SOCIAL WORKERS LEADING FOR JUSTICE
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Hello,
We closed out April with two major legislative wins: passing the ban on LGBTQ conversion therapy and lifting the welfare cap on kids. NASW-MA has been at the forefront of both of these initiatives since their inceptions. We are so proud of the work we were able to collectively accomplish with our legislative allies and coalition partners. Read more about these two important victories for vulnerable kids below.
You may be following the series of articles in the Boston Globe on the foster care crisis at DCF. Vulnerable children are not able to access the mental health care they so desperately need and foster home placements have dwindled and struggled with lack of access to trauma-informed resources. At NASW-MA, we are committed to working with our allies in the legislature and elsewhere to address and alleviate this crisis.
Read the letter to the editor
printed in the
Boston Globe
written by Mary Byrne, our NASW-MA Board Secretary, on this critically important topic. Full letter also pasted below.
Please note that our office will be closed on Monday, May 27, in observance of Memorial Day.
In Solidarity,
Rebekah
Rebekah Gewirtz
Executive Director
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IN THIS ISSUE:
- Membership Hub
- Spring CE Programs
- Social Work Action Center
- Private Practice
- Notes from the Field
- Licensing Test Prep
- National News
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Mary Byrne, NASW-MA Board Sectary, Letter to Editor on DCF Foster Care Crisis: "Investing in foster care system calls for bold moves"
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April 25, 2019
Re
“Overhaul foster care reviews, say advocates”
by Kay Lazar (Page A1, April 23): One of the saddest anecdotes I heard this year from a student placed in a child welfare agency was that a 4-year-old boy had been returned by his foster parent because he “cried too much.” This screams of the need to offer strong support and education to foster parents in order for traumatized children to experience comforting attachment and care.
While I agree with advocates’ call for stronger oversight of the foster care system, we also need to make sure the Department of Children and Families has considerable resources in this climate of an opioid epidemic and growing poverty.
Addressing the foster care system’s needs adequately means money. Investment in addressing early trauma helps prevent adult mental illness and maladjustment. Investment in our foster parenting system has to involve bold moves on many fronts: Social workers and foster parents must be steeped in trauma-informed parenting. We must assure strong communities of support around all parents. We must create flexible access to online learning and consultation, with recruiters in each area office. We must develop robust, technologically savvy statewide systems that can efficiently profile foster parents and systemic needs.
This is well worth the investment.
Mary Byrne
Cambridge
The writer is a professor emerita in the School of Social Work at Salem State University and a board member of the Massachusetts chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.
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Graduation Cords are Here!
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New this year, graduating NASW-MA student members will receive teal cords to wear at graduation. We look forward to seeing the next generation of social workers proudly displaying their NASW-MA memberships at graduation this spring!
Students should have received an e-mail with information about pick-up and to connect with your school liaison. Questions?
Email Adam Linn
If you're not already a student member and want your cord
before graduation,
click here to join today!
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Seeking Student Ambassadors for 2019-2020!
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We are seeking 1-2 NASW-MA student members from each school of social work in Massachusetts to represent NASW-MA a
s Student Ambassadors this upcoming academic year.
Student Ambassador role includes but is not limited to:
- Being the voice of NASW-MA on your campus by distributing and promoting NASW member benefits, news, and events.
- Volunteering at two out of three major NASW-MA events (LEAD 2020, Career Night, Symposium 2020).
- Updating Chapter staff each month on school activities and student feedback.
- Participating in the Facebook group to access documents, offer feedback, and connect with other Student Ambassadors.
- Recruiting Student Ambassadors for the following year.
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The FOCUS CE Course Mailer is Making a Comeback this Spring
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Last spring we launched a new member benefit: the FOCUS CE Course Mailer. In this 5 CE booklet, you received several text-based continuing education courses that you could complete and mail-in at your leisure all summer long.
Thi
s year's line-up of CE courses include:
- Suicide Prevention At All Levels of Social Work Practice
- Interagency Collaboration: A Community-Driven Solution for Macro Social Work Practice
- Make the Most of Your Stress: Your 24-7 Plan for Wellbeing
Be on the lookout for the Social Work CE Institute FOCUS Continuing Education Course Mailer in your mailbox in early June 2019!
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NASW-MA Member Erica Kirsners Advocates for an End to Clawbacks at our Professional Lobby Day
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On April 3, 2019, social workers gathered at the State House to lobby for two priority bills that impact the social work profession. A bill to limit the timeline of insurance clawbacks and a loan repayment program for social workers. Representative O'Day, Senator Lesser and Representative Pignatelli, all lead sponsors of the above bills gave their remarks.
NASW-MA member, Erica Kirsners, spoke about the impact of clawbacks.
Below is an excerpt as written by the State House News Service in their coverage of our event:
"Erica Kirsners, a social worker and Clinicians United member, said she has heard stories about clawbacks of up to $10,000. These negative interactions with insurers cause many social workers to not accept insurance at all for their services, which in turn makes it less accessible for clients."
"'The person who had $10,000 taken back did appeal and did get the money back but by that time, two years into it, she had closed her practice because she just couldn't tolerate this kind of anxiety and not having any control over her income,' Kirsners said.
Legislation (S 589/H 1078) would limit MassHealth and commercial insurers to a 12-month period for recovering payments, and if coverage is denied after the service has been performed, social workers would have the opportunity to then bill the correct insurance."
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In Your Mailbox:
Social Work Voice
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You will receive the May/June issue of
Social Work Voice
mid-May. Highlights from this issue include:
- Social Work Advocacy: Building Momentum and Tips for the State Budget Process
- Running into Clients in Public: What Is a Social Worker to Do?
- Taking the Guess Work out of Therapy Referrals
- Witnessing at the Border: The Reality of Our Person-in-Context Values
- Shared Roots: Social Work is Public Health
- ...and much more!
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Have an upcoming event, job opening, or other opportunity to share with the social work community?
Advertise with us! All ads appear on our website and are published in
Social Work Voice.
The ad deadline for the upcoming July/August issue is June 21, 2019.
Email Jamie Klufts for more information.
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Help Set the Strategic Vision of Symposium 2020! Join the Symposium Planning Committee
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Symposium 2020 is the largest gathering of social workers in New England and will take place April 30-May 1, 2020, in Framingham.
NASW-MA is seeking social workers to join our Symposium Program Planning Committee. The Committee will work with NASW-MA in the planning and execution of this biennial event.
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Share Your Expertise - Submit a Proposal for Lead a Symposium 2020 Workshop
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Submit a proposal to present your area of expertise to the largest gathering of Social Workers and Allied Professionals in New England.
The premier event on the Social Work calendar - nearly 1,000 people attended Symposium 2018, including 90+ presenters, and 70+ exhibitors. Whether new to the field, or with years of experience, there is something for every social worker at Symposium 2020!
Proposal are due May 10.
Learn more and submit here
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Want to Help us Plan Exciting New CE Programming? NASW-MA's Education Center Commission Seeking New Members
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The Education Center Commission is a group of volunteers who play a major role in planning continuing education programs for NASW-MA. We are looking to bring in members who will share new ideas, concepts, and perspectives for program planning.
We are working to further incorporate our commitment to racial justice in our programming. If you have a special interest or specialty in the intersection of clinical and macro practice please consider joining the Commission!
Commission members participate in regular planning meetings, and volunteer at some CE events.
As an active member of the Commission, you earn free CEUs for Chapter-sponsored programs. Contact Barbara Burka, Director of Clinical Practice, for more information:
[email protected].
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Shame, Longing, and Courage in Psychotherapy
6 CEUs Available!
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with
Dr. Anne Hallward, psychiatrist and host and founder of Safe Space Radio. Anne speaks internationally on stigma and shame, traumatic silence, and voluntary vulnerability as a form of leadership.
Friday, May 10, 2019
9:00 am - 4:30 pm
Sheraton Framingham Hotel & Conference Center, 1657 Worcester Rd., Framingham
This day-long workshop will re-examine therapy as a relationship to foster courage. Whether our work is to support the courage to bear the feelings that have been unbearable, foster the courage to name and address reality, or recognize the courage that is absent from narratives of trauma and victimization; therapy is an incubator for courage.
We will examine how shame and longing shape courage, looking at both the psychological and political dimensions of shame and longing. We will mine our own experiences of courage, or its absence, to understand in a deeply personal way the forces that foster our own courage, as a window into how we can support it in our work. This presentation is informed by the principles of IFS, but will be accessible to those without prior exposure to Internal Family Systems Therapy.
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Treating the Rise in Alcohol Use Among Women
3 CEUs Available!
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Alcohol use by women has doubled from 2002 to 2013, causing researchers to state that current drinking trends are a public health crisis. Come learn effective strategies to treat AUD in women, based on Dr. Shelley Greenfield (of McLean Hospital)'s highly renowned
Treating Women with Substance Use Disorders: The Women's Recovery Group Manual.
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Sheraton Needham Hotel, 100 Cabot St., Needham
with
Karen Kantor, MEd, LICSW, McLean Hospital, and
Molly Van Wert, LICSW, McLean Hospital
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Changing the Cycle of Anger: A Model for Treating Anger Control Problems in Adults
3 CEUs Available!
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with
Joe Pereira, LICSW, CAS
, Co-founder of Outlook Associates of New England, a practice to assist persons with anger control problems
Friday, May 31, 2019
9:00 am - 12:15 pm
Parish of St. Michael, 90 Concord Rd., Bedford
Anger is an emotional state that can range from mild irritation to overwhelming rage and is a response to events which can be interpreted through a set of unrealistic expectations. This workshop will look at how an individual can monitor his/her anger and will also offer specific anger regulation techniques that a person can use to develop a range of choices when experiencing feelings of anger.
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Annual Nursing Home Conference
"The Evolving Nursing Home"
Up to 7.5 CEUs Available!
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Join the NASW-MA Nursing Home Committee for the Annual Nursing Home Conference:
Thursday, June 13, 2019
LaCava Center, Bentley University, Waltham
Keynote: Sarah Dereniuk-Dudley, MHA, NHA, Senior Program Administrator, Healthcentric Advisor
Conference Workshops:
- Grief, Loss, and Suicide with Mitch Davidowitz, LICSW
- Residents' Legal Rights in the Nursing Home with Liane Zeitz, J.D., Certified Elder Law Attorney
- The LTC Survey Process and Regulatory Compliance with Catherine Congo, MPA/HA
Advanced Practice Intensive: "Sexuality, Intimacy, and STDs in the Nursing Home Resident" with
Adrianna Alpaugh, MSW, Director of Social Services at Springhouse Senior Living Community.
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SOCIAL WORK ACTION CENTER
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NASW-MA Priority Bills Passed Into Law!
On April 8,
LGBTQ Conversion Therapy Ban was signed into law by Governor Baker. Spearheaded by Representative Khan, this marks the culmination of almost 10 years of hard work by MassEquality, PFLAG, NASW-MA, and like-minded partners. Together, we made the Commonwealth safer for LGBTQ youth.
An additional priority bill,
Lifting the Family Welfare Cap (aka Lift the Cap on Kids), was vetoed that same day. However, the House of Representatives overrode the Governor's veto almost unanimously on April 11. The State Senate followed suit, and overrode his veto on April 25, making the legislation law. We are grateful to the Legislature for putting kids' welfare first and reaffirming the dignity of all children in the Commonwealth.
To get up-to-date emails and notifications about priority and supported bills as we work with you to advance them through the legislative process - and to engage with us in direct advocacy on these bills - email Sophie Hansen, Political Director, at:
[email protected]
g
.
Sophie can sign you up for the Legislative Alert Network and get you plugged in to all of our activities.
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Advocacy is a cornerstone of our mission and an activity that we engage in every single day. While we continue to advocate for legislative change, we also work on the State Budget which happens each fiscal year.
The House just wrapped up their budget process, and now we are moving on to the Senate. You will find a more detailed explanation about the budget process and our advocacy in the upcoming issue of
Social Work Voice but below are few priorities we are focusing on this fiscal year:
- Reducing the Timeframe of Clawbacks: This would put our legislative priority of setting reasonable parameters around clawbacks by passing it in the budget, rather than a standalone bill.
- Closing the SNAP Gap: The “SNAP Gap” refers to the more than 740,000 people who are enrolled in MassHealth and likely eligible for SNAP (food assistance), but who aren’t receiving benefits.
- Elder Behavioral Health Services: We are seeking an increase of $300,000 to the existing line item of $500,000 to expand the home-based services that elderly individuals receive.
- The Prevent/Promote Commission: The Special Legislative Commission on Behavioral Health Promotion and Upstream Prevention completed extraordinary work to identify multiple evidence-based policies to help support individuals and families through prevention of behavioral health issues. Now a permanent commission, we are seeking $2 million dollars in funding to actualize these recommendations.
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Bring Your Expertise to the State House: Submit Written Testimony
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NASW-MA staff and members testify in-person and submit written testimony to the State House in support or opposition of various bills, often those that are on our legislative agenda or at the request of coalition partners. We encourage social workers in all settings to come to hearings and/or submit written testimony on issues that make a difference in the social work profession and to the clients and communities we serve.
Want to share your expertise by submitting written testimony?
We are currently preparing testimony in advance for priority legislation, if you'd like to submit testimony, please
email Sophie for templates and assistance in editing:
[email protected]
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Early Bird Special! Expand Your Practice with Therapy Matcher
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Are you looking to start or expand your private practice? NASW-MA's Therapy Matcher network needs you!
Our call volume is higher than ever, especially with recent media attention from the
Boston Globe
. With our ongoing early bird special, now is the perfect time to join Therapy Matcher!
Learn more about Therapy Matcher here or contact Barbara Burka, Therapy Matcher Director:
[email protected].
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Valuable Member Benefit: Join the NASW-MA Private Practice Google Group
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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.
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Save the Date: 10th Annual Asian American Mental Health Forum
NASW-MA is a co-sponsor of this important event!
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New Online Resource on Trauma Launched
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Our partner, Jane Doe Inc., has launched,
janedoe.org/healingtrauma
, a unique new resource for advocates in the sexual and domestic violence field, service providers in other professions, health care providers, policymakers, and anyone interested in deepening their understanding of the impact of individual, vicarious, organizational, and historical trauma and oppression and how to foster resilience.
With a specific focus on the multiple forms of trauma that can result from sexual and domestic violence,
janedoe.org/healingtrauma
marks the next step in their work by compiling a diverse collection of materials from leading sources that can help stakeholders both understand and respond to the multi-layered impacts of trauma on individuals and communities.
The website will be updated periodically as new information and resources become available, and JDI welcomes submissions and feedback from community members.
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Thanks to a partnership between the Boston Bar Association and GBLS-New England Law,
a new walk-in CORI (Criminal Record Offender Information) Sealing Clinic helps low-income individuals obtain a copy of their record and, if possible, seal, or expunge their record.
The Boston Bar Association’s CORI Sealing Clinic will take place the 1st Wednesday of each month from 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM at the Boston Municipal Court – Central Division.
CLINIC LOCATION
Boston Municipal Court – Central Division, Edward W. Brooke Courthouse, 24 New Chardon Street, 2nd Floor, Boston, MA 02114
WALK IN CLINIC DATES
- May 1, 2019
- June 5, 2019
- July 3, 2019
- August 7, 2019
- September 4, 2019
- October 2, 2019
- November 6, 2019
- December 4, 2019
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The Social Work Assistance Network (SWAN) -
A NASW-MA Resource for You!
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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
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Licensing Test Prep Courses in Your Neighborhood
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NASW-MA hosts Licencing Test Prep courses each month in various parts of the state. Upcoming courses include:
- May 11 | Boston
- May 18 | Boston
- June 8 | Northampton
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Federal Advocacy by NASW National
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Improving Access to Mental Health Act (H.R. 1533)
This bill would ensure:
- Medicare beneficiaries’ access to clinical social workers by increasing the Medicare reimbursement rate for clinical social workers from 75% to 85% of the physician fee schedule rate
- Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) residents’ access to clinical social workers by including clinical social work services from SNF consolidated billing
- Medicare beneficiaries’ access to Health and Behavior Assessment and Intervention services provided by clinical social workers.
Social Work Reinvestment Act (H.R. 1532)
Calls for the creation of a Social Work Reinvestment Commission to provide independent counsel to Congress and the Secretary of Health and Human Services on policy issues related to recruitment, retention, research and reinvestment in the profession of social work.
Workplace Safety
NASW is working on several fronts to reduce the staggering and increasing number of assaults of social workers:
- Workplace Violence Prevention for Healthcare and Social Service Workers Act (H.R. 1309): NASW CEO Dr. Angelo McClain testified before the House Education and Labor Workplace Protections Subcommittee in support of this bill, which would make it a mandatory federal requirement for many types of health and social service workplaces to have a violence prevention plan. The bill’s lead sponsor is Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT). Workplace violence prevention plans would articulate how hazards are identified as well specific mitigation measures (such as security alarms, barrier protection, etc.) and annual in-person training on the plan would be required. Covered settings include hospitals, residential treatment facilities, social service settings in correctional or detention facilities, psychiatric treatment facilities, substance use disorder treatment centers, community care settings, and federal health care facilities, as well as field work settings such as home care and home-based hospice. You can view the live stream of the hearing on the Education and Labor Committee’s website. NASW will continue working with its allies to advocate for passage of this critical legislation as it moves through the committee process.
- Social Worker Safety Act: NASW is working with its Congressional allies to reintroduce this important legislation, which would establish a Social Worker Safety Grant Program withing the Department of Health and Human Services to fund States’ efforts to improve safety measures for social workers. It would allow these grants to be used to purchase safety equipment, make facility improvements, facilitate safety training programs, provide support services for social workers who have been victims of violence or track incident data to mitigate future offenses against social workers.
- Geriatrics Workforce Improvement Act (S. 299): This bipartisan bill, reintroduced by Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Bob Casey (D-PA), seeks to improve health outcomes for older adults by reauthorizing funding for the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) and by reestablishing the Geriatric Academic Career Awards (GACA), a previously funded program for developing academic clinical educators specializing in aging. Clinical social workers are among the professionals eligible for GACA, and social workers are among the professionals eligible for interdisciplinary training through GWEP.
Bipartisan Background Checks Act (H.R. 8): H.R. 8 passed the House of Representatives on February 27 by a vote of 240-190. This bill – which requires background checks on all firearm sales – is one of the most significant gun-related pieces of legislation since the original Brady Background Check bill was passed more than two decades ago. NASW proudly partnered with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence on advocating for passage of H.R. 8. The bill includes an amendment requiring gun sellers to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement when an
undocumented immigrant tries to buy a gun. The bill now goes to the Senate where NASW will advocate for the chamber to take up and pass the measure.
Raise the Wage Act (H.R. 582/S.150): The Raise the Wage Act would raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2024. The bill was reported out of the Education and Labor Committee on March 6. NASW will work with its allies to push for enactment.
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The NASW Board of Directors approved for vetting, a proposed amendment to the
NASW Bylaws
, Article XIV – Budget and Finance. The proposed amendment will be accessible for a 90-day member review and comment period. For your comment to be considered, it must be submitted at the link below, by close of business
May 10, 2019
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