Nominate your social worker hero or social justice ally today! Nominations must be received by November 10, 2019.

NASW-MA recognizes a very special group of outstanding social workers and organizations who have shown excellence in social work and social work values annually with the following awards:

 

The awards event will be held at the Sheraton Framingham the evening before Symposium 2020: Voices of Empowerment and Social Justice on April 29, 2020.

As the largest professional social work organization in the state, we are proud to have members from every part of the Commonwealth. See how many NASW-MA members live in your region and connect with them through NASW!

Be in touch with:

Join us for “ Better Suicide Prevention with Collaborative Safety Planning ” with Christina Marks, LICSW , Private Practice.

November 20, 2019

12:00 - 1:30 pm

MA Department of Mental Health, 333 East St., 4th Floor, Pittsfield

As always, CE programs in Western MA are Free for NASW Members . Advance registration is not required.

Friday, November 22, 2019

9:00 am - 12:30 pm

Grand View Farm, Burlington

Speaker: Dr. Patricia Papernow, one of the world’s foremost experts on blended families. She is the Director of the Institute for Stepfamily Education and the author of  Surviving and Thriving in Stepfamily Relationships: What Works and What Doesn’t . 

The term “blended family” captures the fervent wishes step couples often bring for connection and a fresh start. The realities often involve “resistant” children and anxious, confused adults struggling with intense feelings of “insiderness” and “outsiderness,” questions about discipline, “appropriate” rules, and ever-present ex-spouse relationships.

Whether working with individuals or kids, couples or families, Dr. Patricia Papernow will help participants recognize the five major predictable challenges stepfamilies face. She will provide psychoeducational, interpersonal, and individual interventions for successfully navigating these often intense and divisive forces.

Join Salem State University's Friends of the School of Social Work for their fall professional development workshop, " Preventing Professional Burnout " with Mary Byrne, PhD . 

December 2, 2019

5:30 pm - Social Hour

6:30 pm - CEU Presentation

Stonewood Tavern, 139 Lynnfield St., Peabody

One CEU is available for this event, for a registration fee of $25. We are also encouraging attendees to donate a new, unwrapped toy to benefit local children on the North Shore during the holidays.

Join the Pioneer Valley Regional Council for “ Contemporary Emotion Research and its Relevance for Clinical Practice ” with Eva Hudlicka, PhD, MSW, LICSW, EH , Private Practice.

December, 12, 2019

7:30 - 9:00 pm

Baystate Franklin Medical Center, Conference Room A, Greenfield

As always, CE programs in Western MA are Free for NASW Members . Advance registration is not required.

Join the Northeast Regional Council for an NASW member Holiday party! All NASW members welcome. Come connect and celebrate with colleagues. Drinks and appetizers will be available to purchase.  

December 18, 2019

6:30 - 9:00 pm

Warp and Weft, 197 Market St., Lowell

Questions? Contact NASW-MA's Northeast Region Coordinator, Beth Morrison: [email protected]

We're thrilled to welcome 700 social work students and professionals to the State House again in 2020. This year, LEAD will take place on Monday, March 23.

Current and aspiring social workers will learn about the legislative process and be inspired to become advocates on behalf of the profession and the populations served. We look forward to advocating with in March! Details and registration coming soon.

For more information, be in touch with Noel Schutz or Delaney Gagnon, Advocacy Coordinator.

Project Bread is organizing a round table discussion on the need to pass “An Act Regarding Breakfast After the Bell.”

 

Erin McAleer, President of Project Bread will facilitate a conversation between child education and health specialists, school stakeholders, and legislators about the importance of school breakfast and the need to improve participation by serving breakfast as part of the school day.

 

November 6, 2019

2:00 - 3:00 pm

Massachusetts State House (Room TBD)

NASW-MA is a member of the Rise and Shine Coalition, the organizing body behind this important piece of supported legislation. For more information, contact Jamie Klufts .

As a lead member of the Lift Our Kids Coalition, NASW-MA invites you to join us to advocate for one of our priority bills: Lift Kids Out of Deep Poverty.

This important piece of legislation would set a floor for cash assistance at 50% of the federal poverty level. Right now in Massachusetts, a family of 3 with no other income receives only $593 per month. In contrast, 50% of the federal poverty level would be $889 per month. Raising assistance grants to this amount is a critical step toward helping families meet their children's basic needs.

Tuesday, November 12

9:30 am - 2:00 pm

Conference Room next to Room 208, State House

For more information or to let us know you plan to attend, please contact Rebekah Gewirtz, Executive Director.

Join us for a briefing about Treatment, Not Imprisonment, an NASW-MA policy priority. NASW-MA Board President Sarah Coughlin and member Lisa Newman-Polk will be part of the speaking program. View the fact sheet here .

November 13, 2019

11:00 am - 12:30 pm

Room 437, State House

See coverage of the hearing, and our member Lisa Newman-Polk here .

For more information or to let us know you plan to attend, please be in touch with Rebekah Gewirtz , Executive Director.

Join the Juvenile Justice Coalition, of which NASW-MA is a member, for a legislative briefing on Raise the Age, an NASW-MA policy priority. View the fact sheet here .

November 14, 2019

11:00 am - 12:00 pm

House Members Lounge, State House

Confirmed speakers:

For more information or to let us know you plan to join us, please be in touch with Noel Schutz , Membership and Advocacy Manager.

As the Supreme Court reconsiders harmful state policies that impede abortion access, it’s more important than ever that Massachusetts lead the way in dismantling barriers to abortion care.  Our grassroots coalition is working side-by-side with elected leaders to swiftly pass the ROE Act. We can do this – but we need you with us.  Will you join us on Thursday, November 14 to tell your lawmakers why you support the ROE Act?

 

ROE Act Advocacy Day

November 14

11:00 am

32BJ SEIU Meeting Hall (26 West Street, Boston) 

First, we'll meet at 32BJ SEIU Meeting Hall to hear from advocates and participate in a brief advocacy training. Then we'll move over to the State House to meet with lawmakers.

For more information or to join us, please be in touch with Jamie Klufts , Director of Communications and Strategic Initiatives.

Join us for hearing on the Safe Communities Act, an NASW-MA legislative priority. The Safe Communities Act ensures basic civil rights for migrant communities and prohibits state and local entities from aiding in immigration enforcement and deportation. View the fact sheet here .

December 2, 2019

10:00 am - 3:00 pm

Gardner Auditorium, State House

We're looking for social workers to provide in-person and/or written testimony in support of this legislation! Contact Noël if you'd like to testify.

Calling all Massachusetts NASW Members! Your help is needed. An important survey on the policy opinions of social workers in your area is being conducted. Your feedback is extremely valuable in understanding the policy areas that affect you most. To participate in this study, please follow the link below:

https://auburn.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6fF1X74kU3u7XaR

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 new membership cycle underway, now is the perfect time to join Therapy Matcher! Joining now gains you access to up to a free month of referrals. Learn more about Therapy Matcher here or contact Barbara Burka, Therapy Matcher Director: [email protected].

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.

Join the Massachusetts Guardianship Policy Institute for its 3rd Annual Guardianship Conference. This conference, " Abuse & Self-Neglect," will address the theme of balancing a person’s right to self-determination with protecting that person, by considering the issue of self-neglect. Topics will include evaluation of capacity, homelessness, hoarding, finances and isolation.

 

November 6, 2019 from 8:45 - 4:45

UMASS Boston Campus Center 

100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston

6 CEUs have been approved by NASW

Please use code NASW2019 for $75 registration

Download the flyer here!

How can services that address social needs be integrated into clinical care? What kind of infrastructure will be needed to facilitate that integration? To begin answering such questions, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine assembled an expert committee to examine the potential for integrating social care services into the delivery of health care with the ultimate goal of achieving better and more equitable health outcomes.

The resulting report,  Integrating Social Care into the Delivery of Health Care: Moving Upstream to Improve the Nation’s Health , identifies and assesses current and emerging approaches and recommends ways to expand and optimize social care in the health care setting. 

Specifically, social work as a profession is called out repeatedly as essential to this work. Social workers should be core to health systems and teams integrating the social determinants in upstream prevention work.

A sample social media blog post reads:

Social care workers are key to addressing social needs as a part of delivering health care. The new @NASEM_Health report says social workers should be a central part of health care teams. Read the report at  nationalacademies.org/SocialCare  #SocialCare

Read the report , peruse the recommendations page , or check out the social media tool kit .

We are going to be discussing the report at our meeting with the social work deans and directors in December and looking towards additional opportunities to work together to get the information out about this critically important study.

In the past, all licenses came up for renewal on October 1 ^st in even years. From here on, your license will expire on your birthday, set from two years from your next birthday after October 1, 2018. Note that this could mean that your next renewal date will be significantly longer than two years from your last, depending on when your birth date falls.

The number of CEUs will remain the same for each licensee – 30 for LICSWs, 20 for LCSWs, and so on - no matter the length of time between renewals.

Chapter 260 is a state law that mandates Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault training requirements for social workers and other medical providers. 

The only course currently approved for this requirement is the online course developed by DPH. It is free of charge, and available at this link: https://chapter260training.org/courses/training/

 

However, we are working on possibly offering a course and hope to move that forward in the coming months. Stay tuned!

You can take the DPH course now or any time before your licensure renewal date. This is a one-time requirement, and will not need to be repeated for further renewal cycles.

The Board of Registration has recently approved the course for 2 social work CEUs.

Print out the certificate of completion and save with other CE records. It will not indicate anything about CEUs, but it will count that way.

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 .

NASW-MA hosts Licensing Test Prep courses each month in various parts of the state. Upcoming courses include:

Be in touch with Adam Linn for more information.