Monthly News & Updates

February| 2026

Members Only: Nominate Yourself To Be on The NASW-WI Board of Directors

Southeast/Racine/Kenosha Regional Representatives

West Central/North Central/Northeast Regional Representative

BSW Student Representative

MSW Student Representative

Anyone interested in running for one of the positions listed above should fill out the nomination form, BSW and MSW Student Representative nominees please return applications to Marc Herstand (mherstand.naswwi@socialworkers.org). All other positions please return your applications to Marc Seidl (seidmc10@gmail.com) and Cleopatra Castaneda (Cleopatrae@icloud.com). The deadline to submit the nomination form is March 31st, 2026.

For more information about these positions, please contact the NASW-WI NLI Committee Marc Seidl (seidmc10@gmail.com) and Cleopatra Castaneda (Cleopatrae@icloud.com)

Nomination Form

Support the Compact

Email and call your State Senator and ask him/her to ask Majority Leader Devin Lemahieu to hold a vote on Senate Bill 74, the Social Work Licensure Compact.

When fully implemented nationwide, the Social Work Licensure Compact would allow Wisconsin social workers to continue to serve clients who move temporarily or permanently out of state. It would also tremendously ease the process of obtaining Wisconsin licensure for social workers moving to Wisconsin.

Please forward any correspondence you receive back from your State Representative to the NASW-WI Executive Director, Marc Herstand. Marc's email address is mherstand.naswwi@socialworkers.org

www.naswwi.socialworkers.org/Action

NASW Works for the Inclusion of Social Work as a Professional Degree

Public Comment

By excluding Social Work from its definition of "professional" degrees, the Department of Education is limiting access to federal student loans for MSW students. Fewer students mean fewer social workers available to meet growing mental health and social service needs. Visit this link before March 2 and tell DOE that Social Work Is A Profession!

Meanwhile, NASW is working on template comments which will be distributed through our Action Center linked here.

What else can you do? Sign our petition asserting that Social Work is a Profession.

What makes for an effective public comment?

Find additional guidance here.

Join Dina Kastner for a discussion on the Dept. of Education’s proposed rule and how it could impact social work student loan limits & PSLF eligibility. The discussion will be live on Facebook and YouTube Feb. 19th @ 6 p.m. CT

NASW will share how to submit comments before March 2, 2026.

NASW Facebook Live | YouTube Live Event: Social Work is a Profession Feb. 19th @ 6 P.M. CT

Facebook

YouTube

NASW-WI Opposes The Anti Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Constitutional Amendment Proposal

Read The Statement Here

NASW Student Series

Seeing Strengths in Action: Empowering Clients Through Ethical, Person-Centered Care

Thursday, February 19, 2026 |5:00pm - 6:30pm CT

You’re invited to join NASW for an inspiring Student Series webinar that celebrates the power of strengths-based care in social work practice. Together, we’ll explore how centering clients’ strengths, resilience, and lived expertise—grounded in the NASW Code of Ethics—can lead to more meaningful, collaborative, and effective outcomes. This session will highlight person-centered approaches, practical strategies for identifying strengths, intentional language use, and real-world practice examples that uplift client voice, promote self-determination, and foster lasting change. ALL are welcome!

Presenter: Emma MacDonald, LMSW-Clinical (pronouns: she/her)