NASW Letter to the Editor on Safety

Safety for Social Workers in the workplace is a continuing priority for the Chapter as reflected in the Letter to the Editor published on February 13th and as seen with the chapter’s new program to Train Social Workers and Agencies employing Social Workers in Safety policies and procedures.

Bill would push social work agencies to focus on safety.

Carol J. Trust

Leading From Possibility

On August 5^th and 6^th of this week, National NASW is holding its triennial Delegate Assembly event where over 200 elected NASW member delegated come together to address many of the policy issues that the Association is known for dealing with.  This is the second time that Delegate Assembly will be held ‘virtually’ rather than in person in Washington , D.C. has it had been held for the last 30 years or so.  The decision to go ‘virtual’ was made in light of the huge expense involved in bringing 200 delegates into Washington for a multi-day event and in light of the growing movement of governance of National Associations being held electronically.

Lots of people were disappointed that the event had changed its venue.  They missed the camaraderie and face to face deliberations that occurred when we all met in one huge ballroom and the roll call was shouted out from each State Delegation with the Presidents of all 55 chapters identifying the distinctive characteristics of that state.  The Presiding Officer of the Assembly, three years ago and again, this year, our own Mr. Gary Bailey, current President of the International Federation of Social Workers, former President of National NASW and the MA Chapter of NASW, will call the Assembly together and then start the roll call.  He will call “The Massachusetts Chapter” and our Chapter President, Dr. Betty Morningstar, will announce “From the Great State of Massachusetts, Home of Red Sox Nation, the 2011 winners of the Stanley Cup in Ice Hockey, the Boston Bruins,  and a number of ‘Firsts’ like,  the first public high school in the United States-Boston Latin, the first University-Harvard, the first Public Library” we stand ready to serve the goals of the National Association of Social Workers.”  There is a lot of hoopla, applause and sometimes some jeering from the peanut gallery.  It is lots of fun before we get down to the business of revising, creating and discussing public policy statements that affect the clients and communities that we serve.

This year one of the hot topics will be the wisdom of continuing the current structure of the Delegate Assembly.  Some think it is outdated. Some question having two bodies-the elected Board of Directors of National NASW and the elected Delegates to the Assembly- decide on policy.  You will be hearing more of this after the two day event is over, as I believe, this will be one of the hot topics between now and the next Delegate Assembly in three years.  Members of NASW will be able to give their input on the subject.  It has to do with Governance and how we as a professional association do business.  You will be encouraged to give your input. You will certainly be heard!

Carol J. Trust

Vote NO on Question 3!!

Hello Everyone,


There has been much discussion lately about the upcoming ballot questions.  NASW-MA has taken a position AGAINST ALL proposed questions.  However, this week I want to highlight Question 3 which would cut state sales tax from 6.25% to 3% creating a $2.5 billion revenue hole on top of a projected $2 billion dollar budget deficit for next year.  As a social worker, this drastic proposal is particularly distressing to me.  If Question 3 passes, local aid and human services programs would need to be slashed and in some cases eliminated altogether.


We simply can't let that happen to our communities.


Toby McGrath, Chair of the VoteNoQuestion3 Campaign said this in response to one of the Boston Globe articles published this week:  (See link http://bit.ly/b22OmJ )

 “In a matter of hours there were over 500 comments on an on-line story about Question 3 in the Boston Globe. Maybe four comments tops were folks saying vote no.  The on-line poll on the article had us losing 62-38 with all most 2,800 votes...”

NASW-MA Chapter has joined the Massachusetts Coalition for Our Communities to oppose Question 3.  It is imperative we build a strong campaign AGAINST the passage of Question 3. 

Please join us in defeating Question 3!! 


http://facebook.com/VoteNoQuestion3

Carol Trust

The Subject We Would Rather Not Discuss- End of Life.

It is not a topic at my dinner table, with my friends and relatives, nor is it one that comes up at staff meetings.  In fact, it is not one that is  met with enthusiasm if  it happens to come in conversation with a friend who may be dealing with death in one's family.  However, this was the subject of NASW's Annual Practice Conference held in Boston this month. Betsy Clark, the Executive Director of NASW presented a fascinating perspective on death in her opening remarks entitled “Social Challenges for Social Workers in End of Life Practice.”

Her first point was to emphasize that it is not the subject of death that causes burnout for social workers who specialize in End of Life Practice, but rather the paper work and the boundary issues. Interesting. She went on to explore our varied and odd relationship with death and the mention of it.  For instance, our use of phrases like,  passed away, passed on, passed, expired, kicked the bucket, pushing up daisies are odd ways to avoid the 'dead' word.  Then again, we use the 'dead' word in weirder contexts: 'Scared to death', 'dead-a-head', 'drop dead gorgeous', 'a dead head', 'death by chocolate', 'deadline', you are 'dead right' and so on.

She actually had the audience guffawing at times with the multiple ways we deny and avoid the topic that affects all of us in the most natural ways.  Having put the issue in a context that we could relate to, she went on to point out that social work is the ideal profession to address all the issues related to death and we had better get over the cultural aversion to the subject to take our place in this important and growing work.  We need to not only seek out the jobs in nursing homes, cancer centers, hospices and palliative care settings but also start doing more research in this area.  We hear the stories, we sit with the families, we counsel the clients.  We have the material to bring to our larger profession. We can start producing empirical data on how to address this universal life phenomenon. Our particular approach to viewing clients within their environments-social, cultural, economic and geographic, provides us with the research material that will advance our work in End of Life Practice.  After hearing Betsy and many other speakers of the day, I came away with a newer and much more comfortable response to the subject I would rather not discuss.


Carol Trust

Safety In the Workplace

Hello Everyone,

Since the fall of 2008, a state wide Task Force has been meeting to create a system to maximize the safety of social worker in the workplace.  This group of dedicated social work practitioners, executives, managers, faculty, and researchers will be launching the results of its work at a Safety Summit this fall in the Greater Boston area.  The MA Chapter of NASW and Boston University School of Social Work are heading up the task force which will be releasing a new site on the NASW Home Page that will feature every possible resource for social workers to prevent violence in the workplace, address it in a timely way when it occurs and deal with the aftermath.

Already the group has submitted a new policy statement for the 2011 NASW Delegate Assembly to consider adding to its compendium of policies that appear in “Social Work Speaks”.  In addition it is planning on submitting legislation that will safeguard social workers in the workplace.  Lastly, it has put out a: CALL FOR TRAINERS” to begin the process of training of cadre of social workers that will be available to train worker and administrators on how to keep safe.

This extraordinary group of people is not going to wait for the next tragedy to occur to address the ever present of issue of violence against social workers.  We applaud the members of the Task Force and will be looking for it materials on the NASW website beginning this fall.

Carol Trust

Old Myths

The recent passage of legislation that streamlines the application process for veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) seeking medical treatment is a long overdue win for the mental health community.  As a social worker, I immediately thought of the opportunities for career expansion in our field.  However, my enthusiasm was curbed when I read a letter to the editor in the Boston Globe written by a veteran titled “Diagnosing PTSD” (July 17, 2010).  The article discredits the field of social work for lacking “Federal recognition” and our clinicians as secondary to that of federally recognized Psychologists “with doctorates.”  This line of thinking  is reminiscient of the old turf wars between the Hatfields and the McCoys and it is just a flimsy and decadent.  The misguided writer  is as ill informed as his Appalachian predessessors.  Most educated mental health professionals have known for years that clinical social workers have the training, the clincial expertise and the authority to diagnose and treat mental illness.  In fact,  there are many outstanding social work clinicians, with doctorates and masters degrees than any other mental health professional group, currently working for the Veterans Administration Hospital System.

Oh well, old myths, sure do hang around.  

Carol Trust