May 30, 2019
May 2019 Issue
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Investing in the Social Service Workforce at the GSSW Annual Symposium
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International Social Service, USA (ISS-USA)
staff members Elaine Weisman (far left) and Alanna Hays (second from left) were joined by colleagues from ISS-Australia and Children and Families Across Borders (CFAB) of England at the
Global Social Service Workforce Alliance's
Annual Symposium on May 7, 2019 in Washington, DC. The event included discussion of methodology, findings and implications of recent social service mapping exercises undertaken in 32 countries using the Alliance’s new
Mapping Toolkit
, as well as advocacy and fundraising strategies for the social service workforce. Break-out sessions helped participants craft communications about the importance of investment in the social service workforce, highlighting the complexity and importance of social workers and related professionals in diverse settings around the world.
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Spotlight on Immigration
Panel
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On Thursday, April 10,
ISS-USA
's Director of
External Partnerships and International Services
, Dr. Felicity Sackville Northcott, presented on a special
Spotlight on Immigration
panel preceding the
ABA 2019 National Conference on Parent Representation.
The focus of the presentation was on promoting the best interest of the child by protecting the rights of the parents. Dr. Northcott was joined by three other panelists: Danny Alicea, JD, Center for Family Representation, the Honorable Julie Breslow, District of Columbia Superior Court, and Cristina Ritchie Cooper, JD, ABA Center on Children and the Law.
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Connecting and Planning for the Future at the Case Coordinators Conference in Berlin
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From April 15-17, ISS-USA's
Director of External Partnerships and International Services
, Dr. Felicity Sackville Northcott, led the annual
International Social Service (ISS) Case Coordinators’ Conference
in Berlin, Germany. There were ISS representatives from 18 different countries in attendance. During the annual conference, ISS partners from around the World came together to discuss emerging trends, concerns, and strategies for the future of cross-border social services. There was also time for forging new professional relationships and connecting with old friends.
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CASEWORK CORNER
ISS-USA
recently reunited a youth who had been separated from her family in Honduras for 15 months.
ISS-USA case managers worked with an in-country social worker to complete an assessment of the youth's home to prepare a return and service plan, prior to the youth returning to her family.
Now that the youth has been reunited, the in-country social worker continues to check in on the family and has been helping enroll all of the children in the home in school and connect them to nutrition programs. She communicates regularly with the family and works to identify programs to help increase the family’s income.
The social worker has also been communicating with mental health providers in neighboring areas as there are no psychological services where the family lives. Since the social worker has been involved, the family has expressed their appreciation for her support and have no plans to remigrate at this time. To learn more about the services ISS-USA provides for separated children,
click here
.
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Mark your calendars! From October 17-18, 2019,
ISS-USA
and
The University of Maryland School of Social Work
will co-host a two-day conference,
Beyond Separation: Protecting Cross-Border Families
. This conference will bring together family and immigration lawyers, academics, policy makers and social service practitioners to plan appropriately for cross-border families. Day 1 will be a training day and Day 2 will be a series of panel discussions. More information is coming soon.
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In case you missed our
National Foster Care Month
LIVE CHAT
:
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In case you missed it, you can still tune in to our
National Foster Care Month: Bias as a Barrier to Placement
live chat!
In honor of National Foster Care Month, ISS-USA staff members Olivia Barrios and Elaine Weisman discuss the importance of examining apprehensions and prejudices in the child permanency planning process. Olivia uses case examples to highlight how cross-border social services can support thousands of children in foster care who have the opportunity to be raised by their families, regardless of where that family resides.
Click here to view the video on Facebook
.
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Attention social workers in MICHIGAN,
NEW HAMPSHIRE, IOWA, KENTUCKY and INDIANA
! We want to hear from you!
ISS-USA is looking for social workers to complete occasional assessments with families in your state. We will provide you with guidance throughout the work and you will help us directly serve families who are seeking to care for their relative children in another state or country. Check out the description
here
. Please contact Elaine Weisman at
eweisman@iss-usa.org
for more information.
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