NASW-NYS Names Samantha Fletcher MSW, Ph.D. as New Executive Director

NASW-NYS/NYC

It is with great pleasure that the Board of Directors of NASW-NYS announces the hiring of our new Executive Director, Samantha Fletcher, PhD, MSW.

We are excited that such a perfect candidate emerged from our intensive search.

Samantha has all the attributes to be an inspiring and strong leader for the Chapter for a long time. You will be hearing more in the weeks to come about opportunities to meet our future new ED. Please join me in welcoming Samantha to what I believe is the beginning of a highly successful partnership.

Sincerely,
Marcia Schwartzman Levy, LCSW-R
President, NASW-NYS

Professional Bio

Samantha Fletcher earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Tulsa (2000), a Master’s degree in Social Work (2014) and a Ph.D. (2018) from the University at Albany School of Social Welfare. Prior to her tenure at the University at Albany, she worked for over 15 years in human services including a family law firm, a crisis pregnancy center, an Islamic school, as well as a personal training business.

While pursuing her Ph.D., Samantha served as the project coordinator of a peer support program for veterans, funded by the Joseph P. Dwyer Statewide Veteran Peer Support Program (Dwyer Program). She supervised the program development, implementation, and evaluation of 16 non-profit county programs focused on peer-delivered services (e.g., individual mentoring, support groups, volunteerism, community education, and referral to veteran-focused services). As the senior research assistant, Samantha implemented a mixed methods study evaluating the Dwyer Program in 11 New York counties. She also organized a yearly conference for key stakeholders in each county and senate staff featuring nationally recognized veterans and, along with the Principal Investigator of the project, disseminated the findings of their evaluation to New York State Senate and at multiple national Social Work conferences.

After earning her Ph.D., Samantha served as the Assistant Dean of Academic Programs and the Director of Admissions in the School of Social Welfare at the University at Albany. She worked with a diverse team of administrators and faculty to implement quality educational programming for social work students at all levels (BA, MSW, and Ph.D.). In addition to enacting New York State and the Council on Social Work Education mandates for the School, a special emphasis of her work was to deepen and expand the School’s focus on social justice.

Samantha partnered with the Assistant Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to implement a social justice group for students, faculty, and staff called “The Gathering;” this endeavor increased awareness of social injustice for all members of the community and instantiated an on-going method for critically examining inequality at micro-, meso-, and macro-levels of analysis. The approach highlighted the inclusion of community activists and other experts who worked with participants to create a safe, active, and reflective environment. Group members explore personal assumptions/biases, values, and beliefs via exercises and activities that ultimately provide a sense of responsibility about becoming a change agent. This work has been particularly useful for helping aspiring social workers make inclusiveness a habit in their practice as well as in their everyday lives.

Samantha’s career has highlighted social activism as a key area of research and practice. Her interest in injustice of all kinds led her to address the lived experiences of lifelong social activists as part of an independent investigation. Via multiple interviews with older adults who identify as liberal social activists, she analyzed their narratives, as well as historical documents including newspaper articles, flyers, diaries, meeting minutes, and the like to better understand how these seasoned activists remained motivated, for decades, to fight for policy and practical change at local, state, and national levels. The participants inspired Samantha to follow in their footsteps by remaining vigilant, determined, and thoughtful about the socio-political context in which social movements begin. In this new position, Samantha looks forward to supporting and learning from the diverse members of NASW NYS, promoting the profession and advocating for policy change to create a safe, inclusive, and just society.

Personal Bio

Samantha was born and lived in Oklahoma until she moved to the Capital District of New York in 2004. She is a member of the Cherokee Nation and strongly embraces native culture. Samantha has been married to her partner for over 20 years. During the first few years of marriage, they were therapeutic foster parents to five children between the ages of 7 and 14. Samantha and her husband chose to become parents through adoption. They have three children Halle, 16, Seth, 18, and Tyler, 19. In her spare time, Samantha enjoys spending time with her family and friends, reading, exercising, and experiencing diverse cultures.

You can reach NASW-NYS Executive Director Samantha Fletcher, Ph.D., MSW, at sfletcher.naswnys@socialworkers.org or by calling the NASW-NYS Chapter at 518-463-4741.

NASW-NYS Welcomes Interim Executive Director Bonita Sanchez, MSW

NASW-NYS/NYC

Bonita Sanchez, MSW has been named Interim Executive Director for NASW-NYS. 

The National Association of Social Workers – New York State Chapter (NASW-NYS) Board of Directors is pleased to announce Bonita Sanchez, MSW as Interim Executive Director of NASW-NYS. We are confident Bonita will provide stable leadership during this time of transition and keep us on this amazing path we have solidified until a new Executive Director is named.

Bonita has been an active member of NASW for nearly four decades. She has held several leadership positions at the state and national level, including Treasurer (1982–1992), Vice President (2000-2002), and Regional Representative (2018-2019) for the NASW-NYS Chapter and served on the NASW National Legal Defense Trust Fund (1989-1993). Additionally, she has served on various NASW-NYS Chapter committees, most recently as the Chair of the Committee on Nominations and Leadership Identification (2012-2018).

Previously, Bonita worked in the field of developmental disabilities and children and families for 12 years before becoming a social work educator in the 1980s – first at Siena College and later as Assistant Dean and Director of Field Education at the University at Albany’s School of Social Welfare, where she helped qualify over 10,000 social work students at the university for 28 years before retiring in 2011. She later assumed the role of Field Liaison for the School of Social Welfare – a position she continues to hold today. For her outstanding contributions to the field of social work, Bonita was awarded the 2018 NASW-NYS Lifetime Achievement Award.

Bonita will partner with the NASW-NYS Board of Directors on organizational planning and the Executive Director search, as well as oversee staff operations. Our Chapter remains committed to serving our members at the highest standards and hosting a successful conference this June.

Please join me in welcoming Bonita Sanchez!

Sincerely,

Marcia Schwartzman Levy, LCSW-R
President, NASW-NYS

You can reach NASW-NYS Interim Executive Director Bonita Sanchez, MSW, at bsanchez.naswnys@socialworkers.org or by calling NASW-NYS at 518-463-4741. 

Announcement of the 2019 Preliminary Election Slate

Private

 

The New York State Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers is pleased to announce the candidacy of the following members for the positions indicated. The Committee on Nominations and Leadership Identification (CNLI) has certified that the slate meets all the requirements of the bylaws.

Members wishing to have their name added to the ballot by petition have 30 days from the date of this announcement (Friday, May 3, 2019) to submit a petition to the NASW-NYS Chapter’s Committee on Nominations and Leadership Identification (CNLI) at info.naswnys@socialworkers.org

For a list of all NASW-NYS Board and Leadership positions, please click here.

Division membership data and official petition form(s) are available by request through the NASW-NYS Chapter. Please submit any questions about the petition process or election form requests to Romel Wilson, LMSW, Member Relations Specialist at rwilson.naswnys@socialworkers.org

 

Visit the 2019 Chapter Election Website
 

 

2019 preliminary slate

 

 

 

 

Visit the 2019 Chapter Election Website

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: SUCCESS! Your voice was heard in the 2019-20 budget.

Divisions, Legislative, NASW-NYS/NYC

SUCCESS! YOUR VOICE WAS HEARD!

NASW-NYS is thrilled to share the following legislative accomplishments with our members:

Thanks in large part to your grassroots advocacy, the NASW-NYS Chapter’s Veterans Mental Health Training Initiative was included in the final budget. As a result, we can continue our vital work supporting New York’s veterans!

In addition, through a partnership between Social Workers, Psychiatrists, Psychologists, and community advocates, the final budget also included an expansion of the state’s mental health parity benefits.

Another hard-fought victory was realized in partnership with the New York State Society for Clinical Social Work (NYSSCSW) in finally including LCSWs as providers in the Workers Compensation program.

And finally, as you are all aware, as part of the Social Work Investment Initiative, we worked hard to secure dollars for both the New York State and New York City Chapters to develop an English as a Second Language (ESL) test preparation program. The final budget includes $150,000 to begin this program. More details to follow!

We hope you will join us in celebrating these amazing accomplishments that would not have been possible without your continued support and advocacy. We also hope this will serve as a reminder of what the power of social work can accomplish!

Please stay tuned for a full report on our work this legislative session!

Important Chapter Announcement

Divisions, NASW-NYS/NYC

NASW-NYS would like to share the following statements with our members:

“I am writing to announce my resignation from NASW-NYS. It has been a true honor and privilege to get to know you and work for you, fight for you at the Capital, and promote the work you do Nationwide. I wish you all the best and thank you for the opportunity to serve you.”

Sincerely,
Samantha Howell, Esq.

“I wish to thank Samantha Howell for her time and effort serving as our Executive Director and wish her well as she moves on to other endeavors. Her passion for social justice served us well in our advocacy and legislative efforts, and we know that the friendships she made among us will continue. We will soon be announcing an interim Executive Director and beginning a comprehensive search for a new Executive Director, with the guidance of NASW National staff. The entire Board of Directors, along with our very talented Chapter staff, are dedicated to uninterrupted support to all our members throughout this process. We will be pleased to update you regularly as we move forward.”

Sincerely,
Marcia Schwartzman Levy, LCSW-R
President, NASW-NYS

Legislative Update: Behavioral Health Insurance Parity Reforms

Legislative, NASW-NYS/NYC

As we near the end of budget negotiations, NASW-NYS would like to share the following important updates related to the latest budget bill (Health and Mental Hygiene), as it relates to our profession.

Behavioral Health Insurance Parity Reforms

Collective efforts by social workers, psychiatrists, psychologists, and other community advocates have resulted in a final Health and Mental Hygiene budget bill that includes the groundbreaking Behavioral Health Insurance Parity Reforms – a tremendous and hard-fought victory for the broader mental health and substance use disorder community!

Between this expansion, the original Timothy’s Law, codification of the Affordable Care Act in NYS, and our Parity Reporting Bill, New York now has the strongest parity foundation in the country! The Health and Mental Hygiene budget bill will be voted on this Sunday, March 31st.

 

What are Behavioral Health Insurance Parity Reforms?

The Behavioral Health Insurance Parity Reforms (BHIPR) are a comprehensive overhaul of New York State’s Insurance Law aimed at dramatically curtailing health insurance/health plan practices that restrict New Yorkers who are suffering from Mental Health Conditions (MHCs), Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) from accessing their health insurance benefits for care and treatment. The BHIPR is applicable to all health insurance and/or health benefit plans, individual and group, that are issued for delivery in New York State.

The BHIPR sets as a floor the landmark federal Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) and surpasses it in scope and effect – prohibiting financial requirements or quantitative and non-quantitative treatment limitations for MHCs, SUDs, and ASDs that are more restrictive “than the predominant financial requirements and treatment limitations applied to substantially all medical and surgical benefits under the policy [or contract].”

 

Among the BHIPR provisions of importance:

  • Provides coverage of all MHCs, SUDs, and ASDs as each is defined in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) or the most recent edition of another generally recognized independent standard of current medical practice such as the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).

  • Prohibits preauthorization and concurrent utilization review of SUD services during the initial 28 days of treatment (expansion from the current 14 days and Governor’s original proposal for 21 days).

  • Prohibits preauthorization and concurrent utilization review of inpatient psychiatric services for youth services during the initial 14 days of treatment.

  • Prohibits prior authorization for formulary forms of prescribed medications for treatment of SUDs.

  • Requires that medical necessity criteria with respect to benefits for MHCs/SUDs and ASDs be made available to the insured, prospective insured, or in-network provider upon request.

  • Requires that clinical review criteria used by utilization review agents must be approved by the Commissioner of the Office of Mental Health (OMH) or designated by the Commissioner of Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS).

  • Prohibits taking any adverse action in retaliation for a provider filing a complaint, making a report, or commenting to a government body regarding policies and practice that violate this statute.

  • Requires insurers and health plans to post additional information regarding their in-network providers of MH/SUD services, including whether the provider is accepting new patients as well as the provider’s affiliations with participating facilities certified or authorized by OMH or OASAS.

  • Additional funding resources for staffing at the Department of Financial Services (DFS) and the Department of Health (DOH) to handle oversight and enforcement of parity.

  • The provisions take effect January 1, 2020, and apply to all policies issued, renewed, modified or altered after such date.

 

In addition to the enactment of the BHIPR, the final state budget for 2019-20 also includes the codification of the Affordable Care Act and Essential Health Benefits, which collectively will provide the most robust set of parity and consumer protections of any state.

Thanks to your support and dedication, we have gained momentum in the Capitol and we will continue to advocate for you, our members, each and every day.

Stay in touch and stay tuned for a full report on our work this legislative session. More great work is ahead of us!