Now that the elections are largely over we can look ahead to 2021. We know that change is coming.  We will have new leadership in the White House.  We still have work to do. There are run offs coming up in Georgia that will influence control of the Senate. I encourage you to help those efforts in any way you can.  

Closer to home, I'm thrilled to share that Miami-Dade County's new mayor is Daniela Levine Cava, who is a social worker and card carrying member of NASW. In addition, one of our past presidents, Dr. Mitch Rosenwald, also won his seat as a commissioner in Oakland Park. Congratulations to them both. 

NASW-FL has been busy. We had a virtual Board Meeting last week and we approved our Legislative Agenda as well as our Program Priorities for 2022. 

Christina Cazanave and I have been hosting regularly scheduled student chats, which will continue in the Spring. 

Our Racial Justice Committee, Immigration Justice Task Force and our Licensure and Supervision Committee continue to meet regularly, planning and taking action.

We've begun to plan LEAD, which we expect will be virtual, and our June Conference, which we hope can be a hybrid of in-person and virtual. Please consider submitting your proposals. We will keep you posted. 

Although we have our eyes fixed toward the future, I'd like to take moment to remember lost lives. The below was written as the result of an important conversation and with the support of Kryss Shane, MSW and NASW-FL member.

11/20 is 2020's Transgender Day of Remembrance. 

"Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to highlight the losses we face due to anti-transgender bigotry and violence. I am no stranger to the need to fight for our rights, and the right to simply exist is first and foremost. With so many seeking to erase transgender people -- sometimes in the most brutal ways possible -- it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice."

- Transgender Day of Remembrance founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith

As we at NASW-FL work to continue to improve our focus on and dedication to meeting the needs of people in marginalized communities, we must continue to work to highlight traumas and honor the lives of those lost.

Anti-transgender violence isn't just directed at adults. Statistics from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) show that in schools, 16.2% of transgender students report being physically assaulted as a result of gender expression, while 32.5% experience physical harassment.

While the losses are immense and while we are all lesser when our society loses any individual to violence, this is a reminder that we can all do more to become better informed, to step up, and to speak out.

Consider whether you are prepared with the knowledge necessary to work with a transgender client or their loved one. If not, consider taking time to read and learn or to seek out training (some even count toward licensing CEs).  Consider spending time researching the meaning of this day and to read the names of people being remembered this year. Consider posting about this day on your social media and/or speaking about this day with a youth in your life. Share that you not only stand with the transgender community but that your social work identity ties to being a vocal supporter of transgender people. Consider a dedicated moment of silence in your workplace to honor those taken from us and to allow a moment of thought for how each can do better to create a society where this stops happening. In summary, I encourage you to consider what ways you can honor and call attention to this day and to ending the necessity of this day.