes such as the Economic and Social Research Council’s knowledge exchange opportunities (where social scientists and individuals or organisations share learning, ideas and experiences) to be expanded to increase researchers’ access to frontline practice.

[Video] Two Court Rulings Are Victories For Gay Marriage Supporters
WITN
The Supreme Court has issued a pair of significant but incomplete victories for supporters of gay marriage. (Jessica Holton is interviewed in the second video).