Social Work in the Public Eye
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| William Waldman |
NASW member William Waldman — former commissioner for
the New Jersey Department of Human Services — received the Chauncey
Alexander Lifetime Achievement Award, an article in Newark’s Local Talk News
said.
The award, which was established in 1989, honors the career
span of chosen social work managers. Waldman was presented the award in May at
the National Network for Social Work Management conference in Newark, N. J. The
article says Waldman is known for his efforts to close institutions and to
settle people with developmental disabilities into group homes.
Waldman’s nearly 50-year career includes positions as
executive director of the American Public Human Services Association in
Washington, D.C., and head of the Middlesex County Department of Human Services
in New Jersey. Waldman has also been a visiting professor at Rutgers University
School of Social Work since 2001. He says in the article that social work is an honorable profession and a
“continuing struggle and effort to be a force for society.”
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| Peggy Eagan |
An article in The Charlotte Post announced that NASW member Peggy
Eagan has been named director of Mecklenburg County’s Department of Social
Services in North Carolina. Eagan’s position, which started in June, involves
overseeing public services such as benefits for the Supplemental Assistance
Nutrition Program, child protection and senior assistance.
As director, Eagan will be charged with reshaping the
organization, and will potentially manage a budget of $161.3 million as well as
about 1,200 employees, the article says. “We are pleased to have Peggy Eagan as
part of our organization,” interim county manager Bobbie Shields said in a
statement. “As a certified social worker, she understands the importance of the
social work profession and the impact social workers make in the lives of the
people they serve.”
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| Evan King |
NASW member Evan King’s mantra is “hungry kids can’t
learn,” she says in an article on Oregonlive.com. King’s efforts to prevent
hunger among students at Rowe Middle School in Oregon were recently recognized
when she received the Advocate for Children Award, which the article says is
the most prestigious award the Oregon PTA bestows.
King, who is a social worker at the school, was recognized for
establishing a lunch fund for Rowe students who don’t have lunch money, and for
arranging a high-protein snack to be available to every student at the school.
Carol Wire, Oregon PTA’s executive director, said the Advocate for Children
Award is only given when someone worthy is identified, and it’s not given every
year.
“Evan King exemplifies PTA values of collaboration,
commitment, accountability, respect, integrity and inclusivity,” Wire says in
the article. “She has made a commitment that no Rowe kids will go hungry and
she has built a community network to assure that she can keep that promise.
This kind of advocacy is an example to us all and Oregon PTA is proud to
recognize her work in preventing hunger from derailing a child’s school
success.”
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| Steve Tuck |
Although teen pregnancy has decreased nationally, it has risen
in West Virginia in some years, especially in a few poor, rural areas,
according to an article by the Public News Service.
NASW member Steve Tuck, chief executive of the
Children’s Home Society of West Virginia, says in the article that teen
pregnancy prevention programs were adopted in Parkersburg and Martinsburg three
years ago as the organization started versions of a successful New York-based
program in the two West Virginia cities.
The program offers different kinds of support for children —
from academic help to job training — starting in the sixth grade and continuing
through high school, he says in the article. Very little of it actually has to
do with sex, Tuck says, because the point is to help young people have the
kinds of goals that can help them want to avoid self-destructive behavior.
Although it’s too soon for statistical results, Tuck says some
parents have seen a difference. In the article, he quotes a letter sent by one
mother: “I watch so many great changes in my daughter. Her grade-point average
is up an entire point. I love the fact that this will be available all the way
through high school for her. Thank you - A grateful parent.”
Preventing teen pregnancy is vital, Tuck says, because teens
who become parents are much more likely to drop out, end up poor and be
dependent on government programs.
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| Edward Kaufman |
An article written in the Chicago Tribune Local — Highland
Park and Deerfield — recognizes NASW member Edward Kaufman for his many
contributions to the community and his long-standing career in providing mental
health services.
Kaufman specializes in child and adolescent psychotherapy and
has been in private practice in the Chicago area for nearly 45 years. His
involvement in the Highland Park community includes serving on the Mayor’s
Commission on Vandalism, the Youth Commission board of directors and the Apple
Tree Theatre board.
Kaufman also serves on the board of the Chicago Institute for
Psychoanalysis and is director and faculty member of the Child and Adolescent
Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Program. The article says Kaufman was instrumental
in launching the institute’s Engelwood Project, which provides therapy to
Chicago youths who have been affected by drugs, gangs and high murder rates.
Kaufman also is involved with several of the institute’s community outreach
projects, including the Beacon Therapeutic School, A Home Within, and a new
collaborative project between the Family Court of Chicago and the institute’s
Barr-Harris Children’s’ Grief Center and Adult Psychotherapy Clinic. The
project provides custody evaluations to families with limited financial means.
Kaufman has lived in Highland Park for 37 years.
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From July 2013 NASW News. © 2013 National
Association of Social Workers. All Rights Reserved. NASW News
articles may be copied for personal use, but proper notice of
copyright and credit to the NASW News must appear on all copies
made. This permission does not apply to reproduction for advertising,
promotion, resale, or other commercial purposes.
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