On June 7, 2018, at the NASW-MA annual nursing home conference put on by the chapter Nursing Home Committee, Elise Beaulieu, former chair of the Committee, was presented with a citation signed by Governor Baker and Lieutenant Governor Polito. "On behalf of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I am pleased to confer upon you this Governor's citation in recognition of your decades of outstanding service as a geriatric social worker in Massachusetts, with dedication in particular to both the quality of life of nursing home residents, and to the ongoing professional development of your fellow nursing home social workers." Frank Baskin, current chair of the Committee, presented the ho nor. Thank you for your work, Elise!

On May 2, 2018, Fredda Zuckerman, a NASW member since 1972, received the Award for Excellence in Perinatal Social Work. This award recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of perinatal social work, including clinical work, education, research, and service to the National Association of Perinatal Social Workers. Fredda was instrumental in developing standards for OB social workers and served on the Board of Directors for three terms, including time as Vice President and as chair of various committees. She has written numerous articles and presented at national and local conferences on perinatal issues. Congratulations, Fredda!

Barbara Nealon, a NASW member since 1986, was one of 130 honorees named ‘Unsung Heroines’ by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women on Wednesday, June 20, 2018, at the State House. Each year, the Commission partners with state legislators to identify women who make outstanding contributions to their organizations and communities. Each legislator is encouraged to submit one woman from their constituency as a means of recognizing their invaluable yet, perhaps, unnoted, community contributions. Barbara was nominated by her State Representative, Rep. Stephan Hay. Congratulations on your well-deserved recognition, Barbara!

Raisa Newman, a NASW member since 1973, passed away on May 28 after six years of increasingly debilitating cognitive impairment. Raisa had graduate degrees in education, history, and in social work, finishing her MSW at Simmons School of Social Work in 1975. For many years Raisa was on NASW-MA's Symposium Program Planning Committee. People who knew her say, "She was a wonderful person with whom to work, a strong steady voice for social work and the needs of social work clients. She was always open, reasonable, and could be very funny." Thank you to Phyllis King for sending these words.

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]. 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.

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!

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].

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

Speakers: 

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

Dedham Holiday Inn, Dedham

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

Two recent surveys of Massachusetts voters show that about 50% support upholding basic non-discrimination protections for transgender people. That’s too close for comfort right now—and it’s definitely not where we need to be by November. More troubling: Around 10% of voters are undecided, enough to swing the vote against us. Freedom For MA needs your help to canvass and phone bank to ensure that we are talking to every voter who needs to hear from us before our opponents, and turn out in November. Learn how you can help by clicking here .

We've had quite the year legislatively! Here are 6 of the bills from our legislative agenda that we worked on and have now been signed into law:

In addition to these victories, Lifting the Welfare Cap on Kids was included in both the House and Senate budget proposals. The Senate version would lift the cap sooner - by Jan 1, 2019, and appropriate $5.5M to do so. We are urging the conference committee to adopt the Senate version and also thanking our House leaders for their support and action on this critical issue!

In another very positive development, loan forgiveness for social workers and human services workers was included in the House version of the Opioid Bill ("CARE Act"). We expect the House to take up this bill in the coming weeks. For more information, click here .

Both the House and Senate have released their versions of a major healthcare bill touching upon Ghost Networks, Clawbacks, and Telemed Parity. We are pushing for Senate language to limit clawbacks to 6 months while pushing for stronger transparency on provider "ghost networks."

The House passed the LGBTQ Conversion Therapy Ban on 6/27/18, and now heads to the Senate. A dozen or so other states have already outlawed this harmful practice.

Want to join the Legislative Alert Network? Click here . Want to help set NASW-MA's legislative agenda for 2018 - 2020? Email Sophie to join the Chapter's Legislative Advocacy Committee (LAC).

Highlights of the key changes include:

Another change is that the OP Select Program will no longer be available for GIC membership. That said, Unicare members have 26 OP visits per year before an authorization is needed.

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.

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 .

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.

If you are a QMB (Qualified Medicare Beneficiary) provider, and can receive payment from MassHealth for the copay for your Medicare clients, you are already registered with MassHealth and do not need to do anything; however, if you are seeing MassHealth beneficiaries and billing their insurance (MBHP, Beacon, THPP, or Celticare), this does NOT make you a MassHealth billing provider. You must complete the form and register as a MassHealth Non-Billing Provider.

Read more and access step-by-step instructions 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 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].

NASW-MA Licensing Test Prep courses include:

Upcoming exam dates and locations: