Social Work Student Alliance (SWSA) ALERT for Thursday, September 18, 2008
RECAP OF ALLIANCE SEPTEMBER PUBLIC MEETING
The Alliance team thanks everyone attending the September Public Meeting, “Recognizing Addiction”. This was our best-attended event this year with over twenty students, faculty and alumni participating. A big thanks goes to Kristina Mellinger for her presentation and video clips on addiction! Kristina also provided numerous handouts to help with furthering our education on the subject of addiction and to use as tools to support our clients/agencies. If you were unable to attend, please stop by the Student Lounge to pick up handouts – they are available on top of the filing cabinets under the TV.
One of the areas discussed that many found interesting was how addiction affects the whole body, the chemicals in the brain and the parts of the brain used, not just the behaviors. Another good point was that addiction can come in many forms: substance abuse, sexual activities, eating disorders, gambling, and pornography, to name just a few.
SWSA STAR OF THE MONTH
This issue of the ALERT begins a new feature: SWSA Star of the Month! Each month the Alliance will feature a SSA student on the ALERT and posted on the Alliance bulletin board in the student lounge. We hope you enjoy this opportunity to get to know your fellow students better. If you have someone you would like to see in future ALERTs, please contact Katie Kopco at: katie.kopco@temple.edu
Our first SWSA Star of the Month is Christina Olenchek!
Christina Olenchek took an unusual path to a career in social work. Originally from Milwaukee, she moved to Central Pennsylvania in 2000 after earning her bachelor´s degree in journalism from Marquette University. She spent the next eight years working as a reporter for the Central Penn Business Journal, covering health care, nonprofits and marketing. She entered Temple University Harrisburg´s MSW program in fall 2007.
A highlight of Christina´s first year at Temple was participating in a service-learning trip to St. Lucia, an island in the West Indies. She worked with two dental-insurance companies and a church to collect roughly 2,000 toothbrushes to distribute to schoolchildren in St. Lucia. She hopes to return to the island in January to deliver oral-health kits, which would include toothbrushes, toothpaste and floss. She is doing her field work at the Children´s Resource Center in Harrisburg. The center brings together social workers, law-enforcement officials, district attorneys and social-services providers to investigate cases of suspected child abuse and provide support to victims´ families.
Christina lives in Harrisburg with her husband, Dennis, who is a student in Temple Harrisburg´s elementary-education program.
(Bio by Katie Kopco, SWSA Event Planner)
UPCOMING CONFERENCES/WORKSHOPS
Fall NASW-PA Conference
Creating Unity - Supporting Individuality
October 3 & 4, 2008, Valley Forge, PA
SOURCE: http://www.nasw-pa.org/
Integrating Sexual Interventions and Exercises into Couples Therapy
October 18, 2008, 8:30am to 1pm
Pennsylvania Society of Social Workers (PSCSW)
112 Carol Lane, Richboro, PA 18954
215.942.0775
Presenter: Barry McCarthy, Ph.D.
For more information, please see: www.pscsw.org
SOURCE: PSCSW flyer
Mental Health Problems in the Older Adult: Treatment Interventions
October 23, 2008, 8:00 am to3:30pm
Best Western Eden Resort, Lancaster, PA
Presenters: Diane M. Angstadt, MD, Geriatric Psychiatry & Unda K. Shumaker, RNC, Geriatric Psychiatric Nursing.
CEs available.
For the entire brochure, please open the attached file: MHOA102308Revised.pdf
SOURCE: Denita Tiberie, TUH SW Grad Student (dtiberie@hmc.psu.edu).
AFTER YOU GET YOUR LSCW
The following email was sent from an established LSCW to a newly-licensed social worker. While this may not apply to most of us for a while, we thought the perspective might be of interest to you!
Congrats on the LCSW! The first on my list when I got the LCSW was: NPI #, Medicaid, and Medicare.
The NPI is: The Administrative Simplification provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) mandated the adoption of standard unique identifiers for health care providers and health plans. The purpose of these provisions is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the electronic transmission of health information. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has developed the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) to assign these unique identifiers. Go to: https://nppes.cms.hhs.gov/
Medicaid: must enroll in PROMISe. Go to: http://www.dpw.state.pa.us/omap/promise/enroll/omappromiseenroll.asp
Medicare: Go to: http://www.highmarkmedicareservices.com/partb/enrollment/index.html
You can also get credentialed with CAQH:
The Universal Credentialing DataSource was developed by America´s leading health plans collaborating through the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare, or CAQH. The Universal Credentialing DataSource is the leading industry-wide service to address one of providers¢ most redundant administrative tasks: the credentialing application process.
Under the CAQH program, practitioners use a standard application and a common database to submit one application, to one source, and update it on a quarterly basis to meet the needs of all of the health plans and hospitals participating in the CAQH effort. Health Plans and hospitals designed by the practitioners will obtain the application information directly from the database, eliminating the need to have multiple organizations contacting the practitioner for the same standard information. Practitioners update their information on a quarterly basis to ensure data is maintained in a constant state of readiness. CAQH will gather and store detailed data from more than 600,000 practitioners nationwide. Go to: http://www.CAQH.org/.
SOURCE: Email from Kevin Masturzo, LCSW, HSV, Caring Touch Social Workers, LLC
www.caringtouchsocialworkers.com (via the PSCSW Yahoo!Group)
JOB POSTINGS
CASE MANAGER: Foundations Behavioral Health in Doylestown, PA is hiring for a Case manager for its Residential Units. This job is ideally suited for a BSW or other human services Bachelor´s degree. The case manager will hold a caseload of 40-60 clients and will do re-authorization packets, discharge planning and other case mgmt duties. If you know anyone that might be interested, please contact Michael Janes at 215-345-0444 ext. 146
FULL-TIME SOCIAL WORKER:The Delta School, an approved private school in Northeast Philadelphia, is looking for a full time social worker. The Delta School services children ages 5-21. Job responsibilities include counseling children 1:1, conducting counseling groups in classrooms and crisis response. Candidates must have an LSW and have experience working with emotionally disturbed children. Prefer applicant who is upbeat, energetic and ready to take on a challenge. Interested candidates may e-mail resume with cover letter along with salary requirements to Joellen Shannon, LCSW, at: joellenshannon@yahoo.com or mail them to: Delta School, Attn: Human Resources, 3380 Byberry Road, Philadelphia, PA 19154.
SPECIAL STUDENT/FACULTY OFFERS ON SOFTWARE
JourneyEd.com is offering some great deals this week on software (http://www.journeyed.com/select/). Then from the home page, select “College”, then “Pennsylvania”, then “Temple University”, and (FINALLY!) click on the big red button that says, “Click here to see all the products featured in this week´s email!”
Some products include:
- IMSI ClipArt&More 3.5 Million for $9.98(SRP $49.00)
- Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Upgrade, as low as $99.98 (SRP $399)
