News Items – December 22, 2022
News Items – December 22, 2022
Hannah Ware is development associate for NASW-OH:
Social
workers: advocating for the world around them
LimaOhio.com
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, social workers help others prevent and cope
with problems in their everyday lives. Social workers provide this support for
others through years of training in the classroom and in person. Hannah
Ware, Development Associate for the Ohio National Associate of Social Workers,
weighed in. “We are a very values-based profession,” said Ware. “A lot of our
orientation comes from our code of ethics. The way we look at situations is the
way that we determine self-determination. The center is systems focused we
don’t just look at the individual we look at all the systems that are impacting
them. Their family, their community, and the larger political and social
systems.”
Bryan Mares is government relations director of NASW-TX:
Texas
Fights Anti-Discrimination Policy For Adoption
Local Profile
The National Association of Social Workers Texas government relations
director, Bryan Mares believes this could create a deficit in foster homes
supply for LGBTQ+ children. “It makes it much more difficult to find families
who might already identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community to bring children
that are in the system into their home,” said Mares (via Texas Tribune).
“It really just impedes our ability to prioritize LGBTQ+ youth placements into homes
where they are being supported in a way that they need.”
Dawn Apgar is a member of NASW-NJ:
Fighting
for the Rights of Others: Dawn Apgar’s Research Is Shaping a New Era of Social
Work Practice and Activism
Seton Hall University
Many people who would excel in the field of social work aren’t even aware the
profession might be their true calling—which is why Seton Hall’s Dawn Apgar, a
nationally recognized leader in social work, is on a mission to demystify
what social work is and recruit future leaders to the field. “Do you want
to help people, through individual-level therapy or as a social activist? Are
you fighting for the rights of others? If so—social work is for you,”
Apgar says.
Isabel Logan is a member of NASW-CT:
Winning
Over Skeptics: More Police Departments Enlist Social Workers For Crisis
Intervention
Connecticut Health I-Team
Milford’s chief, Keith Mello, chairs the state’s Police Officer
Standards and Training Council and attended the state task force meetings on
police accountability. After the bill was passed, there was a mandate but no
template for exploring police social work. Mello learned about the fledgling
program in Willimantic from its founder, Isabel Logan, Ed.D, LCSW, and
signed on in the fall of 2021. Logan, 48, had worked in the court system for 20
years, first as a social worker in the public defender’s office in New Haven,
then at Hartford juvenile court.
Rick Miller is a member of NASW-MA:
For
Many, Holidays Were Never Picture-Perfect
Psychology Today
For LGBTQ folks, finding a meaningful and relevant way to enjoy the
holidays and share joy with others poses many challenges. For many of us,
it’s a dreaded time: while the rest of the world (it seems) is busy being merry
and bright, we are still often ignored, ostracized, and alienated. The special
rituals of family and faith are not available to many of us, and loneliness is
magnified. The Hallmark movies don’t help. When will there be greeting cards
and movies that speak to a different experience of the winter
holidays?
Gail Flack is a member of NASW-OK:
Mental
Health Expert Shares Ways To Find Support During The Holidays
News on 6
“The lack of light,” Gail
Flack, a licensed clinical social worker at Parkside Hospital
explained. “We have shorter days. Financial stress. Family stress, and just a
lot of emotional stuff that can go on during the Christmas time.” Flack
understands that at this time of year, a lot of people want to do everything it
takes to get ready for the holidays by themselves. However, it’s better to let
others help. “Have people bring in things,” said Flack. “Not do all the
cooking yourself. Not doing all the presents yourself, not decorating everything
for everybody, but doing things you want to do for yourself.”
Donna Henderson is a member of NASW-OR:
Navigating
the Holidays After Loss
Columbia Community Connection
The winter holiday season can be stressful under any circumstances,
whether its stressors are experienced as positive or negative. There are gifts
to purchase, expectations (real or imagined) of others to face, invitations to
events that we may welcome or dread (or both!), winter travel to navigate,
crowds in town, strains on finances, winter viruses, the presence of friends or
family members we may not like that much (or the absence of those we do)…and on
and on. And for those who have experienced recent loss (as many in our
community have this year), the usual seasonal stresses are hugely amplified.
Gail Flack is a member of NASW-OK:
Mental
Health Expert Shares Ways To Find Support During The Holidays
KWTV
“The lack of light,” Gail
Flack, a licensed clinical social worker at Parkside Hospital explained.
“We have shorter days. Financial stress. Family stress, and just a lot of
emotional stuff that can go on during the Christmas time.” Flack
understands that at this time of year, a lot of people want to do everything it
takes to get ready for the holidays by themselves. However, it’s better to let
others help. “Have people bring in things,” said Flack. “Not do all the
cooking yourself. Not doing all the presents yourself, not decorating
everything for everybody, but doing things you want to do for yourself.”
Toni Teixeira is a member of NASW-NJ:
5 Things
You’re Not Texting Your Partner That Therapists Say You Should Be
Best Life
There’s never a bad moment to remind your partner that you love them—so
even if you already say it to them, don’t forget to text it, too. “Text to
say ‘I Love you’ when the spirit moves you, even if it is a fleeting
moment,” says Toni Teixeira, LCSW, a licensed clinical social
worker with a private psychotherapy practice. “When love
shows up in your heart, share it.”
Matthew Richards is a member of NASW-IL:
$200K
grant from NFL to help group focusing on mental health calls on Chicago’s West
Side: ‘We really want to put dollars where help is needed.’
Chicago Tribune
The city’s CARE pilot program launched last fall in an attempt to
address mental illness through less of a punitive lens and more of a medical
one, according to licensed clinical social worker Matthew Richards, CARE’s
deputy commissioner of behavioral health. The effort integrates mental
health professionals into the 911 response system to help those experiencing a
behavioral health emergency — meaning police and social workers are working together
to connect people to treatment.
‘Peace
For DC’ Among Social Justice Groups to Receive NFL Grants
NBC4
The NFL announced Thursday it’s giving grants to five social justice
groups, including Peace for D.C. The money will go toward hiring more social
workers and life coaches, as well as building up more programs to train
students. “To know that the NFL is backing the Peace Academy, and
interested in the Peace Academy and want to support our work, that’s gonna be a
huge thing for the community and for them to come on board. It’s gonna be
huge,” student Joel Super said.