Second, after 8 years in our current location, ISS-USA has made the decision to move offices. We are going just a few blocks away, which will bring us closer to other neighboring businesses and amenities in downtown Baltimore. We are excited about the opportunity to design a bright new office for our team of more than 20 staff, interns and volunteers, and to create a new work environment that celebrates our diversity and ability to collaborate. Stay tuned for more information as we prepare to be in our new space by the start of 2016!

Finally, I am thrilled to be heading to Geneva this week with Felicity Northcott, Director of External Partnerships and International Services. We will take part in the first of what we hope will be many conferences hosted by the ISS General Secretariat and the Hague Conference on Private International Law. The focus of the conference is the Convention of 19 October 1996 on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children. International law is critical to developing the guidelines by which decisions affecting children and families separated across borders must be made. In order to make good decisions, legal and judicial stakeholders around the world must have access to high quality social work services, provided in a timely manner, by local social work experts. This conference highlights the strengthening collaboration between the fields of international law and social work, and begins a necessary international dialogue about practical applications of international law across borders and disciplines. Stay tuned for more information after the conference. 

ISS-USA helped bring an elderly, destitute American citizen with Alzheimer's disease back to Massachusetts from Venezuela. The man, who also reportedly suffered spousal abuse, experienced a physical emergency upon arrival at Miami International Airport. An ISS caseworker not only connected with the airport staff to ensure that a caseworker accompany the client to the hospital and back to the airport for a connecting flight, but also informed the hospital staff of the client's history and current situation, since the client was confused and experiencing delusions. Thanks to our caseworker, who was on the emergency phone line all evening, the client was accompanied by a mental health team to his final destination and who assisted in his resettlement and mental health treatment.