NASW News

Media journalist’s work parallels conference’s focus on social equity and justice. Award-winning media journalist Soledad O’Brien will join the list of keynote speakers at NASW’s national conference, “Leading Change, Transforming Lives,” which will take place June 22-25 in Washington, D.C. O’Brien is credited with bringing wider exposure to some of the most important issues and stories in the world. Her critically acclaimed documentary series, “Black in America” and “Latino in America”, is among CNN’s most successful domestic and international franchises. Her documen...

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Members of the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program visited NASW’s national office in Washington, D.C., in January as part of their 21-day project to study grassroots, academic and government programs that focus on juvenile justice, child welfare, abductions and adoptions. NASW staff shared how social workers are trained and educated and how NASW supports the social work workforce. In addition, staff highlighted NASW program and policy work in the areas of child welfare, juvenile justice and criminal justice. The NASW Michigan Chapter coordinated an eight-day social welfare educational research tou...

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Since high school, NASW-Pennsylvania Executive Director Johanna Byrd has known she wanted to help people. Although she wasn’t fully aware of the social work profession at that time, she said she became familiar with it in college. “Going into college, I chose social work as a major pretty much right away,” Byrd said. “Part of the reason for this decision is after having talked to professors and getting familiar with the Code of Ethics, I really felt that social work was the direction I could go where the values and the interests that I had pretty much matched up with the profession.” Byrd obtained her underg...

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The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., published an article profiling NASW member Lisa Gwyther about her journey to become an advocate for Alzheimer’s patients and their families. Gwyther is the director of the Duke Family Support Program and associate professor at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University of Medicine. The story notes that when Gwyther started as a social worker at Duke Medical Center in the late 1970s, awareness of the disease was minimal. She was working at a clinic devoted to geriatric patients when a neurologist who was doing studies on Alzheimer’s started referring famil...

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It’s an all too familiar story: Another mass shooting occurs and innocent lives are lost. In the aftermath, the media reports, yet again, that the shooter has, or had, a mental illness. We feel all at once sadness, grief and outrage. And the headlines make it easy to believe people with mental illness are violent. But in fact, the causes of gun violence and how to stop it are much more complex issues. Social workers solve complex problems every day and want to play a role in regulating access to guns. But not at the expense of those with mental illness, who are often scapegoats in the wake of gun violence tragedies. At the same tim...

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As I reflect on the 2016 Social Work Month theme, “Forging Solutions out of Challenges,” I understand that — along with being a long-held hallmark of social work — turning challenges into solutions calls for strengthening the scientific basis of practice. In January, I attended the Society of Social Work Research’s 20th annual conference. Throughout the conference, I kept coming back to the following thought, “How can we create new paradigms for better delivery and dissemination of social work scientific advances?” A consistent theme in several sessions centered on how to engage practitioners to inc...

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Social workers Karen Fredriksen-Goldsen (photo left) and Kevin Mahoney (photo right) were included in Next Avenue’s 50 Influencers in Aging list. Fredriksen-Goldsen is a University of Washington social work professor who directs the school’s Institute for Multigenerational Health, and in 2014 launched the university’s Healthy Generations Hartford Center of Excellence, which enhances social workers’ knowledge and skills in aging. Mahoney is a faculty member at the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work. He serves as director of the National Resource Center for Participant-Directed Services at Boston College...

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There are plenty of opportunities for social workers and their fans to celebrate and promote National Professional Social Work Month this March. Whether a person favors writing letters, posting photos and videos, or voting for their favorite media programs that promote social work, NASW has the tools to help with inspiration, said Greg Wright, NASW public relations manager. SocialWorkMonth.org has a complete listing of tools and activities divided into categories. And, as in previous Social Work Month celebrations, contests will be held to fire up participation this year, Wright said. Multimedia Contest This year’s theme is &ld...

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Delegates from the Korea Association of Social Workers visited NASW’s national office in Washington, D.C., in December. Participants learned from NASW staff, including NASW CEO Angelo McClain, about the association’s efforts in promoting social work workplace safety, as well as other programs and policy efforts that aid the profession. Several NASW Social Work Pioneers® also joined in the meeting, where they discussed how the Pioneers program honors and promotes social workers. More than 200 students and faculty members from the Touro College Graduate School of Social Work in New York City gathered in December to discuss v...

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Attendees at a University of Michigan-Ann Arbor forum (photo right) watch a video interview of former congressman Ron Dellums during the school’s fall forum, “Developing A Social Work Response To Racism, Hate Crimes, and Police Use of Force.” NASW’s Michigan Chapter partnered with 14 schools of social work last fall to host a first-ever series of race forums./ Courtesy University of Michigan School of Social Work.   Many NASW chapters are addressing the complex issues of racism, hate crimes and police use of force in their communities. The NASW Michigan Chapter is the latest example of social workers wo...

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