©Thinkstock

Social work is booming worldwide – because it’s proven to work
The Guardian
Social work is the fastest-growing profession internationally – and in many countries, statistics point towards its significant further expansion. In the US, for example, despite cuts to public administration by the Trump government, the Bureau of Labour Statistics predicts a 16% growth of the profession between 2016 and 2026. Membership of the International Federation of Social Workers has also shown unprecedented growth, with a 60% jump in the number of recognised national professional bodies between 2011 and 2017.

When caring hurts: Attrition among social workers, medicine’s unsung heroes
Salon
You can tell a lot about a job and the people doing it by asking them to describe their best day at work. For Ali, a 28-year-old pediatric cancer social worker, that day occurred one year ago. A 17-year-old cancer patient who had been given two months to live made a bucket list. On her list were graduating from high school and getting accepted into college. So Ali and her colleagues arranged a graduation ceremony in the hospital, at which they read off a list of the colleges to which she had been accepted. Ali and other social workers savor such opportunities to make a difference. They got to know the patient and her family well, reached out to a variety of school officials and community leaders to make the event happen, and enabled many friends and hospital employees to participate in it. Though the ultimate outcome was heartbreaking – the patient died just days after the event — Ali cherished the opportunity to stage such a meaningful event and help make a better death possible.

Sandra Kerns is a member:
Take a Hike is great way to take a hike
Peninsula Clarion (Kenai, AK)
[Gail] Easley, Sandy Kerns of Soldotna and Deborah Green of Moose Pass spent the early part of the hike trying to identify plants. Easley said listening to Kerns and Green share knowledge is one neat thing about the hikes. “Locals might know a micro area well, but that’s very different from knowing the area at large,” Easley said. Kerns is well-qualified to discuss another of the benefits of the hikes. She is a community volunteer at the refuge visitors center, but she also is a licensed clinical social worker who uses the benefits of nature therapy. “By volunteering at the center, I can take care of my personal health as well as being able to take that back to the clients,” she said.

Araceli Flores is a member:
Images of imprisoned children have unleashed my inner rebel, and she’s mad as hell
Voices of Monterrey Bay
Erica Padilla Chavez, Hartnell College trustee, stifled tears as she denounced the border quagmire. So did Salinas Councilwoman Gloria de la Rosa, recalling the time when she was separated from her daughter when she was little. So did Araceli Flores, a board member of the Gonzales Unified School District and a licensed clinical social worker, thinking about the time she had to be separated from her child for medical reasons. If it’s this hard when you’re just recalling challenging times — or for many of us, just imagining how devastating it would be to have your child ripped away from you — imagine how it is for those who thought they’d found refuge in the “greatest country in the world” just to have their children stolen from them.

Donald R. Austin is a member:
Letter: The Bible doesn’t support Trump’s immigration policy
Salt Lake Tribune
Donald Trump’s no-tolerance immigration policy has caused irreparable societal damage and the needless emotional abuse of innocent children, simply for political grandstanding. No matter one’s views on our failed system, all but a morally bankrupt president would agree that harming children is out of bounds. Only public outrage has halted (we think) the separation of children from parents. But the unresolved trauma continues. My decades of experience as a licensed clinical social worker have led me to believe that the worst emotional problems adults suffer have their origins in childhood trauma. No greater societal mandate exists above the careful nurture of children.

Patricia Green is a member:
CDC researchers, local advocates say more needs to be done to understand, prevent suicide
The Intelligencer
In the six years since Patty Green started the Nicky Green Foundation, she’s seen youth suicide rise from the third- to the second-leading cause of death among young people across the country. It’s now the 10th leading cause of death overall in the United States, and a new report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently showed suicide rates have increased in nearly every state, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Green, a Lumberton, New Jersey, resident knows the statistics all too well. Her son Nicky, the inspiration behind her foundation, died by suicide on June 14, 2012.

Terry Lane is a member:
Murderer’s appeal for parole renews emotions
Beauregard Daily News
Expert witness Louis Lowery and Terry Lane testified about the psychology behind a 17 year-old’s brain. Lowery is a licensed professional counselor who spoke on the underdevelopment of an adolescent mind. “Adolescents operate impulsively – emotional vs. intellectual,” he said. Terry Lane is a clinical social worker who spoke on the effects of trauma on the adolescent brain. He also introduced new information about Hauser being a victim of alleged sexual assault while at the Naval Academy. Lane testified that such a trauma at a young age, like 17, would dramatically distort a person’s perception of the world.