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Message from NASW-DE Executive Director John Shuford

Now that the elections are over and the dust has settled, what does it mean for social workers? Many of us were disappointed by what happened nationally, but no matter who we supported in the elections, we have one big problem with the political system: far too many of us don't get involved in the process as change agents. We talk about it, we read about it, we follow it in the media – but we don’t take the next steps.

Many people think President Obama should have changed the country in his first 20 months. For those folks, I recommend reading Timothy Egan's Op-Ed in the New York Times:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/how-obama-saved-capitalism-and-lost-the-midterms. If one disregards the political banter, what has been accomplished in the first 20 months is more significant legislation than any other time period in the last 20 or 30 years. Currently, there are over 400 bills the House has passed waiting for the Senate. The title of Egan’s column is very appropriate.

Now we can look ahead to what will, no doubt, be a difficult time, with a bitterly divided Congress and a citizenry that is angry but not thinking rationally about the challenges we face. So what can we do in these two years? Well, we can re-energize, strategize, and become more engaged in the process. We can reaffirm our social work values and use them to help redirect the economic and social turmoil of today’s America. It's easy to lament politics and government today, to throw up our hands or point to the other person as the problem. What we really need to do is to become even more involved in solving problems in our communities, our state, and our nation. As social workers, we can't afford to do anything less.

Chapter News: The Delegate Assembly is the representative, decision-making body-comprised of 277 elected delegates-through which NASW members set broad organizational policy, establish program priorities, and develop a collective stance on public and professional issues. The next Delegate Assembly will be held August 2011.

The Delaware Chapter will have a Delegate (which is the Chapter President) and via special election will have an Alternate Delegate (serves in the absence of the Delegate). In preparation for the  2011 Delegate Assembly, NASW DE Chapter held a special election for an Alternate Delegate. The nominees were Eleanor M. Keisel and John Mucha. The outcome of member votes named Eleanor M. Keisel 2011 Alternate Delegate. We want to thank our nominees and  each of you for participating in the special election.

In this issue of newSWire I am also including a very good description and explanation of psychotherapy by the Mayo Clinic. This may be useful for clinicians and their clients.

There is also a very interesting slide show from a talk given by Stephanie Covington, PhD, LCSW on Women, Girls and Trauma.

Lastly, a notice has been issued by the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health about extending the period of “grandparenting” Credentialed Prevention Specialists without having to take the test. This may be of interest to some social workers. Click here for background information.
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                        John

Ask Your Senators to Push for Vote on CEDAW

Take Action: Click Here!

On Thursday, November 18, for the first time in EIGHT years, the United States Senate held a hearing focused solely on the importance of ratifying CEDAW ( the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) – a momentous step forward in our push to ratify this important Treaty. One of the witnesses at the hearing will be an international activist who uses CEDAW in her home country of Afghanistan to push for progress for women and girls – and she will express her frustration that the U.S. has yet to ratify this important human rights treaty. This hearing underscores the importance of the U.S. ratifying CEDAW and remaining a world leader on human rights issues and is an important first step towards holding a VOTE on CEDAW!

Women's Rights are Human Rights! Contact your Senators and ask them to support CEDAW and to urge Senator Kerry to hold a VOTE on CEDAW now!

Online CEs Available Now!

In an ongoing partnership with the New Jersey Chapter of NASW, we now have 14 workshops available that DE social workers can access on the NASW-NJ website (including 5 ethics CEs). Click on the banner below to see what's available.

Social Security's Mental Health Proposal Worries Advocates

Buried inside a 34-page proposed federal regulation are a few sentences that are causing nightmares for mental health advocacy groups. The regulation, from the Social Security Administration, could change how people with mental illnesses are evaluated for disability payments. The concern is over whether standardized testing will be required to determine such payments.MORE

New Practice Standard – Family Caregivers of Older Adults

NASW is pleased to announce the release of the NASW Standards for Social Work Practice with Family Caregivers of Older Adults, designed to enhance social work practice with family caregivers of older adults and to help the public understand the role of professional social work in supporting family caregivers. The standards were developed as part of Professional Partners Supporting Family Caregivers, an initiative done in partnership with the AARP Foundation, the U.S. Administration on Aging (AoA), the Family Caregiver Alliance, and the National Association of Social Workers, and made possible by funding from the John A. Hartford Foundation. The release of the standards coincides with the National Family Caregivers Month and the launch of AoA’s Year of the Caregiver.

Early Childhood Home Visiting Resources

This resource (below) from Pew may be of interest to members and chapters as states begin to plan to implement the early childhood home visiting program that was included in the Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act.

Pew Launches Tool to Help Promote States’ Home Visiting Programs for New and Expectant Families — Source Organization: Pew Center on the States

11/02/2010 - In 2010, the Pew Center on the States surveyed state agency leaders in an effort to inventory state home visiting programs in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Policy makers now have – for the very first time – a much-needed account of state and national home visiting investments and program strategies.

The resulting Pew Home Visiting Inventory provides state leaders, agency administrators and program directors with a state-by-state and national snapshot of home visiting programs, models and funding.

This new resource will help state and federal policy makers evaluate current home visiting approaches, compare systems across states, prepare for the upcoming infusion of federal home visiting grant dollars and make informed decisions to ensure the best results for families and strongest returns to taxpayers. View the Pew Home Visiting Inventory on the Pew Center on the States Web site.

National Adoption Month

November is National Adoption Month, a month set aside each year to raise awareness about the adoption of children and youth from foster care. This year's National Adoption Month initiative targets adoption professionals by focusing on ways to recruit and retain parents for the 115,000 children and youth in foster care waiting for adoptive families. MORE

New "Be a Social Worker" Website

There's a new website in town, called Be A Social Worker. The site covers an array of information about a choosing a career in social work, and provides inspiring stories and ways to connect with real social workers.

Developed by NASW in collaboration with the nation’s schools of social work, this website was created to educate prospective social workers about the scope and vitality of the profession. By highlighting real stories accomplished social workers, the site provides an up close and personal look at the profession’s diverse people, opportunities and contributions. In addition to the social worker profiles, there is a range of helpful information and resources for making an informed career choice.

You can find the new site at: http://www.beasocialworker.org.

News from DE and Beyond...

Click on an article's heading for the link

Social class seemingly affects treatment for depression
HealthJockey.com
Lydia Falconnier, assistant professor in UIC's Jane Addams College of Social Work and colleagues aim to adapt current therapies with a greater focus on the daily work and economic stressors that low-income individuals face.

Woman inspired to begin support group
Morning Sentinel
Even for someone like Labul, a clinical social worker at Tri-County Mental Health whose husband is a physician, the diagnosis left her confused and unsure what to do next.

Your Child Can Control Bullies: Use Unruh's “Stop Bullying Now ...
NewsReleaseWire.com

Gary M. Unruh, MSW, LCSW, forty-year veteran family and child therapist, sees the evidence every day in his practice: "School programs aren't working parents don't know what to do, and children are being damaged. There's no escaping bullying; it's 25/8, thanks to cyberspace technology," he says.

Summit explores nature of poverty
Indiana Gazette

The summit, called the Community Sustainability Summit on the Effects of Poverty, brought together professors, social workers, and community members from Indiana County and elsewhere in the state.

Care centers provide fun for elders, relief for family
Columbus Dispatch

Both are assistant professors in Ohio State's College of Social Work. The centers not only give people a place to go, they also help with health concerns and can alert clients and their doctors to problems.

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