Dear Social Work Colleagues,
Hello! Welcome to Issue #141 of the Social Work E-News! Thank you for subscribing to receive this e-mail newsletter, which is brought to you by the publisher of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine, SocialWorker.com, SocialWorkJobBank.com, and other social work publications.
Congratulations to all incoming social work students! You are embarking on a very rewarding profession, and I wish you all the best! If you know of a new social work student who you think would like to receive this e-newsletter and THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine, please pass this newsletter and/or our information along to him or her!
ANNOUNCEMENT: A new Web site has been launched! Actually, it is a redesigned version of a site, and it is especially for everyone who is interested in social work grad school! The Social Work Graduate School Site at http://www.socialworkgradschool.com is brought to you by The New Social Worker and will have new articles posted regularly on applying, getting in, and navigating the social work graduate school experience. Please follow and subscribe to the site to make sure you are informed of new posts and don’t miss out on anything important!
August marks the observance of National Child Support Awareness Month, National Breastfeeding Month, National Immunization Awareness Month, National Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Awareness Month, and more.
Coming in September: Healthy Aging Month, National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, National Sickle Cell Month, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, and more.
Important reminder…. The Summer 2012 issue of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER is available NOW! Highlights of the Summer issue include: FAQs about the NASW Code of Ethics, learning from a first intern, social work in an HIV/AIDS clinic, a foster child removal experience, @SWSCmedia Twitter debates, poetry, book reviews, and more! Also included is a photo montage of recent social work graduates.
Individual articles from this issue are also available on our Web site in Web format. Just go to http://www.socialworker.com and start reading!
IT'S ALSO IN PRINT! Don't forget--THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER is available in a print edition. Most issues from 2009 to the present are available now at http://newsocialworker.magcloud.com. You can purchase them individually, or purchase all four issues from 2010 or 2011 in one perfect-bound volume. The 2011 volume is now also available at http://amzn.to/KFDkgE at a new LOWER price!
You can also go to http://www.socialworker.com/home/menu/Subscribe/ and subscribe (free) to receive an e-mail reminder and table of contents of each issue of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine when it is available. If you are a subscriber to the E-News (which you are reading now!), this does NOT mean that you are automatically subscribed to THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine. They are two different publications! Subscribe to both to get the most advantage.
The Social Work E-News has 28,500+ subscribers, and thousands of social workers (and people interested in social work) visit our Web sites. If you like our Web sites, The New Social Worker, and the Social Work E-News, please help us spread the word by using the "Share" button on the right side of this newsletter to share the newsletter with your friends and contacts. Tell your friends, students, or colleagues to visit us at http://www.socialworker.com, where they can download a free PDF copy of the magazine, become one of our 15,000+ fans on Facebook, participate in discussions, and lots more.
Until next time,
Linda Grobman, ACSW, LSW
Publisher/Editor
THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER®
Networking:
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A Social Worker’s Mission
by Jessica Bradstreet, MSW
Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from an article from the current (Summer 2012) issue of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER. Read the full article at:
I am a social worker. I’m often burnt-out, stressed out, and have to-do lists everywhere I turn around. My computer desktop might just earn me an Axis 1 diagnosis of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, as I have files within files within files, all appropriately named and organized according to job duty the file falls under, category within that job duty, subcategories, and on and on. My Outlook inbox, another madhouse, with “flagged” e-mails to follow up on (I know I must drive people crazy with the number of times I check up on and re-check up on things—this is my public apology to those people), and e-mail archive files with saved important information, also organized into different folders by category and relevance.
I have worked hard to get where I am. Yet, as a social worker, I know that one must continue fighting, because it does not matter most days how hard you work. There is still more work to be done. When I leave my job at the end of the day, someone else does not pick up the shift. When I am done for the day, the job is not shut off like a computer. I work with people...they don’t stop at 5 p.m. as I am driving home in traffic.
No, no matter what time I drive home, whether it’s an early day because I have completed all of my to-dos for that day, or whether it’s been a very long day, people keep living, keep needing, and the fight still rages on. On an early day, some argue that I am still not so lucky, because on that early day, I may still be responding to e-mails or calls until after 10 p.m. (the calls are usually me staffing and consulting with the employees that I supervise, don’t want you thinking I’m talking to clients that late!). Was it really an early day? I’m not sure. I am over-worked and under-paid.
Frankly, I work my butt off. But I don’t always see it that way. One of the things I can say is that I do not punch in on a time clock. I manage my own time (for the most part), and I am my own boss (pretty much, although I work for a private agency). There are a few positives!
However, there is always work to be done, things not getting done, and my own professional reputation is still blooming. So, I charge on. To the next day, the next crisis, the next need. I do not have near enough support or resources to do my job. But still, I fight my way to get as much as I can get done, done. I have not given up.
Occasionally, I am recognized or appreciated. Sometimes (not often enough), something good happens for one of the foster children in my program. Something I’ve fought for, the fighting pays off. A child who needed to see a dentist gets to see a dentist. An adoption happens. A child “gets better” with the hard work and help of a good team.
I guess that is what keeps me going. At the end of the day, I know that without some of my hard work, my team’s good skills, my annoying e-mails, and my kick-butt organizational skills, something that needs to happen might not happen. And there is always more work to be done. More good work. By a good social worker.
Read the rest of this article at:
Articles from the Summer 2012 issue of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER include:
• Student Role Model: Tayloe Compton (in PDF version only)
• Poetry (in PDF version only)
• On Campus (in PDF version only)
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Are you or someone you know applying to social work graduate school? The Social Work Graduate School Applicant’s Handbook is now available in Kindle format and print format! Order it from Amazon here for the Kindle edition or here for the print edition.
Check out all of our social work and nonprofit books, social work greeting cards, social work buttons, and more. All of our books and products are available through our secure online store at: http://shop.whitehatcommunications.com
You can also download our catalog in PDF format at:
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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 at http://jobs.socialworkjobbank.com/r/jobs/post/index.cfm?site_id=122 for job posting options and SPECIAL offers. Our audience of professional social workers is active and engaged in the job search, receiving more than 480,000 e-mail job alerts last year and actively applying to open positions. Your jobs will gain additional exposure to our social networks on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Also, please note that SocialWorkJobBank.com is part of the Nonprofit Job Board Network. You can post your job to SocialWorkJobBank and get exposure on other network sites for a reasonable additional fee.
Job seeker services are FREE—including searching current job openings, posting your confidential résumé/profile, and receiving e-mail job alerts. Please let employers know that you saw their listings in the SOCIAL WORK E-NEWS and at SocialWorkJobBank.com.
There are 1,097 jobs currently posted on SocialWorkJobBank.com. Check it out today.
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RAISING AWARENESS
National Child Support Awareness Month
Child Support Help for Single Parents (About.com):
National Breastfeeding Awareness Month
Why Breastfeeding Is Important:
National SMA Awareness Month
National Immunization Awareness Month
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Make Breastfeeding Easier for Mothers, Says UNICEF
NEW YORK, August 1, 2012 – On the 20th anniversary of World Breastfeeding Week, UNICEF says strong national policies supporting breastfeeding could prevent the deaths of around 1 million children under five in the developing world each year.
Despite compelling evidence that exclusive breastfeeding prevents diseases like diarrhea and pneumonia that kill millions of children every year, global rates of breastfeeding have remained relatively stagnant in the developing world, growing from 32 percent in 1995 to 39 percent in 2010.
“If breastfeeding were promoted more effectively and women were protected from aggressive marketing of breast milk substitutes, we would see more children survive and thrive, with lower rates of disease and lower rates of malnutrition and stunting,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake.
In June, world leaders meeting in Washington, D.C., pledged as part of the “Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed” movement to work toward ending preventable child deaths. World Breastfeeding Week provides an opportunity to restate the critical role of breastfeeding in reducing child mortality.
The 2008 Lancet Nutrition Series highlighted the fact that a non-breastfed child is 14 times more likely to die in the first six months than an exclusively breastfed child.
“Breastfeeding needs to be valued as a benefit which is not only good for babies, mothers, and families, but also as a saving for governments in the long run,” said Mr. Lake.
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Write for THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER
Please consider sharing your expertise, knowledge, and passion with other social workers and social work students! I am seeking articles for upcoming issues of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine. I am especially interested in articles in the following categories:
- social work ethics
- field placement
- practice specialties
- news of innovative social work practice
- technology
- what every new social worker needs to know about…
- other topics of interest to social work students, new graduates, and seasoned professionals
Our style is conversational and educational, and articles typically run 1,500-2,000 words for feature articles (considerably shorter for news items).
I also welcome submissions of poetry, photographs, illustrations, artwork, and other creative work depicting social work and related topics.
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New Korean-Language Behavioral Health Resources
SAMHSA announces two new Korean-language publications based on Anger Management for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Clients:
- A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Manual helps counselors teach anger management techniques in a group setting through a 12-week cognitive behavioral intervention (participants use the accompanying workbook). The manual describes the anger cycle, conflict resolution, assertiveness skills, and anger control plans.
- The Participant Workbook provides worksheets and homework assignments using the core concepts of the 12-week cognitive behavioral group therapy intervention (provided in the accompanying manual).
SAMHSA’s Multi-Language Initiative provides products for clients who speak languages other than English who want to learn more about specific issues regarding behavioral health.
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Social Work-Related News Headlines
Here are several recent stories that may be of interest to social workers:
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Summer 2012 ISSUE OF THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER IS NOW AVAILABLE!
The Summer 2012 issue of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER is available now! It is available to download in PDF format at:
THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER’s Web site at http://www.socialworker.com includes the full text of many articles from past issues of the magazine. The current issue is featured on the site’s main page. Past issues can be found under “Magazine Issues” in the right column of the page. For selected full-text articles from issues prior to Spring 2006, click on “Feature Articles Archive” on the left side of the page. The magazine is also available for FREE download in PDF format.
Individual articles from the Summer 2012 issue now online include:
• Student Role Model: Tayloe Compton (in PDF version only)
• Poetry (in PDF version only)
• On Campus (in PDF version only)
• Reviews http://www.socialworker.com/home/Reviews/Book_Reviews/Book_Reviews%3A_Summer_2012/
…and more!
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 the “Forum” link).
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JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WORK VALUES AND ETHICS SPRING ISSUE AVAILABLE
The Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics is a free, online, peer-reviewed journal published by the publisher of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER. It is published twice a year, in full text, online at: http://www.socialworker.com/jswve
The Spring 2012 edition is available online now at:
Go to the journal Web site at http://www.socialworker.com/jswve to read this and other available issues. You can also sign up for a free subscription, and you will be notified by e-mail when each issue is available online.
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White Hat Communications, publisher of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine and the Social Work E-News, has published several books about social work. These books make great gifts (for graduation or other occasions) for yourself, or for your friends, students, and colleagues in social work!
Briefly, those currently in print are:
DAYS IN THE LIVES OF SOCIAL WORKERS: 58 Professionals Tell Real-Life Stories From Social Work Practice (4th Edition), edited by Linda May Grobman
MORE DAYS IN THE LIVES OF SOCIAL WORKERS:35 Real-Life Stories of Advocacy, Outreach, and Other Intriguing Roles in Social Work Practice, edited by Linda May Grobman
DAYS IN THE LIVES OF GERONTOLOGICAL SOCIAL WORKERS: 44 Professionals Tell Stories From Real-Life Social Work Practice With Older Adults, edited by Linda May Grobman and Dara Bergel Bourassa.
IS IT ETHICAL? 101 SCENARIOS IN EVERYDAY SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE: A DISCUSSION WORKBOOK, by Thomas Horn
THE FIELD PLACEMENT SURVIVAL GUIDE: What You Need to Know to Get the Most From Your Social Work Practicum, 2nd Edition, edited by Linda May Grobman
THE SOCIAL WORK GRADUATE SCHOOL APPLICANT’S HANDBOOK: The Complete Guide to Selecting and Applying to MSW Programs, by Jesus Reyes
We also publish books on nonprofit management. Want to start your own agency? Check out THE NONPROFIT HANDBOOK: Everything You Need to Know to Start and Run Your Nonprofit Organization (6th Edition) and IMPROVING QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE IN YOUR NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION, by Gary M. Grobman.
HOW TO ORDER
All of our books are available through our secure online store at:
You can also download our catalog in PDF format at:
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IN THIS ISSUE
Featured Excerpt
Words from Our Sponsors
Job Corner/Current Job Openings
Features
News & Resources
On Our Web Site
In Print
Newsletter Necessities
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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
Advertising: To place a job listing, sponsor this newsletter, or place a banner ad on our Web site, e-mail 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.
Copyright 2012 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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