NASW-MA Chapter Oscars...The Envelope, Please.

And the winners are?...........................

The 120+ substantive workshop presenters at Symposium.

The powerful and engaging keynote speaker, Maurice 'Moe' Boisvert.

The 6 extraordinary Chapter Award recipients.

The social work departments from the 7 Greater Boston trauma centers that responded to the marathon bombing.

The Chapter's Social Work Symposium this year won all the awards for professional presentations, career services, networking opportunities, job offerings and practice innovation.

The program committee, headed by two brilliant co-chairs-Sherry Cohen and Mary Ward deserve the Oscar for producing such a memorable and stimulating professional gathering.  I am so grateful to the volunteers and staff who participated in creating this memorable event.

This is a 'hats off' to my social work colleagues, a shout out to the profession of social work and the  outstanding women and men who chose this field of practice.

Leading From Possibility

‘My Pizza was an hour late arriving, it’s cold, so they better give it to me free.’ 

I am feeling grumpy. I caught it from listening to all the conversations around me, especially those that focus on complaints people are harboring about the weather, the economy, trash in the street, j- walkers, frizzy hair (because of the humidity), hair with no curl ( those darn straight hair genes), relationships gone sour, no relationships, cars that don’t stop for pedestrians, pedestrians that  don’t wait for the walk light, bicyclists that don’t stop or wait for anything... and  on and on it goes. My list is much, much longer but, I think you get the idea.

How did we come to this state of affairs where we are so quick to voice our complaint?  The flaws in other peoples characters, the world situation in general, the cold pizza.  And wait.  What about the blue ribbon winner of workplace complaints—the   Monday morning comment, going up in the elevator to the office, “Sigh. Oh dear, Monday morning. Oh, well.  Just five more days until Friday.”  Really.  I just want to say, “Sir. Aren’t you lucky you have a job? And that you don’t need any medical devises to help you breathe? And that you are going into an air-conditioned office?”  I don’t.  But, boy do I want to.  I don’t because, in part, there may be a basis for the complaint.  In part, because I have learned to edit my responses, In part, because I should, as a good social worker, allow people their feelings, their idiosyncrasies, their views of the world.” In part, because I don’t want to start trouble, get them angry, suggest my world view is the preferred.

This is not the kind of blog you would expect the Executive Director of a Professional Association to publish.  No.  But I was feeling grumpy.  And now I feel better. I’ll be able to attend my seminar tonight with a better clearing.  As my mother, Lillian, used to say, “I got it off my chest.”  And you, my dear readers, bear witness to the nonprofessional musings of a professional social worker, whose pizza came late…… and cold.

Carol J. Trust

New Year's Resolution!

As 2010 winds down and it is time once again to set new goals for the New Year, The NASW MA Chapter invites you to resolve to get involved in Chapter activities!  The Chapter is currently in the final stages of setting its exciting legislative agenda for next session. We are looking for our talented members to provide testimony at the State House, mobilize your peers and of course participate in our Legislative Education Advocacy Day on March 30^th at the State House to celebrate Social Work Month. 

In the areas of Continuing Education and Clinical Issues we are closely watching payment reform and continuing our advocacy with managed care companies.  Planning for new Continuing Education programs that include live sessions, podcasts and the 2012 Symposium are all underway.  If you have a talent for writing, presenting or event planning or would like to be a part of organizing Symposium 2012 and other CE programs, contact the Chapter Office.  The Chapter is also updating our Licensing Test Prep program to comply with the new ASWB changes taking effect in 2011.  Our CEU and LTP schedules are available on our website and open for registration!

If outreach is a more appealing to you, the Chapter has unveiled its Social Work Reinvestment Initiative.  Staff and volunteers are heading out to Massachusetts high schools, youth programs, and community colleges to speak to students about considering a career in social work.  Come tell your story and help educate youth about the wonderful field of social work! We will have an informal “train the trainer” session in late January at the Chapter office for interested members. 

NASW MA has several Shared Interest Groups (SIGS) in various areas of practice that are always open to new members!  These groups meet to network, organize continuing education conferences, follow legislation, draft policy statements, represent NASW in the community, and generally serve as the eyes and ears of the chapter, feeding back information to staff and the elected leadership. To get involved, please e-mail Chapter@naswma.org. You can be added to a SIG(s) e-mail list, or connected to a staff member overseeing the activity in which you have interest. The complete list is available on our website www.naswma.org. 

To explore areas that might of interest to you please check out one of our upcoming networking events!  Our next event will be on February 8^th at Big City in Boston.  Social workers of all levels are invited! Come join us for some good food and great company! Events on the North Shore and Central Massachusetts are also in consideration.

Call the Chapter office to see how you can get involved!

Carol J. Trust