Social Work Student Alliance (SWSA) ALERT for Thursday, August 6, 2008
Traumatic Brain Injury Act of 2008 (S. 793):
On April 28, 2008 President Bush signed in to law, the Traumatic Brain Injury Act of 2008 (S. 793). This was a bipartisan legislation (HR 1418) representing a foundation for coordinated policy in prevention, education research and community-living for people with TBI. The act is the only federal law that specifically authorizes programs to support individuals with brain injuries. This TBI act authorizes the federal agencies such as the CDC, NIH and the HRSA to acquire tools in order to properly assess the number of brain injury victims and/or to provide them with services.
Most importantly, and something which was discussed in our PTSD summer-series class this summer, an important new provision in the TBI Act authorizes a study by the CDC and the NIH, in collaboration with the Dept of Defense and the Dept of Veterans Affairs, to identify the incidence of brain injury among our nation´s veterans, especially veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet, another important step to help our heroes to recover upon their return to the states. The TBI Act was approved in the House of Reps on 4/8/08 and in the senate on 4/10/08.
Social Work Reinvestment Initiative, H.R. 6331:
In a beginning victory for the Social Work Reinvestment Initiative, the U.S. Senate passed Medicare legislation, H.R. 6331, which will restore funding for clinical social work payments cut in 2007. The vote was 69-30 thanks to the return of Senator Ted Kennedy (MA), whose vote swayed a number of members to create a veto-proof margin.
If you would like to take action on this issue, paste the following URL into your browser for the Capwiz link: http://capwiz.com/socialworkers/utr/2/?a=11600506&i=89138897&c=
Social Worker Murdered in West Virginia
Social worker Brenda Lee Yeager, 51 of Lincoln County, WV, was tragically murdered in the line of duty on Wednesday. Her body was found on Friday and the circumstances of her murder appear brutal.
The members and leaders of the National Association of Social Workers, West Virginia Chapter mourn the loss of our valued colleague and share in the grief of her family and loved ones. We also mourn for the innocent child whose life [has] been irrevocably altered by this tragedy. It is the highest calling of our profession to utilize our skills, training and expertise to protect society´s most vulnerable citizens. This calling often places social workers in extremely dangerous situations.
The media reports we have seen have shown a great respect for Brenda Yeager as a social worker, and noted that we are often not adequately compensated for the important work we [do], particularly in the child welfare arena.
We do not know why Brenda was visiting this family alone. We believe this was a scheduled visit to an existing client family. Although policies on field visits vary with the situation, Brenda would probably be alive today has she not called on this family alone. Not only has the life of a dedicated social worker been senselessly lost, but the lives of the child she was trying to protect and the young couple she sought to instruct to be better parents have been irrevocably changed for the worse.
This tragedy will increase the National Association of Social Worker´s commitment to implement better policies, procedures, staffing, training and salaries to prevent it from happening again.
Last year, the State of Kentucky passed social worker safety legislation in the wake of a similar tragedy. During its 2008 Regular Session, the West Virginia Legislature considered, but did not pass, an important bill designed to improve social worker safety. SB 286/HB 4103 would have increased criminal penalties for those who commit felony or misdemeanor assault and battery on CPS or APS (Adult Protective Service) social workers operating in the performance of their duties. If passed, social workers would have been included with law enforcement and other public safety officers, and recognized as often being put in dangerous situations in the course of the work.
The threat of increased criminal penalties may well avert some violent crimes against social workers, but more can be done:
- Policies and staffing levels should insure that social workers never go alone into potentially violent situations in the field.
- Social workers should be equipped with self-defense skills and technology to insure their personal safety. GPS systems and ´panic button´ devices to alert authorities, office safety features such as electronic doors, and interactive data bases allowing social workers to check criminal records before making field visits are all good steps to take.
- State and federal funds should be applied to insure that social workers - especially those in protective services - are well trained and competitively paid for the important work they do.
We cannot bring back Brenda Yeager, but we can honor her memory by working to better insure the safety of social workers and those we serve.
Job openings:
UPHS has several openings for social workers to work in hospice:
2 FT Hospice Social Workers to serve hospice patients living in the 5 county area.
1 Per Diem Social Worker to provide weekend and evening coverage
1 FT Social Worker to work on the newly opening (Nov) hospice inpatient unit in Center City
Please apply using this link to the UPHS career website:
http://careers.hodes.com/pennhealth/careers/joblist.asp
Any questions, please contact: Terence Carroll, MSS, LCSW, CGP, 610-617-2431
Email: terence.carroll@uphs.upenn.edu
Psychology and Counseling Associates
We are seeking two licensed psychotherapists (LCSW, PhD, PsyD or LPC)to join our established and expanding outpatient group practice in the western suburbs of Philadelphia. Collegeville or Pottstown sites (Montgomery County). May specialize in child/adolescent, adult/marital or see all ages if appropriately experienced. Excellent compensation. Part-time 2-4 days per week. Some eves and/or Sat required. (Eves or Sat only is also a possibility). Great opportunity to join a friendly and supportive group of clinicians in this rapidly growing area. Send resume to Mark Greenberg, PhD. At: magreenberg@comcast.net.
Psychology and Counseling Associates. Phone: (610) 970-5234 x206 Fax: (610) 970-0945
The following notice was received by the Alliance from Tonya Baker at Messiah College. If you should desire any of the files listed, please email: alliance@temple.edu. The files noted are NOT attached to this ALERT.
As a past attendee of our conference, we thought you might appreciate knowing that the 2008 Building Strong Families conference has been scheduled for Thursday, October 9, 2008 at Messiah College. The goal for the 2008 conference is to explore the topic of Responding to Families in Trauma, which may include things such as divorce, loss, PTSD, financial issues, emergency situations, family communication/dynamics with health-related stressors, challenges for military families, natural disasters, etc. Dr. Gary Bowen will be our keynote speaker and will be giving a presentation titled, "Military Family Resiliency and Community Capacity Building in the Shadows of War: Implications for Policy and Practice." CEUs are available.
If you are interested in attending, check out our conference website at www.messiah.edu/bsf and complete the registration form. Please note that the early bird registration deadline is Friday, September 5, 2008.
In addition, we are accepting nominations for an individual to be receive the Distinguished Service to Families award at this year´s conference. If you would like to make a nomination, complete the attached form and return it by September 1, 2008.
For those of you in academics, I have also attached a Call for Proposals for Student Posters. Please encourage your graduates and/or undergraduates to present a proposal.
Feel free to pass this notice and the attached fliers on to any of your colleagues, organizational listservs, co-workers, friends, or others who may have an interest in our conference.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Thanks!
Tonya Baker, Administrative Assistant
Department of Human Development and Family Science;
Psychology; Sociology, Social Work and Criminal Justice;
and the Latino Partnership
Messiah College
One College Avenue
PO Box 3052
Grantham, PA 17027
(717) 796-1800, ext. 7050
(717) 796-4790 (fax)
tbaker@messiah.edu
The Alliance presents information, materials and/or events for your information and consideration. Unless otherwise specified, Alliance endorsement should not be assumed if an event is not a sponsored activity of Temple University. Listserv members are expected to contact the provider(s) themselves to investigate whether or not what is being provided is either beneficial or appropriate for the individual.
