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THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER® Social Work E-News
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Issue #49, December 16, 2004


EDITOR'S EYE

Dear Social Work Colleagues,

Welcome to Issue #49 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.

December is National Drunk and Drugged Driving (3D) Prevention Month (see http://www.3dmonth.org) and Safe Toys and Gifts Month (see http://www.preventblindness.org).

The third edition of my book, DAYS IN THE LIVES OF SOCIAL WORKERS, has been printed, and I just received an advance copy of it! I am especially excited because some of the contributors to the new edition (and a subsequent volume, going to press very shortly) are subscribers to the Social Work E-News, and I am happy that they contributed their stories to this work. Each chapter tells an inspiring story about social work in a different setting.

In light of the Scott Peterson sentencing this week, which because of the high profile of this case has brought the death penalty to the forefront of the national (U.S.) news, we added a new "Tell Us About It" poll on our Web site. The new poll asks the site's visitors their opinions about the death penalty. Go to http://www.socialworker.com to see what our visitors have said so far, and to add your response to this important question.

This issue of the Social Work E-News contains the full text of an article by MSW student Wendy Sittner, who reports on her experiences as a poll volunteer during the recent election. She presents some interesting insights into the activities around the poll site in Philadelphia where she volunteered with Election Protection, a nonpartisan group. Thank you to Wendy for submitting this article.

I wish you a happy holiday season and look forward to our next correspondence.


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
Features
News
Job Corner/Current Job Openings
On Our Web Site
In Print
Social Work Gifts for the Holidays
Newsletter Necessities


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FEATURES


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Social Worker as Advocate in the Democratic Process
By Wendy Sittner, MSW Student
Virginia Commonwealth University

The night before the presidential election in November, I felt the high intensity of emotions running rampant throughout all neighborhoods in the Philadelphia area. I felt the division of the nation down party lines and people seething on both sides. I believed we were on the brink of a nationwide riot, and the ticking of this civil time bomb reminded me of the hours during which the nation waited in suspense for the verdict of the OJ trial--to find out just what "Democracy" means in the United States.

I had already cast my absentee ballot in Arlington, Virginia and traveled to Pennsylvania to volunteer for the Election Protection program. The Election Protection voter empowerment program was the most ambitious and coordinated undertaking to address the systematic neglect and obstruction of voting rights in African American and Latino communities in the modern civil rights era. The Election Protection coalition designated certain states, where voters in minority communities have been disproportionately disenfranchised in the past, to be at a particularly high risk: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Within these states, the Election Protection coalition focused on the most at-risk districts.

The day before the election, I handed out the voters' bill of rights to Philadelphia residents in the Kensington neighborhood. I planted myself in front of Cousin's Grocery, my first experience with a grocery store surrounded by razor wire-was it to keep the groceries in, or to keep something else out? To arrive at Cousin's, I drove through neighborhoods with makeshift memorials on many street corners, displaying candles, stuffed animals, and pictures of the innocent who died on the street. I figured I was probably in the right place if my goal was to seek out the disenfranchised and make sure their votes were going to be counted.

On Election Day, I was assigned to a polling site in a neighborhood in North Philadelphia with primarily Puerto Rican residents. My volunteer duties were to monitor the polls, look out for anything fishy going on (in various forms of voter suppression or disenfranchisement), advocate for voters who ran into questions from the official poll workers, translate between English and Spanish as needed, and call in any incident reports to the Election Protection hotline. And there were, indeed, many incident reports called into the hotline from my polling site. For the most part, the problems were not caused by the poll workers onsite, which is no surprise, because they too were from the community and wanted to help ensure that their neighbors' votes counted. Instead, the problems had already started at a higher level, and were not discovered until Election Day when several registered voters arrived at the polls to find that a) their names were not on the list of qualified voters, or b) their names were on a "supplemental list" of qualified voters that the official poll workers didn't know existed until Election Protection volunteers let them know, or c) their polling site had been changed without notice, even though the voters had not changed residence in about 20 years and had been voting at the same polling site for 20 years.

Some of the highlights of my experience were:

1) The Kerry campaign was having a darn-near block party in front of our polling site. They had recruited local community organizers to wear Kerry t-shirts and Kerry baseball caps, and parade through the streets waving Kerry flags and chanting cheers for Kerry. They were also blasting Latin and hip hop music, so that everybody in the neighborhood knew the fiesta was at the polls. They had also rented a stretch SUV limousine on which they pasted Kerry posters all over the outside, and they were giving local residents free rides to the polls in the limo-and yes indeed, THAT got out the vote!

I would have liked to compare and contrast the campaign strategies implemented in this neighborhood by the Kerry campaign versus the Bush campaign. However, the only self-identified Bush supporters I observed were two Republican men posted at the polling site to serve as "challengers" to any neighborhood residents claiming a false identity in order to vote. Aside from these two challengers who made not a single challenge all day, I did not even see a poster for miles around that supported a Republican candidate for any office. I wondered if Republican campaigners had made attempts to access this community and the community had rejected such efforts, or if the community had been overlooked altogether by the Republican party.

2) There were a lot of youth who came out to vote. Some of them looked so young they could have turned 18 this year. After the high school let out, there were a few groups of seniors who came with their friends to the polls.

At one point, I saw two young guys who had each come to the polls alone. When they spotted each other in the line to vote, they obviously knew each other, and were a bit embarrassed to have been spotted at the polls. I watched them and waited to see how they were going to handle the awkwardness of trying to maintain their hard image in the voting line. One said to the other, "Hey, wassup?" The other one replied, "Aw, not much. Just figured I'd come out and vote," and he smiled awkwardly, trying to hide his embarrassment. And the first one said, "Yeah man, ya know… ya gotta do it." I thought that was an immensely important moment when they overcame the initial embarrassment and set a new precedent for themselves that now it's cool to be young and to vote.

And a young Spanish-speaking couple came in. They each looked about 18. They had three children with them; the oldest daughter looked about four. The mother knew she had registered to vote and she voted on the machine. She had told her husband to register, but when his name was not on the list of registered voters, he said he couldn't remember whether or not he had actually registered. (I got the feeling he knew he didn't register, but he didn't have the nerve to admit that to her.) So she made him go ahead and vote by provisional ballot just in case. And I was so impressed by that young mother who made it a priority to register herself, attempt to register her partner, and bring her kids to the polls to vote.

3) After the polls closed at 8 p.m., the Kerry campaign's community organizers had a party at the restaurant across the street from the polling site. They were blasting Latin music (again), serving Puerto Rican food buffet-style, and all the televisions were tuned in to CNN to watch the votes being called in. They invited us nonpartisan Election Protection volunteers into their party to show their gratitude for our efforts. That was the best reward ever! I had hardly eaten anything all day, and I got to feast on a buffet of warm Puerto Rican food and reflect on the day's events with the people from the community I had aimed to empower.

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MORE RESOURCES FOR SOCIAL WORKERS

By Linda May Grobman, ACSW, LSW

In this Social Work E-News, I am continuing my listing of some organizations of interest to social workers, from Appendix A of my book, DAYS IN THE LIVES OF SOCIAL WORKERS. The third edition is available now!

Below are some organizations that you might find of interest.

National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
Colonial Place Three
2107 Wilson Blvd., Suite 300
Arlington, VA 22201
703-524-7600
http://www.nami.org

National Association of Sentencing Advocates (NASA)
514 10th Street, NW, Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20004
202-628-0871
http://www.sentencingproject.com/nasa/

National Coalition for the Homeless
1012 14th Street, NW
Suite 600
Washington, DC 20005-3471
202-737-6444
http://www.nationalhomeless.org


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NEWS

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Judith Holm Memorial Student Awards Program 2005

The American Board of Examiners in Clinical Social Work (ABE) has announced the 2005 Judith Holm Memorial Student Awards Program. A $2,000 cash prize will be awarded for each of the top five clinical practice papers in the competition.

Candidates must be in good standing, in their final year of a master's program in social work, and scheduled to graduate in the year 2005 from a CSWE-accredited program. Candidates submit a paper they have written, based on clinical work in their most recent field placement setting, observing ABE formatting and confidentiality requirements.

Original papers of less than 7,000 words should demonstrate the application of clinical social work values and the integration of theory and practice using clinical case material from the student's latest practicum. Papers must be endorsed by both the field liaison/coordinator and faculty advisor involved in the field placement.

Submissions must be received in the ABE office by 4:30 p.m. on February 18, 2005. The preferred method of submission is by e-mail attachment to bgw@abecsw.org. For detailed instructions regarding the format of the paper, confidentiality requirements, and the submission process, see http://www.abecsw.org and click on "For Students."

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INSTITUTE FOR GERIATRIC SOCIAL WORK OFFERS INFORMATION
The Institute for Geriatric Social Work at Boston University is a resource for all social workers interested in the older population. The Institute's Web site at http://www.bu.edu/igsw offers an extensive listing of related resources, as well as an announcements section.


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JOB CORNER

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CURRENT JOB OPENINGS:


Psychotherapist, Summit Preparatory School, Kalispell, MT-
http://jobs.socialworkjobbank.com/c/job.cfm?site_id=122&jb=676745

Mental Health Specialist, Starlight Adolescent Center, San Jose, CA-
http://jobs.socialworkjobbank.com/c/job.cfm?site_id=122&jb=670462

Social Worker, Starlight Adolescent Center, San Jose, CA-
http://jobs.socialworkjobbank.com/c/job.cfm?site_id=122&jb=670461

Social Worker, Suburban Hospital, Bethesda, MD-
http://jobs.socialworkjobbank.com/c/job.cfm?site_id=122&jb=670874

Social Worker, Outcomes Management, Suburban Hospital, Bethesda, MD-
http://jobs.socialworkjobbank.com/c/job.cfm?site_id=122&jb=672328

Click on the above links (or copy and paste them into your browser, if they do not show up as links in your e-mail) to see the full detailed listings for these jobs at SocialWorkJobBank.com.

Find more jobs at http://www.socialworkjobbank.com, THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER's online job board and career center. Both new grads and experienced social work practitioners are included in our ever-growing candidate profile bank, which now includes thousands of confidential profiles/resumes of social work job seekers! We are proud of the fact that this site was chosen as one of 350 (out of 40,000+ employment sites) to be included in Weddle's Recruiter's and Job Seeker's Guide to Employment Web Sites 2004.

If you or your agency are hiring social workers, don't forget to post your jobs on SocialWorkJobBank.com. Please check the SocialWorkJobBank "products/pricing" page for job posting options and SPECIAL offers.

All job seeker services are FREE-including searching current job openings, posting your confidential resume/profile, and requesting e-mail job alerts. Please let employers know that you saw their listings in the SOCIAL WORK E-NEWS and at SocialWorkJobBank.com.


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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. On our site, click on "About the Magazine" to find Tables of Contents of the current and back issues, and click on "Feature Articles" to find full-text articles.

When we redesigned our site a few months ago, we added a poll feature. Go to http://www.socialworker.com to register your vote in our current poll on the death penalty!

Our online discussion forum/message board is a place for open discussion of a variety of social work-related issues. Join in our discussion at http://www.socialworker.com (click on "Discussion Forum" in the left menu) -- you do not have to be a registered user to participate, but registering allows you to use some additional features of the message board.


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IN PRINT

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WINTER ISSUE COMING SOON

The Winter issue of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine is at the printer now and will be available in January. Here are some highlights of this issue:

Ethics: Checking Off the Box Is Not Enough
Field Placement: Ten Tips for Integrating the Classroom and Fieldwork
Preparing for Social Work Licensure: Core Competencies
Life and Death in the ICU
El Salvador: An International Field Experience
Outcome Oriented Supervision
Career Talk: I Want to Be a Social Worker, But…
…and more!

See our Web site in January for more details about this issue.

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***NEW BOOKS!***

The third edition of DAYS IN THE LIVES OF SOCIAL WORKERS is now available. This new edition includes six new chapters-two on health care social work, two on international social work, one on social work in a summer camp, and another on social work with Holocaust Survivors. The new edition also has an updated disaster mental health chapter, as well as newly-added questions for discussion or thought at the end of each chapter. See http://www.socialworker.com/home/Publications/Social_Work_Books/Days_in_the_Lives_of_Social_Workers for complete details and a Table of Contents for this new edition.

The fourth edition of THE NONPROFIT HANDBOOK: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO START AND RUN YOUR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION, by Gary Grobman, is now in print, as well. If you are thinking of starting a new nonprofit, or if you are a nonprofit board or staff member, you will find this book to be chock full of information to help you run your organization. You can find the Table of Contents and further details at http://www.socialworker.com/home/Publications/Nonprofit_Management_Books/The_Nonprofit_Handbook

Go to our online store at http://www.whitehatcommunications.com/store to order these and other publications.


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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."

Visit http://www.lulu.com and find instant downloads of selected back issues of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine. Buy a single issue or a whole collection.


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SOCIAL WORK GIFTS FOR THE HOLIDAYS

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Do you need a unique holiday or graduation gift for someone who is interested in social work, a colleague, or a student? Here are some ideas:

• Subscription to THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine--$15 for 1 year (to U.S. address)
• Books-DAYS IN THE LIVES OF SOCIAL WORKERS offers an overview of "typical" days in a wide variety of social work settings! THE SOCIAL WORK GRADUATE SCHOOL APPLICANT'S HANDBOOK is a great gift for anyone who is thinking about social work graduate school.
• "I Am a Social Worker" Buttons-Red buttons with yellow lettering. Stock up on them and give them to your fellow classmates, colleagues, interns, or new graduates.

These items and more are available at our online store at http://www.whitehatcommunications.com/store

We also have specialty items (social work mugs, teddy bears, and more) at http://www.cafepress.com/socialworker -- you won't find these ANYWHERE else!


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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, e-mail linda.grobman@paonline.com for rates and further information. We also now offer banner advertising on our Web site.

News: Please send brief social work-related news items to linda.grobman@paonline.com for consideration.

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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 2004 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

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