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THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER® Social Work E-News
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Issue #34, September 30, 2003
EDITOR'S EYE
Dear Social Work Colleagues,
Welcome to Issue #34 of the Social Work E-News. This e-mail newsletter is brought to you by the publisher of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine and other social work publications.
The coming month of October is a time of increased awareness on a number of issues that might be relevant to social workers and the people they work with. October observances include the following: Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Healthy Lung Month, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, National Lupus Awareness Month, National Spina Bifida Awareness Month, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Awareness Month, National Brain Injury Awareness Month, World Blindness Awareness Month, National Fire Prevention Week (October 5-11), Mental Illness Awareness Week (October 5-11), National Adult Immunization Awareness Week (October 12-18), National Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Week (October 19-25), National Depression Screening Day (October 9), and National Mammography Day (October 17). This list is not exhaustive-there may be other observances that relate to your area of interest or practice.
Several years ago, THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER published an article by Judy and Joe Davenport analyzing various mentions of the term "social work" in the media. (See http://www.socialworker.com/media.htm ) Now, through the Internet, it is easier than ever to see how social work is being portrayed in the news and what is happening in the world of social work. In this issue of the Social Work E-News, I am providing a summary of some recent social work-related news items I've come across. These will give you an idea of the variety of things going on in the social work world.
I am pleased to announce that back issues of the print THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine are now available once again in electronic format. We discontinued this service about a year and a half ago, when the vendor we were using folded. We have now found another distribution outlet. Go to http://www.socialworker.com/backissu.htm to see a list of back issues and find out which ones are available electronically, or go directly to http://www.lulu.com/socialworker to purchase and download the available back issues. You can also get collections of back issues on CD. All electronic back issues are in PDF format, which requires that you have the (free) Adobe software to read PDF files.
Until next time,
Linda Grobman, ACSW, LSW
Publisher/Editor
THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER®
http://www.socialworker.com
linda.grobman@paonline.com
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IN THIS ISSUE
A Word From Our Sponsor
News
On Our Web Site
In Print
Online Store--Sale
Job Corner
Newsletter Necessities
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A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR
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HTTP://SOCIALWORKEXAM.COM
Social Work Exam Prep Review. Prepare right on the Internet!! Multiple choice exam banks, Timed Questions, Secrets to Passing, DSM-IV Terms, Notables, all Online and Interactive. Reveal strengths and weaknesses so you can map your study strategy. Check out our FREE QUESTION SAMPLER!!
Licensure Exams, Inc.
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NEWS
THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER Seeks Articles
THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER, the magazine for social work students and recent graduates, is looking for articles in the following areas:
1. social work ethics
2. social work field placement
3. social policy
4. research
5. human behavior
Articles should be 1500-2000 words in length, educational/instructional in nature, written for a student/new graduate audience, and written in a conversational tone, similar to that you would find in a typical magazine. Each article should address a specific aspect of the topic (i.e. ethics articles should address a specific ethical issue, such as confidentiality, rather than ethics in general). Articles are accepted from social work students, social work practitioners, and social work educators.
Please e-mail complete manuscripts and/or article ideas to linda.grobman@paonline.com. The need for articles is ongoing, but articles submitted by October 30 will be considered for the Winter 2004 issue. (If you plan to submit an article for that issue, please let me know as soon as possible.)
We also need photos and artwork of social work students and social workers "in action"--participating in a social work club activity or field trip, for example. High resolution digital photos are accepted.
Send all submissions by e-mail to linda.grobman@paonline.com, or mail to Linda Grobman, Editor/Publisher, THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER, PO Box 5390, Harrisburg, PA 17110-0390.
SOCIAL WORK IN THE NEWS
By Linda May Grobman, ACSW, LSW
I like to keep a current pulse on what's happening in the social work profession, so I periodically search news items available online to see what social workers are up to.
A September 16 article in the Greenwich (Connecticut) Time caught my eye. Titled "State Probe Finds Town Social Worker Lacks License," this article by Hoa Nguyen reported that a state investigation found that an employee of the city's Department of Social Services was practicing clinical social work without a license. As most of us in social work know, public (and other) social services departments often hire people who do not have social work degrees and/or licenses to do social work-related work. And this is the case here-the agency's response was that the job description does not indicate that a social work degree or license is required for the job. It only requires a bachelor's in psychology, sociology, or social work and one year of related experience. The employee has a bachelor's in psychology. But the point made in a complaint by the state's chapter of NASW-and in the findings of the investigation-is that according to the state's social work licensing law, a job requiring the type of work this employee is performing SHOULD require a social work degree and license. This case could have significant implications nationwide.
Meanwhile, in Modesto, CA, a letter to the editor was published the next day (September 17) in the Modesto Bee, relating to use of the term "social worker." Steven Dekok's letter pointed out that the newspaper had referred to a "social worker" in a headline, when in fact, the person in the article was a child welfare eligibility worker who did not have social work training.
There is a shortage of social workers in the state of Mississippi, and Harrison County has come up with a solution. According to WLOX in Biloxi, MS, a new pilot program has been announced to hire "child protection specialists" in Harrison County. The newly created positions require a college degree, but have "less stringent requirements than a licensed social worker." The county has had difficulty finding licensed social workers to hire, and the existing social workers on staff are overburdened with high caseloads. The child protection specialists won't be able to do the work of a licensed social worker-their work will consist mainly of paperwork and working with computer files. The county will still need to hire licensed social workers, but the new positions will help lighten the social workers' workloads.
A September 13 article on ChannelNewsAsia.com reports that 300 social workers were to be recruited at a career fair in Singapore earlier this month. There were already 300 applicants for the 300 positions within the first half hour of the fair. The Ministry of Community Development and Sports is encouraging people to make career switches to social work, and there is a Social Service Training Institute that has trained 100 people, many of whom switched to social work careers from sales and banking.
An article in the Express and Star, a UK-based publication, reports that social workers at Sandwell Council take more days off sick than other workers. The council average is 14 days a year; the number for social services staff was 24-almost twice the average. The most common reasons council employees gave for sick days were depression and stress.
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ON OUR WEB SITE
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THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER's Web site at http://www.socialworker.com includes the full text of many sample articles from past issues of the magazine. Go to the Back Issues page at http://www.socialworker.com/backissu.htm to find links to these articles.
A new Interactive Article is now available. These are articles that appear in the print edition of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER and are discussed online on our Discussion Forum. Carol Heintzelman's article in the Fall 2003 issue on the ethics of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study will be discussed. Go to http://www.socialworker.com/discus and click on "Interactive Articles." Then click on the link to the Fall 2003 discussion.
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IN PRINT
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The Fall issue of our print magazine, THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER, will be available soon. Here are some highlights:
*Ethics: The Tuskegee Syphilis Study and Its Implications for the 21st Century (Interactive Article-see above under "On Our Web Site")
*Field Placement: Developing Field Placement Relationships
*Macro and Micro Tensions in Generalist Practice
*Caring for Children After a Tragedy
*Confronting Spam
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and more
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SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER MAGAZINE
THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER can be ordered directly from our online store at http://www.whitehatcommunications.com/store -- where you will also find the social work and nonprofit management books we publish.
Subscriptions to THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER are also available through Amazon.com. Go to Amazon's magazine subscription store (from Amazon's main page at http://www.amazon.com ) and search for "new social worker."
SOCIAL WORK BOOKS WE PUBLISH
We publish several books of interest to social workers and social work students. They include:
NEW-An Introduction to the Nonprofit Sector, by Gary M. Grobman
The Social Work Graduate School Applicant's Handbook, by Jesus Reyes
Days in the Lives of Social Workers, edited by Linda May Grobman
Becoming a Social Worker, by Manfred Melcher
Welcome to Methadonia, by Rachel Greene Baldino
The Field Placement Survival Guide, edited by Linda May Grobman
The Nonprofit Handbook, by Gary M. Grobman
and others! See our site at http://www.socialworker.com and our online store at http://www.whitehatcommunications.com/store for more information on these and other titles!
BUY 2 OR MORE ITEMS at our online store, AND GET 10% OFF YOUR ORDER. Just go to http://www.whitehatcommunications.com/store and put 2 or more items in your cart. The 10% discount will be calculated when you check out.
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JOB CORNER
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ATTENTION EMPLOYERS AND JOB SEEKERS: THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER's online job board and career center is located at http://www.socialworkjobbank.com . Both new grads and experienced social work practitioners are included in our ever-growing candidate profile bank, which now includes over 1,900 confidential profiles/resumes of social work job seekers! SocialWorkJobBank.com is easy to use and affordable for employers, too. All job seeker services are FREE-including searching current job openings, posting your confidential resume/profile, and requesting e-mail job alerts.
FOR EMPLOYERS:
If you or your agency are hiring social workers, please consider including SocialWorkJobBank.com in your recruiting efforts. We have many qualified social workers registered with the site who are looking for employment right now! Go to http://www.socialworkjobbank.com and visit the pricing/products page for job posting options and special offers.
Job Seekers: Please let employers know that you saw their listings in the SOCIAL WORK E-NEWS and at SocialWorkJobBank.com.
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NEWSLETTER NECESSITIES
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ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER
THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER® SOCIAL WORK E-NEWS is published by:
White Hat Communications (publisher of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER® magazine and THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER® ONLINE)
P.O. Box 5390
Harrisburg, PA 17110-0390
Linda Grobman, Editor
linda.grobman@paonline.com
http://www.socialworker.com
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Advertising: If you would like to place a job listing or sponsor this newsletter, send an e-mail message to linda.grobman@paonline.com for rates and further information.
News: Please send brief social work-related news items to linda.grobman@paonline.com for consideration.
PRIVACY
Your subscription e-mail address will only be used to deliver this e-newsletter and to occasionally inform you of updates from its publisher. Your e-mail address will not be given to anyone else or used for any other purpose as a result of your subscription to this newsletter.
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Copyright 2003 White Hat Communications. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this entire newsletter, with all information intact, by e-mail to social work colleagues, students, and others interested in social work, for personal use only. You may also print out this newsletter for personal use. All other uses of this material require permission from the publisher at linda.grobman@paonline.com
THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER is a registered trademark of White Hat Communications.
Linda Grobman, ACSW, LSW
Editor/Publisher
THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER
http://www.socialworker.com 