Need answers? Want help? Introducing a new member benefit! MyNASW Community—a members-only online space—is your go-to for all things social work: mynasw.socialworkers.org

NASW-MA is seeking members for its Awards Committee. The purpose of the Committee is:

Contact Cassandra Prager with any questions and to learn how to apply. The deadline to put your name forward is early September, so act soon!

As part of the Chapter's 2018-2020 Strategic Plan, we are forming a Racial Justice Council to ensure that our internal and external work promotes and supports equity, diversity, and inclusion. Are you interested in joining? Please send a one-page letter of interest and an updated resume to Jamie Klufts ( [email protected]) by September 7th. Council members will be screened and appointed by the board of directors at the end of September.

You can read the 2018-2020 Strategic Plan here that outlines the NASW-MA Chapter goals for racial justice and the creation of the council.

The Collaborative, our Chapter's CE program approval program, is seeking NASW members to be reviewers of continuing education programs.

Qualifications: LICSW or LCSW with 5 or more years of experience. Understand professional continuing education and be able to evaluate whether programs meet the needs of licensed social workers. Must be available by email.

Responsibilities: Process 15 to 20 applications a month and return results within 10 business days.

Reviewers earn vouchers to be used in lieu of payment for any NASW CE program! Send resume and a letter of reference to Adam Linn, Collaborative Coordinator, at [email protected].

This 2 CEU workshop will provide an overview of the State’s legislative process and how to effectively lobby lawmakers by harnessing what you learned in social work school. Come and see how clinical skills can be used when discussing legislation with stakeholders.

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

5:30 - 7:30 pm

Downtown Boston (exact location TBA)

Speakers: Sophie Hansen, LCSW, Political Director, NASW - MA Chapter, and Jordan Berg Powers, Executive Director, Mass Alliance. 

Free for NASW-MA members / $10 for non-members!

Join the NASW-MA Northeast Regional Council for a family-friendly event to meet fellow social workers in the Northeast Region. Learn more about NASW-MA, the Northeast Regional Council, and how to get involved in political advocacy in the region as a social worker. Special guests include: Sophie Hansen, NASW Political Director, and Beth Morrison, Northeast Regional Coordinator. 

Sunday, August 26, 2018

2:00 - 4:00 pm

Kimball Farm, 400 Littleton Road, Westford, MA

Please meet in the large tent behind the grill and seafood shack.

Join us for a screening of  CAREgivers , an award-winning film examining the lives of caregivers and public servants.

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

6:00 - 8:00 pm

GVNA Fitchburg Adult Day Health

481 Electric Avenue, Fitchburg

The screening will be followed by an interactive   group activity and discussion.

Attendees will learn to define and unpack layers of trauma and related components, as well as the meridian tapping technique for releasing and eliminating traumatic emotions for use with clients. 

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

9:30 am - 12:45 pm

The Walker Center

144 Hancock St., Auburndale

Speaker: Judith Swack, PhD, President, Healing from the Body Level Up, Inc.

This program will confront the opioid epidemic in Massachusetts, from macro to micro, equipping attendees with trend data, information about the social determinants of health, screening and identification tools, and evidence-based treatment strategies. 

Friday, September 14, 2018

9:15 am - 5:00 pm

Boston University, Photonics Colloquium Room, 9th Fl., 8 St. Mary’s St., Boston

Join us for a screening and discussion of the 2017 film Félicité, about a Congolese singer who finds financial and emotional support after her 14-year-old son's accident from a regular in the bar where she performs.

Sunday, September 16, 2018

2:00 - 5:30 pm

The Studio Cinema, Belmont

Discussant: Hugo Kamya, PhD, Professor, Simmons School of Social Work

This workshop will explore the role shame plays in criminal, abusive, addictive, and self-destructive behaviors. Implications for interviewing and treatment approaches will be covered as well as the challenges to counter-transference management represented by shame.

Monday, September 17, 2018

9:00 am - 12:15 pm

Parish of St. Michael, Bedford

Speaker: Linda (Lynn) T. Sanford, LICSW 

Join us for a screening of "Being Mortal" and a conversation about end of life care.

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

4:30 - 6:30 pm

GVNA Greenfield Adult Day Health

489 Bernardston Rd., Suite 207

Greenfield

The screening will be followed by a discussion led by Chauntelle Carty, RN, BSN, CHPN , Director of Hospice, GVNA Healthcare, Inc, and  Ellen Sparrow, LICSW, ACHP-SW , Social Worker/Co-Director GVNA Fitchburg Adult Day Health Center.

Eating disorder diagnoses have historically caused fear in providers. Although eating disorders are dangerous mental illnesses, recovery from an eating disorder is possible with appropriate treatment. This program will leave attendees with a better understanding of the symptoms and diagnosis of eating disorders as well as provide tools and therapeutic interventions for the treatment of eating disorders. 

Thursday, September 20, 2018

9:30 am - 12:45 pm

Temple Israel, Boston

note: program was originally scheduled to take place at the Dedham Holiday Inn

Speaker: Monique Bellefleur, Ed.M, LMHC, Clinician & Director of Community Education, Multi-Service Eating Disorders Association (MEDA)

The presentation will provide an intro to functional medicine, the brain-gut connection and how trauma is connected to chronic illnesses, the ACE Score, and will allow for question and answers at end of the presentation.

Friday, September 21, 2018

8:30 am - 12:00 pm

Child and Family Services

3057 Acushnet Ave., New Bedford

Speakers: Achina Stein, DO, DFAPA, ABIHM, IFMCP , and Sally Davidson, RN, MS, ANP-BC, IFMCP

Join us for a screening of the 2017 film The Florida Project, followed by a discussion centered on working with homeless and otherwise marginalized families.

Sunday, September 23, 2018

2:00 - 5:30 pm

The Studio Cinema, Belmont

Discussants: Janice Furlong, LICSW, Faculty, Boston University School of Social Work, and Katy Novick Nolan, LICSW, Faculty, Simmons School of Social Work

Join us for a screening of the 2017 film The Insult, examining how an emotional exchange between a Lebanese Christian and a Palestinian refugee results in a court case that gets national attention. 

Sunday, September 30, 2018

2:00 - 5:30 pm

The Studio Cinema, Belmont

Discussant: Noha Sadek, MD, a child and adolescent psychiatrist

Join us for a screening of the 2017 documentary Strong Island, examining the violent death of the filmmaker's brother and the judicial system that allowed his killer to go free.

Sunday, November 4, 2018

2:00 - 5:30 pm

The Studio Cinema, Belmont

Discussant: Holly Aldrich, LICSW, Founding Director, Center for Homicide Bereavement, a service of the Victims of Violence (VOV) Program at the Cambridge Health Alliance

Join the Voting is Social Work Coalition for a webinar tomorrow on August 2, from 12:00 - 1:00 pm .

You can join by 1) video/audio from your computer or phone  OR 2) Call into the number listed below. Training slides will be shown to those on video connection. 

Join by video here or call 1-415-655-0002, Meeting # (access code): 642 583 145

Join NASW-MA and stand with transgender individuals on Nov. 6 (general election day) by voting YES on Question 3! A "yes" vote is a vote to uphold a Massachusetts law enacted in 2016 that protects transgender people from discrimination in public spaces, like restaurants, shops, and doctors’ offices. 

 

Want to get involved? Help the campaign to have thousands of conversations with voters about what’s at stake—dignity and respect for our transgender neighbors. And we’ll make sure they know: In the 2 years this law has been in place, there has been no increase in public safety incidents. Anything else is simply misinformation.  

 

But it’s misinformation that could swing what is shaping up to be an extremely tight vote. We have to make sure voters know the truth.  Learn how you can make calls from home or knock doors by clicking here .

As you know, our Massachusetts legislative session came to a close on July 31st. We've had several great wins this session and some work that will carry on into the next session. Thank you for your phone calls, e-mails and meetings with your legislators that made so much of these wins and progress possible!

 

2017-2018 Legislative Wins:

Work Continued...

Paid Family and Medical Leave was signed into law by Governor Baker earlier this summer and is effective 01/01/19.

Read more about the basics of this law and its provisions by following the hyperlinks!

As previously communicated and effective July 1, 2018, Tufts Health Plan now manages behavioral health services for GIC Navigator and Spirit members. Prior to this date, these services were managed by Beacon Health Options. This change applies to existing members, as well as members who enrolled in a GIC Navigator or Spirit plan on or after July 1, 2018.

GIC Spirit members may see any behavioral health provider participating in the Spirit network. An outpatient treatment notification is not required for these services.

Effective for dates of service on or after July 1, 2018, in order for a GIC Navigator member’s behavioral health and substance use disorder services to process at the authorized level of benefits, providers must submit an outpatient treatment notification to Tufts Health Plan. An initial notification must be submitted for GIC Navigator members who are new to the practice or for existing patients whose behavioral health services were previously managed by Beacon Health Options. A notification for any additional visits will also be required. As a reminder, GIC Navigator members may see any behavioral health provider participating in Tufts Health Plan’s network.

Providers can submit notifications for both initial and additional visits by:

Note: Behavioral health outpatient notifications can be backdated up to 30 calendar days. For a list of behavioral health providers, refer to the Find a Doctor search available on the public Provider website. For questions, please call Tufts Health Plan’s Behavioral Health Department at 800-208-9565.

Note: When using the Find a Doctor search, providers and members should click Select Your Plan Name and then choose Navigator GIC or Spirit Plan to view only those providers who are participating in the plan in which the member is enrolled.

The Private Practice Google Group is an exclusive member benefit powered by social work colleagues from across the state and NASW-MA. By signing up you'll receive timely updates from your colleagues about ethics, billing and insurance, and other critical private practice issues. You can also pose your own questions to the group to crowd source answers from colleagues. NASW-MA also uses this platform to send important clinical alerts to members.

Sign up to join the group by sending an email to [email protected] with "Join Google Group" in the subject line.

Have a grand idea to reduce social isolation and loneliness and increase engagement in older populations? Submit to the In Good Company Challenge by September 28!

See flyer here for details!

This competition is sponsored by The Competition Sponsors are Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s AgeLab (MIT AgeLab), Benchmark Senior Living (Benchmark) and GE Healthcare, in collaboration with Massachusetts Governor Baker’s Council to Address Aging in Massachusetts. Prize Sponsors are MIT AgeLab and Benchmark.

All Licensed Independent Clinical Social Workers (LICSWs) in Massachusetts are required to register with MassHealth as either billing or non-billing providers. This requirement was put in place to ensure that MassHealth is complying with the Affordable Care Act. 

The MA Board of Registration of Social Work REQUIRES ALL LICSWs to meet this requirement by September 30, 2018! Failure to do so could result in the suspension or loss of your license.

Read more about this, download the application and contract, and see step-by-step instructions as well as FAQs here.

The required training on Domestic & Sexual Violence for all licensed social workers is POSTPONED until 2020.The 2020 requirement for all licensed social workers (LICSWs, LCSWs, LSWs, and LSWAs) is to participate in an  approved Domestic and Sexual Violence training program.  This training was originally to be completed in 2018, but the MA Board of Registration of Social Workers extended the deadline to September 30, 2020. 

NASW MA will develop an approved training with CEUs available to meet this requirement. Stay tuned for more information in the coming months. For more information on this requirement see: Acts of 2014, Chapter 260, “ An Act Relative to Domestic Violence ,” Section 9.

Questions? Contact Jonas Goldenberg: [email protected].

SWAN is a free, confidential colleague assistance program sponsored by the Massachusetts Chapter of NASW. SWAN assists social workers with consultation regarding personal and professional issues, which may be having an impact on their ability to practice in an optimal manner. Learn more about this service and member benefit here .

NASW-MA Licensing Test Prep courses include:

Upcoming exam dates and locations: