The political landscape continues to shift, influencing policies, funding priorities, and the organizational environments in which social work administrators operate. This session explores how changes in political climate affect decision-making, program sustainability, advocacy efforts, and workforce morale within social service organizations. Participants will examine strategies to navigate uncertainty, uphold ethical leadership, and maintain mission alignment amid evolving political and social pressures.

This live webinar presentation will explore how technology impacts children, with a focus on the effects of screen addiction on mental health. Overreliance on screens as a distraction, source of entertainment, or emotional escape has become a hazardous trend among children. Screen addiction can hinder brain development, stifle emotional and social growth, disrupt education, and adversely affect physical health. Additionally, it can jeopardize a child's personal safety, exposing them to cyberbullying and inappropriate content. Practical tips for minimizing screen time will be shared, along with resources to help families seeking support. 

Adults who have experienced traumatic events as children can present with a myriad of complex symptoms and dysfunctional lifestyles later in life. Studies show that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) can have long-term profound effects on your physical, mental, and emotional health. ACE’s can affect how adults respond to anxiety-producing situations, how they communicate with others, and how they experience life overall. This interactive workshop will assist attendees with understanding how trauma from ACE’s “shows up” in adulthood, will inform attendees of the long-term effects of ACE’s, and will identify ways adults can build long-term resiliency.

Due to their widespread availability and lethality, guns fuel the United States’ high suicide and homicide rates, with devastating mass shootings on the rise across the nation. Social workers can lead the way in mitigating gun violence through careful assessment, education, and policy advocacy efforts rooted in our profession's core values. Together, we will learn more about how gun violence is affecting our clients and communities, and ways that social workers can intervene at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels of practice.

This live workshop explores the profound and often overlooked traumatic stress experienced by children growing up in undocumented and mixed-status families in the era of mass deportation, surveillance, and heightened immigration enforcement. Drawing from trauma-informed and family systems perspectives, participants will examine how chronic fear, separation threats, and systemic discrimination shape attachment, development, and identity among these children. Through case examples, current research, and reflection, we will consider the emotional, relational, and educational toll of living in constant uncertainty while identifying practical, culturally responsive strategies for promoting safety, connection, and healing in clinical, school, and community settings.