Our Best Wishes for a Joyous
Holiday Season and a
Healthy, Happy New Year!

Message from NASW-DE Executive Director John Shuford

We now have a solid foundation with our new website www.naswde.org and  bi-weekly newsletter, newSWire. Our membership has been steadily increasing and with the collaborations with other professional organizations, our exposure has also been increasing; and more to come next year.

Something new we want to do early next year is create a Listserve for members to communicate with each other. We want this to be a forum where members can discuss issues, concerns and share resources. I have had calls asking for information about specific types of cases and the Listserve would be a valuable resource for that.

In order for the website to be of greatest value to you, the membership, we need your input. Please send to me any resource links, i.e., local, statewide, national or international websites that provide information relevant to social work. There are quite a few national website links on the website, but we need many more, especially more local in relevance. Also, any professional article, manuals or other documents others might want to read.

Now that we have connected with the NASW Mega-Chapter New Jersey, we need to decide which continuing education courses we want in Delaware. They offer over 200 courses, including online and in-person. We have a convener for the Continuing Education committee, but need members who can review the courses. None of our committees will demand much time of its members, as the committees’ efforts will be to support what I cannot get to. It is a good way to get involved in your chapter and will be a significant contribution to social work and social workers in Delaware. We also need member for the Membership and PACE Committees. The PACE Committee not only focuses on political candidates and issues, but also issues specifically of interest to the social work profession in Delaware, e.g., student loan forgiveness, title protection, multi-level licensing, etc.

Reserve two dates: March 22 is the Social Work Month celebration and Chapter annual meeting, which will be held at the Duncan Center in Dover. Also, with our collaboration with the New Jersey Chapter, we will be involved with their annual conference May 1 – May 4 in Atlantic City. This is a huge conference with many continuing education opportunities. I attended last year and it was both impressive and valuable. Many social workers get all their CEUs at this conference. More details to follow.

CEUs approved: I had mentioned in the last newSWire that the Alternatives to Violence Project was holding both a Basic and a Trauma Healing Workshop in January near Centerville out Rt. 52 [Pennsylvania Ave.]. What I did not mention was that the Basic has been approved for 12 CEU’s and the Trauma for 18 ¾ CEU’s. Contact avpde@hotmail.com for more information.

Delaware Helpline has published “Health Care Options Across Delaware” brochure, which lists the available health care resources for the uninsured in all three counties.

Remember, any advertisement you place in the newSWire or on our website www.naswde.org serves two purposes: it gives your ad wide exposure and it supports our chapter. Job postings, office space, trainings, agency programs, agency needs, collaborations and equipment for sale are a few of the things that can be advertised.

Finally, in our July 2, 2010 issue of newSWire, Gail Levinson presented a comprehensive review of the Social Work Practice Act, which will come into effect February 1, 2011. I'm including a website link from Gail's article which outlines our law as it is now and how it will read on February 1, 2011.  It is in the Delaware Code, Title 24, Chapter 39, with the text being at:             
http://delcode.delaware.gov/title24/c039/index.shtml
                                                                                                                            John

Meet the Board: President-Elect Sheridan Quarless-Kingsberry

Sheridan Quarless Kingsberry is an Associate Professor of Social Work at Delaware State University (DSU), where she strives to empower young adults in community-level efforts. In all aspects of her work, she serves as a mentor to young women and men. Dr. Quarless Kingsberry is the former Executive Director of the Division of Programs for the New Jersey Department of State.

Before joining state government, Quarless Kingsberry directed the University Learning Center, the Undergraduate Research Experience Program, the Ronald E. Mc Nair Post baccalaureate Achievement Program, and the Educational Opportunity Program at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). She served as Acting Director of Residence Life at the College of New Jersey, and Youth and Adult Program Director at the YWCAs of Montclair/North Essex and Central New Jersey respectively.

Boards’ membership has including the YWCA Delaware, the National Association of Social Workers-Delaware Chapter, Douglass College Associate Alumnae, Primo Lecture Series and Trustee of Color. Sheridan has received the Douglass College Outstanding Alumnae Award, the New Jersey Outstanding Women of Achievement Award, and the New Jersey Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Commission-Keeper of the Dream Award. Recently, she was honored with the Rita Turner Award, for her strong commitment to the overall mission of the YWCA/Delaware to eliminating racism and empowering women. She is a member of the Flower Guild at St. Barnabas’ Episcopal Church and a Leadership New Jersey Fellow, class of 1992. Quarless Kingsberry resides with her husband Stephen in Hockessin, Delaware.                                                                                                                        

Online CE Institute

Click here or on the image above. The Online CE Institute offers you a variety of alternative learning formats for your continuing education credits, including:

• Audio workshops; available for download (“CEtoGo”) or streaming on your PC (“Online Seminar”)
• Pre-taped video presentations  (coming soon)
• Live on-line seminars (webinars/teleconferences) (coming soon)
  
  

All programs found on this website are certified for any state that accepts NASW approved courses, for those dually licensed in other states, such as Delaware, Pennsylvania, , Florida, and others.

Now Available Online! Early Bird Registration for the NASW-NJ 2011 Annual Conference & Exhibition

Early Bird Registration for the 2011 NASW-NJ Annual Conference in now available. Click here or visit the NASW-NJ Web homepage at www.naswnj.org.

The NASW-NJ Annual Conference and Exhibition, the Meeting of the Profession, will be held on May 1-3, 2011 at the Trump Taj Majal in Atlantic City.

Medicare Payments for Clinical Social Work Services Restored

The Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010 (HR 4994) passed the Senate by unanimous consent on December 8 and the House 409-2 on December 9. The President is expected to sign the bill shortly. The legislation will halt a 25 percent "physician payment" or Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) cut for one full year through the end of 2011. This across the board cut would have applied to all clinical social worker payments for psychological services billed independently under Part B. It would instead extend current payment rates through 2011, at an estimated cost of $14.9 billion over 10 years. The measure also would extend a range of expiring Medicare payment provisions, including a cap on therapy services, hospital geographic reclassifications, and the Transitional Medical Assistance program that allows low-income families to maintain Medicaid coverage as they start jobs and show increased earnings.

Most importantly for clinical social workers and psychologists, the measure also includes a one-year extension of the 5 percent psychotherapy payment restoration. The provision ensures the continuation of $30 million in Medicare payments for 2011, which will be shared by clinical social workers psychologists billing the program. The bill also provides funding to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to process backlogged payments for claims since January 1, 2010 to which the restoration will be retroactively applied.

Medicare CSW payment issues will remain a top priority for NASW in the coming year. While we continue to face a challenging environment and complex battles on payment issues, this victory demonstrates the importance of NASW advocacy on behalf of the social work profession.

Office on Women's Health Funding Opportunity: Women's Health Conference Support Projects

The Office on Women’s Health (federal HHS) has published a request for proposals for partial funding for women's health conferences in the United States and its affiliated territories. Funding is available for non-federal conferences that address health promotion and disease prevention in women and girls, and focus on gender disparities and health equity. Conferences must meet the following requirements:

• Attendance must be a minimum of 50 participants;
• Target audience must include health professionals;
• Offer continuing education credits;
• Span at least one day.

The deadline for applications is December 29, 2010.
Click here for application instructions.   

A New Nursing Home Population: The Young

There's one age group that's going into nursing homes at a higher rate. And it's not the elderly. Young people ages 31 to 64 now make up 14 percent of the nursing home population, an analysis of federal data from the Department of Health and Human Services by NPR's Investigative Unit found. That's up from 10 percent just 10 years ago. MORE.

Drugmakers, Academics Team Up on Mental Illness

Nine major pharmaceutical companies have agreed to pool data on drug trials with academic institutions in an effort to improve ways of developing of new medicines to treat psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. MORE.

Economy Puts Squeeze on School Social Workers

Studies have shown that in many states, school social workers are the major providers of mental health services to children and in some cases, such as rural or inner city areas, schools are the only mental health service provider in the community.

Yet only about 5 percent of the nation's approximately half-million social workers work in public schools, according to the National Association of Social Workers. That organization recently went before a congressional committee to brief legislators on the need for additional federal and state investments to overcome the challenges of recruiting, educating and keeping social workers.

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projections, at least 100,000 more social workers will be needed by 2018 just to keep pace with the volume of social needs in communities. MORE

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