Message from NASW-DE Executive Director John Shuford

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Annual Leadership Meeting of NASW in Washington, DC. As part of that meeting, we spent half a day visiting our senators and representative’s offices. We were asking them to support the Social Work Reinvestment act, which would create a Commission to provide a comprehensive analysis of current trends within the practice, academic, and professional social work communities.

Specifically, the Commission would address the future of the profession by developing recommendations and strategies to maximize the ability of America’s social workers to serve clients with expertise and care. We all know social workers are underpaid, under-acknowledged and under-utilized. This initiative will move in the direction to change that. All three of our representatives in Washington favor what the Commission would do, but none was ready to sponsor it this year. They need to hear from you, the social workers in the community. Please contact all three and ask for their sponsorship and support. For more information, contact our office.

The program for the Summer Institute has been published. NASW is a sponsor of this excellent conference.  Check it out.

A couple of weeks ago I spoke with Lyn Robinson of PAWS for People, a Pet Therapy program.  I knew little about pet therapy other than dogs visiting residents in nursing homes. I now understand this form of therapy is much more and Delaware is at the center of some serious research being done at Christiana Hospital. Those involved in the program are trained and work with a variety of clients. I am going to include a number of articles on this form of therapy in coming issues. The first one is an overview.

The NASW Memberlink has some useful resources and continuing education opportunities.

PS: I was very please to learn that I have been chosen to receive 2011 William A. Vrooman "Exemplar of Justice" Award presented by the Delaware Center for Justice. Last year the Governor received this honor. The award honors my 20 years of working with inmates and staff in Delaware’s prisons and elsewhere. I thought the social work community should know about one of their own receiving such an honor.

Test Prep in Delaware -Tomorrow!

In partnership with the NASW-NJ Chapter, NASW-DE will be holding the LCSW Test Prep Course in DE.

Same great presenter (Dawn Hall Apgar) and price, in a new location!
    
    LCSW / Clinical Test Prep
    Saturday May 21, 2011
    9:00 AM - 4:30 PM
    Claymont Community Center
    Wilmington, DE

Click here to register.

Getting Covered & Health Care

Getting Covered is a campaign to inform young adults and their families about the provision in the new health care law that allows young adults to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans until age 26. This provision is important. It has the potential to cover over 2 million of our nation's 18.9 million uninsured young adults. And it will not add a single dollar to state or federal budgets. Getting Covered will ensure that all young adults, parents and families have the information they need to take advantage of this benefit.   The toolkit includes important state-level health insurance information, and covers topics such as:

-         How to stay on or go back on your parent's plan up to age 26
-         What to look for when buying individual insurance, including key
          insurance terms
-         What you should know if you have a pre-existing or chronic condition
-         What government insurance programs, such as Medicaid, might be
          available in your state
-         Where to find a community health center near you
-         What you need to know about the new health care law
-         What to look for if you are a young woman
-         Facts on Young Adults and Cancer

Download the toolkit at: www.GettingCovered.org/Toolkit
The Getting Covered campaign is the product of over twenty national organizations and dozens of state and local groups, all dedicated to making health care reform work for young adults. The campaign is coordinated by Young Invincibles -- a national organization representing the interests of young Americans between the ages of 18 and 34.

Report Shows Children's Health Care and Quality Needs to Be Measured Better

"Health and health care quality measures can provide valuable information about the health status of children and adolescents, as well as the outcomes associated with medical care, policy, and social programs. Despite the fact that the U.S. government currently supports hundreds of data sets and measures through federal surveys and administrative data systems, the United States lacks robust national- and state-level information about the health status or health care quality of children and adolescents, particularly in areas that could provide guidance to policy makers and health care providers," according to a report published by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council. Click here for details.

Prevention: Saving Seniors, Medicare — and a Trillion Dollars

They know what we know: saving money can’t come at the expense of the frailest members of our society. We can take on Medicare as a means to address the budget deficit—but we have to do it effectively and compassionately. The right approach is to invest now in prevention. MORE

Rule Would Discourage States' Cutting Medicaid Payments to Providers

A New York Times article reports on the effort to increase access to health care for poor people. The Obama administration is proposing a rule that would make it more difficult for states to cut Medicaid payments to doctors and hospitals. The rule could also put pressure on some states to increase Medicaid payment rates, which are typically lower than what Medicare and commercial insurance pay," according to the New York Times. Click here to read the entire article.

Secondhand Smoke Affects the Brain

A study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse demonstrates that exposure to secondhand smoke "has a direct, measurable impact on the brain - and the effect is similar to what happens in the brain of the person doing the smoking. In fact, exposure to this secondhand smoke evokes cravings among smokers," according to a press release issued by the National Institutes of Health. MORE

• Click here for information and resources to help quit smoking.

News from DE and Beyond...

click on article title for link

Mother-daughter duo, Flint community activists to graduate together at ...
Both are getting degrees in social work. FLINT, Michigan — A wooden cross peeks out from the middle of an east side Flint neighborhood edged by boarded-up homes with shattered windows and disheveled lawns. Inside the small ivory colored church on the corner of Delaware and Minnesota avenues, Debra and Chia Morgan are trying to make a difference.

Mexican study indicates working stunts kids' growth
Victor Inzua Canales, a scholar at UNAM's National School of Social Work and lead researcher for the project, said "there are child laborers who are as much as 10 centimeters (almost 4 inches) shorter than those who don't work.

Burwell: Robert Quinn offered hope in fellow player's time of need
Butters is a social worker at Duke University's Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center, and you can learn a lot about people when you spend your working hours dealing in the incomprehensible sadness and uncommon inspiration inside a hospital pediatric ward.

Pamela Gerloff The Psychology of Revenge: Why We Should Stop Celebrating Osama Bin Laden's Death

The Surprising New Finding About Narcissists
When I started out as a clinical social worker, I worked with substance abusers in intensive outpatient and residential treatment. We had a wide range of clients, a lot of them mandated, a lot of them hardcore. A good percentage were either narcissistic or sociopathic (the latter being more extreme).

In Helping Others, Finding What Was Never Truly Lost
She turned to John Sullivan, the tall, smiling social worker who had discovered her on a bench in the Broadway median. The woman was a nurse who had lost her grip and had been living in a tent on the Upper West Side, until Mr. Sullivan coaxed her off the street.

Myths about the homeless, Part Two
By Meridith Bolster, LCSW, Penobscot Community Health Care AP photo There are many myths and stereotypes about the homeless. Myths and stereotypes come about due to misconceptions born of ignorance, overgeneralizations from a single experience, and poor access to the real facts. MORE

Surge of seniors to lessen tax intake
Lisa Gwyther, a clinical social worker and senior fellow at Duke's Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, said many boomers hitting retirement age are stuck in homes they can no longer afford. In today's market, they risk selling it for far less than it is worth or less than they owe.

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