Recent Mentions of NASW in the News
CommonWealth Beacon
Rebekah Gewirtz, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers Massachusetts chapter, said the proposed change feels like an unnecessary hurdle for people struggling to stay afloat. “It just requires people to be destitute,” Gewirtz said.
The University Daily Kansan
Tonya Ricklefs, president of the Kansas chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, also said she is concerned about accreditation issues if the bill passes. The Council on Social Work Education, which accredits social work programs, mandates anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion in social work curriculum.
Collinsville Daily News
“The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) thanks Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski and Congressman Tracey Mann for introducing the bipartisan More Behavioral Health Providers Act, complementing the introduction in the Senate last year. ..." said Anthony Estreet, PhD, MBA, LCSW-C, Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of Social Workers.
Port City Daily
The community gathering brought in several generations of Wilmingtonians, including University of North Carolina Wilmington students. This included Kiara Brecht and Lisa Watson, two social work majors. “It’s important to emphasize with our profession as social workers that it’s a part of our values and ethics to stand up for the community and to be politically active,” Brecht said. “We need to be outspoken, and we need to protect those who are most vulnerable. That is part of the [National Association of Social Workers] code of ethics.”
The Guam Daily Post
Malia Salisbury, representing the National Associaiton of Social Workers Guam chapter, said her group supports enhancing the minimum wage to meet inflation because "it is an essential step to promoting economic reform and securing economic justice for our working class people."
Military.com
“Social workers have served veterans since 1926,” Greg Wright with the National Association of Social Workers told Military.com. “Today, more than 18,000 VA social workers provide crisis intervention, advocacy, benefit assistance and therapy for PTSD, depression and addiction.”
Milwaukee Independent
Regulators and advocates of the laws say they are open to changes. But today’s chatbots are not a solution to the mental health provider shortage, said Kyle Hillman, who lobbied for the bills in Illinois and Nevada through his affiliation with the National Association of Social Workers.
WCMH
“This shift essentially raises the financial barrier to graduate education in fields that are critical to healthcare and social services,” said Mel Wilson, senior policy adviser for the National Association of Social Workers. “It risks creating a two-tier system where medicine and law remain accessible through federal support, while nursing and social work become financially prohibitive for many.”
The 74
Dina Kastner, public policy and advocacy manager for the National Association of Social Workers, said federal loan limits “will really have an impact” on social work students. “For people who are going to graduate school — particularly in a profession like social work, where a graduate degree is needed for a lot of the work that social workers do — it’s definitely a problem,” she said in an interview.
IndyStar
The Indiana Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers released a statement that said it has "grave concerns" with the university's handling of the situation. The organization said societal issues like systemic racism and injustice are inconvenient but critical conversations in the social work field.