Suffolk and Nassau Divisions are Hosting a Special Networking and Continuing Education Event!

Continuing Education, Nassau Division, NASW-NYS/NYC, Suffolk Division

 

“Self-Esteem” – A Tool and A Gift to Give to Clients

A Networking and Continuing Education Event presented by the NASW-NYS Suffolk and Nassau Divisions

Thursday, December 7
at the Comfort Inn (Syosset)
5:30PM – 7:30PM
Register Now
 

NASW-NYS Region 5 (Suffolk and Nassau Divisions) invites you to join them for a night of networking with your fellow peers, continuing education, and to meet with the Division and Board Leadership of Long Island!

Come meet your Division Chairs and Board Member and network with your fellow social workers starting 5:30PM at the Comfort Inn (Syosset), before joining us for a very special continuing education presentation, “Self-Esteem – A Tool and A Gift to Give to Clients” by Silas W. Kelly, LMSW, from 6:30PM – 7:30PM.

Be sure to stay after the program for another hour of (fun!) networking with your peers and colleagues.

This event is open to all social workers. We look forward to seeing you there!  

Click the flyer below to register and learn more about the event or visit: https://naswnys.org/QnRYI

 

 

MEET YOUR REGION 5 LEADERSHIP  

Suffolk Division Chair – Mara Kasdan, LCSW

Mara Kasdan is a graduate of the Stony Brook University School of Social Welfare and is currently a LCSW and a Certified Trauma Professional. In December 2016, she received her SDL/SBL post-masters leadership degree from Stony Brook University. In 2014, she was an appointed member of the NASW Task Force to promote school social work and has been a member of the Suffolk County NASW Steering Committee since 2015 where served on the nominating subcommittee, scholarship committee, and brunch committee as well. She has worked for the Brentwood School District as a social worker since 1991, and has experience in Wyandanch schools.

 

Nassau Division Chair – Eileen Moran, LCSW

Eileen Moran is a social worker with over twenty years of experience in mostly the healthcare system. She began working in the field providing counseling and concrete services to terminally ill patients (both adults and pediatrics) and their families. After several years, Eileen transferred to the children’s bereavement where she provided group and individual counseling to bereaved children. I also did community outreach to schools, funeral homes, and houses of worship. Following her work at hospice, Eileen worked for a counseling center with marriage and family, individual and mandated clients in recovery. I recently published a children’s bereavement book, You Wouldn’t Understand.

 

Region 5 Representative – SIlas Kelly, LMSW 

Silas Kelly is an experienced mental health and substance abuse Social Worker. He presently serves as a Mental Health Social Worker at Concern for Independent Living in Medford, and a Substance Use Disorder Social Worker for the Town of Smithtown’s Horizons Counseling & Education Center. He is a skilled public speaker and a self-described “E-Journalism Social Work Specialist” who always promotes the Social Work Profession and Social Workers. Previously, he served a two-year term as the Suffolk Division Chair. Silas is proud of the active member participation in the Division, especially the student engagement that has developed.

Message From the Executive Director: Samantha Howell

Message from Executive Director, NASW-NYS/NYC

Dear NASW-NYS members, friends and supporters,

I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself to you as I begin in the role of Executive Director of NASW-NYS. I am incredibly honored to have been selected for this position and am eager to help the organization grow and support its members.

While the formal press release provided some information about me, I thought you might want to know a little bit more. I was born in Kentucky but have lived in Albany, New York, for 10 years. I graduated from Whitman College with a B.A. in Political Sociology and from Albany Law School with my juris doctor.

My background encompasses policy work, public speaking, event planning, volunteer recruitment/retention, training development, and program development and management, primarily in the legal and social work sectors. For the last six years, I managed a statewide pro bono program. During my tenure, we increased volunteer participation from a dozen people to more than 120, and from a couple hundred hours of service to more than 9100. I worked with students, attorneys, social workers, and community members to grow the program. Before that, I worked at a public benefits non-profit, a domestic violence shelter and drug/alcohol treatment facility, and at the NYS Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence.

I have also been involved in social justice issues for over 20 years. I dedicated my professional and personal life towards ensuring equality, access to justice, and the protection and preservation of human and civil rights. NASW-NYS has a role to play in the everyday struggles we see, and an opportunity to make lasting and systemic change.

Having had the chance to speak with board members and staff, I know that the chapter is in good shape but, as always, there is room to improve and grow. I aim to do just that – by addressing member concerns, supporting program development and growth, and striving towards an even stronger fiscal future. While there are many issues to be faced and obstacles to overcome, I am confident that, as a team, we can succeed.

I am honored to be joining NASW-NYS and look forward to meeting and working with you. I want to have an “open door” policy, so please feel free to contact me at samanthahowell@naswnys.org with any questions or concerns (or compliments) regarding NASW-NYS.

 

Samantha Howell
Executive Director

WESTERN DIVISION: CALL FOR NOMINATIONS!

Divisions, Western Division

 

 

Call for Nominations!

The NASW-NYS Western Division wants to honor those making a difference in their communities. If you, someone you know, or a local community organization is making a difference in your community, consider nominating them for one of the following awards:

Social Worker of the Year

Community Impact Award (Individual or Organization)

BSW/MSW Student of the Year (up to 6 awards)

Lifetime Achievement Award

 

Feel free to download and share the following flyer!

 

For more information, contact: Aaron Maracle at amaracle@live.com

The Western Division includes Alleghany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans, and Wyoming Counties

NASW-NYS Honors Veterans Day and Thanks Our Service Members, Veterans and their Families

NASW-NYS/NYC

In honor of Veterans Day, the NASW-NYS Chapter would like to take a moment to give thanks to those who served, have served, and their families. Take some time today to celebrate those who fight for our freedom. The Chapter would also like to honor Veterans Day with resources to help social workers serve service members, veterans, and their families. 

In whatever capacity we work as social workers, we are bound to come across an Armed Forces veteran. In many cases, this includes not only our clients, but our colleagues and classmates as well. The National Association of Social Workers – New York State Chapter (NASW-NYS) knows that social workers across the state wish to gain (more) knowledge about working with veterans and military families, as well as enhancing their capacity to meet the veteran-specific health and mental health needs of veterans and their family members.

Continuing Education Opportunity (November 17)

On Friday, November 17, NASW-NYS Suffolk Division is offering a veteran’s mental health training conference titled “Beyond PTSD: The Moral Causalities of War” at the Sustainability Institute at Molloy College. The all-day conference will include discussions about post-deployment reintegration, the moral casualties of war, the experience of a female combat veteran reintegrating home, and a veterans panel discussion. A limited number of scholarships are available for veterans and service members to attend this conference. For registration, please click here (Beyond PTSD: The Moral Casualties of War)

 

2017 Veterans Mental Health Training Initiative Conferences 

November is not the only time of year NASW-NYS supports social workers in meeting the needs of veterans and their families. This past year, more than 250 workers and other human service professionals participated in the 2017 Veterans Mental Health Training Initiative conferences in Long Island and in Niagara Falls. Workshop topics included:

  • Military cultural competence
  • Women and military culture
  • Substance use disorders in returning veterans
  • Suicide prevention
  • Working with LGBTQ veterans
  • Post-deployment impact on children and families in reintegration
  • And more

Learn more about the Veterans Mental Health Training Initiative, as well as information about the 2018 conferences by visiting the NASW-NYS VMHTI website.

 

Veterans Mental Health Forum and Film Screening in Rome, NY (September 21)

The VMHTI also had the opportunity to partner with the NASW-NYS Mohawk Valley Division to host a veterans mental health forum on the topic of ‘moral injury’ in Rome, N.Y. this past September. Titled, “A Closer Look at Moral Injury: Existential Challenges Faced by Returning Veterans”, the event provided an overview of military culture and the challenges of transitioning to civilian life, with a particular concept of moral injury – and its lasting implications on one’s spirituality, identity, and ethics. The forum included a documentary screening of ALMOST SUNRISE (2016), which follows two Iraq veterans, Tom Voss and Anthony Anderson, both tormented by depression for years and after they returned home and were pushed to the edge of suicide. (See: “Veterans Mental Health Training Initiative Holds Forum”, published by The Rome Sentinel on September 21, 2017)

 

Building a strong network of social workers trained in military health and mental health issues 

As service members return to New York, they and their families are often in need of expert mental health care, yet there is a short supply of mental health professionals who are adequately trained in veterans-specific health and mental health issues. NASW-NYS has led the way toward building a strong network of social workers and other licensed mental health clinicians who are adequately trained in these issues, and is committed to growing that network of trained professionals through the Veterans Mental Health Training Initiative, regional workshops, and future events and programming.

 

We also turn to you, our members, as we recognize that our membership is our most valuable resource. As your professional association, we know that social workers have valuable insights to share. This month, we talked to Dr. Joan Beder who shares her piece on the essential role that social workers play in providing the best care to families and service members, with a focus on the obligation that we have to learn and share knowledge to offer the most responsive care to our military.

“Our military is all volunteer; men and women make the decision to join the military for a variety of reasons but regardless of the reasons, the impact of that decision is felt throughout the family, community, and the broader society. Many who serve are sent into dangerous circumstances and will face physical and emotional challenges that can be life-altering. As a nation, we have an obligation to care for our military and that is where social workers become essential.“

To read her full piece, read: A Minute With… Joan Beder, DSW.

 

For social workers who were not able to attend a Veterans Mental Health Training Initiative conference this year or will not be able to attend the upcoming Suffolk Division conference, the National NASW webpage on Military & Veterans provides information regarding practice tools, professional development, news and policies for working with service members, veterans and their families. We salute the army of social workers and their commitment to our military.

A Minute with… Joan Beder, DSW

Member Spotlight

A Minute with… is a segment that allows social workers to share their insights, stories, and perspectives from their field/ practice area. This month, we are featuring Joan Beder, DSW, Professor at Yeshiva University and her piece on the essential role that social workers play in providing the best care to families and service members, with a focus on the obligation that we have to learn and share knowledge to offer the most responsive and knowledgeable care to our military.

I am a social work educator and for the last 25 years have endeavored to help graduate students in their quest to become social workers – the best social workers they can be! I love what I do. Over the years, I have welcomed the opportunity to challenge students with new ideas, different ways of viewing situations and inserting new content into courses.

About ten years ago the challenges faced by our military – our returnees from fighting the wars in which the United States has been engaged – captured my attention and demanded that this area of social work practice be shared with students. The needs of our military are especially important during wartime and beyond.

Our military is all volunteer; men and women make the decision to join the military for a variety of reasons but regardless of the reasons, the impact of that decision is felt throughout the family, community, and the broader society. Many who serve are sent into dangerous circumstances and will face physical and emotional challenges that can be life-altering. As a nation, we have an obligation to care for our military and that is where social workers become essential. Social work’s system perspective means that we look not only at the needs of the client (one who has served or is serving) but at all those who may be impacted by the service member’s experience. Our broad based approach to care defines a role for social workers that is all encompassing.

Civilian social workers must be trained to offer the best care to families and service members. As such, it is essential that social workers and social work students understand the worldview of the military, the culture of the military and the complex variety of experiences that challenge a service member and their family (however we define family). Many social workers have written extensively about the areas of care that are needed by service members and those close to the service member. My own texts and those of others are written in such a way that social work students can learn the nuances of behaviors and experiences that impact our military-related clients and learn appropriate interventions. In addition, NASW-NYS and other organizations have periodic conferences and webinars that inform care.

As social workers, we have an obligation to learn all we can to offer the most responsive and knowledgeable care to our military. Get with it! Take a course, a CEU class, or attend the conferences we offer. Our men and women and those close to them need our perspective and caring and have surely earned it.

ACTION ALERT: Call your Assembly Member to Establish Legislative Committee on Racial Equity in the NYS Assembly

Current Act Now Campaigns: Social Work Legislative Alerts, Legislative, NASW-NYS/NYC

Call to Action

Re: AB.5851

Racial Equity Bill

Call Your Assembly Member Today!

Disproportionate negative outcomes for people of color are represented throughout every system, including the legislative arena. While the general intent of legislation is to ameliorate social issues, it does not always consider embedded racial inequities and as such, can ultimately serve to exacerbate problems. Part of the solution is to employ a “Racial Equity Impact Assessment (REIA); a systematic examination of how different racial and ethnic groups will likely be affected by a proposed action or decision. REIAs are used to minimize unanticipated adverse consequences in a variety of contexts, including the analysis of proposed policies, institutional practices, programs, plans and budgetary decisions. The REIA can be a vital tool for preventing institutional racism and for identifying new options to remedy long-standing inequities. (1)

Given the current structure of the Legislature, and its various Committees, the NASW-NYS and the NASW-NYC Chapters have worked in conjunction to introduce a bill AB.5851, which proposes the addition of a REIA Committee. Germane to legislative committees is the notion and use of Economic and Environmental Impact Statements, Health and Human Services Impact Statements and Public Protection Impact Statements, but currently there is no mechanism to examine racial equity assessments to evaluate potential harm and ensure fiscal and environmental protections in the face of limited resources.

Assembly Member Luis Sepulveda has introduced the bill and now it’s our job to rally support and help populate the bill with co-sponsors. This is where YOU come in. Please call your Assembly Member and request they co-sponsor this vital piece of legislation.

 

What Action Is Needed: 

Call your Assembly Member to support establishing Legislative Committee on Racial Equity in the New York State Assembly. The Racial Equity Bill (AB.5851) will introduce a vital new tool for mitigating institutional racism and correcting long-standing inequities.

 

Find Your Assembly Member

If you do not know who your Assembly Member is, simply log onto http://nyassembly.gov/mem/search/

If you do know who your member is, call the Assembly Switchboard at 518-455-4100

 

Action Steps:

Ø Introduce yourself as a constituent

Ø Reference the bill number (AB.5851)

Ø Reference the intent of the bill (iterated above)

Ø Ask your member to join as a co-sponsor of the legislation immediately

 

Thank you for your support of this legislation!

Click here to download a copy of the action alert

(1) https://www.raceforward.org/sites/default/files/RacialJusticeImpactAssessment_v5.pdf