The media reported this morning that child protection officials removed a 200-pound 8-year-old Cleveland Heights, Ohio third-grader from his home over concern his mother could not control his weight. Click here for article.

The child is severely obese and in danger of developing hypertension or diabetes. This is the first time state officials recall a child has been put in foster care for purely weight-related issue.

Your thoughts?

The Top 1 Percent

The top 1 percent of earners more than doubled their share of the nation’s income over the last three decades, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday. The study was requested by Senators Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana and chairman of the Finance Committee, and Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, when he was the senior Republican on the panel. You can read the article here.

While I encourage you to read the full article, here are some of the points it makes:

¶ The share of after-tax household income for the top 1 percent of the population more than doubled, climbing to 17 percent in 2007 from nearly 8 percent in 1979.

¶ The after-tax income of the most affluent fifth exceeded the income of the other four-fifths of the population.

¶ People in the lowest fifth of the population received about 5 percent of after-tax household income in 2007, down from 7 percent in 1979.

¶ People in the middle three-fifths of the population saw their shares of after-tax income decline by 2 to 3 percentage points from 1979 to 2007.

I have been writing about income inequality in several issues of newSWire™, and feel that it's incumbent on all of us, as social workers, to make our voices heard on this issue - a core concern for those we serve and ourselves.

Your thoughts?

Morning Joe, Poverty, and Wall Street

Yesterday, the "Morning Joe" program on MSNBC featured a segment with Tavis Smiley and Princeton University professor Dr. Cornel West. The topic was poverty in the U.S., and they spoke about a "Tavis Smiley" PBS show that features clips from an 11-state, 18-city tour Smiley and West took in August to detail the economy's effect on individuals and families.

While poverty has increased among all ethnic groups, except Asians, blacks have been the hardest hit; the black poverty rate is 27.4 percent; the Hispanic rate is 26.6 percent. In comparison, the poverty rate for white Americans was 9.9 percent.

On their tour, Smiley and West found that poverty's face is changing."The new poor in this country is the former middle class," Smiley said. Both men called for a national poverty summit to bring together economic, social and cultural leaders.

While you may not have seen the Smiley PBS special, it would be hard to miss the coverage of the Occupy Wall Street protests, which continue unabated. Protesters are demanding efforts by Congress to reduce inequality and to support the needs of the thousands of out-of-work Americans. They also want increased financial regulation, more resources to reduce unemployment, and a push to erase economic inequality.

Clearly, whether it's Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West or the thousands of protesters on Wall Street (and other cities nationwide), we are hearing more voices being raised about the plight of the poor and the unemployed.

Again, as I have over the past several weeks, I invite your thoughts on what is taking place in our economy and among our citizenry. As the Buffalo Springfield song of the 60s put it: " There's something happening here. What it is ain't exactly clear."

As social workers, what can we contribute to the discussion? How do we express what social workers think and feel about the plight of the poor?

Yeah or Nay? by Walter Kalman, NASW-NJ Executive Director

I've talked in my recent NASW-NJ newSWire messages about the rising poverty rate, and the role social workers must play when so many more people are unemployed and eking out an existence on little or no money. The Census Bureau recently reported that another 2.6 million people slipped into poverty in the United States last year, and the number of Americans living below the official poverty line, 46.2 million people, was the highest number in the 52 years the bureau has been publishing figures on it.

Now I'd like to talk about the role social workers have in speaking up for social justice. Clearly, from the economic data alone, this country is on a very slippery slope where the needs of the poor and middle class are being eroded every day. But politically we’re trending in just the opposite direction: we are ignoring the needs of the poor and middle class and aiming to shred our social safety net programs such as Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. Moreover, we even question the rights of those who lack health insurance.

Here's an example of the latter:

In a recent political debate, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked Representative Ron Paul what we should do if a 30-year-old man without health insurance suddenly found himself in need of six months of intensive care. Mr. Paul replied, “That’s what freedom is all about — taking your own risks.” When Mr. Blitzer pressed him again, asking whether “society should just let him die”, the audience erupted with cheers and shouts of “Yeah!”

I say "no" to this kind of cruelty. I say "no" to letting people die from lack of medical care. I say "no" to making enemies of those with low incomes who can’t afford insurance, or can't get insurance because of a chronic condition.

As social workers, we need to make our voices heard. Just as the protesters on Wall Street and in other cities - who are growing in number every day - have spoken out about unemployment and economic inequality, we need to think about our role as social workers in speaking up against the unfeeling, insensitive people who shout "Yeah" to letting a 30-year-old uninsured person die for lack of health insurance.

I welcome your thoughts. What do you think about the social worker's role in society today? What do you think about protecting those most in need?

Social Workers and 9-11 --10 Years Later

Since 9-11, social workers have helped America to heal from one of the most destructive disasters in U.S. history.

Social workers have also challenged policymakers and other leaders to make the lessons of 9-11 lasting ones. Our profession has advocated for increased cultural competence training for professionals; championed greater support for the brave men and women sent to fight the resulting wars; and helped families of all descriptions address the impact of long-term grief and loss. Here's a link from our NASW national website to social work efforts to help our nation recover and grow after 9-11. MORE

What do you think about the social work role post 9-11? Is there more we can be doing?

Hurricane Irene - Social Work Response

To all our Members: We hope that you, your families, and your homes are safe following the recent storm.

While Hurricane Irene may be recent history, seven people in NJ lost their lives, the rising floodwaters destroyed homes and businesses, and communities across the state continue to cope with the storm's aftermath. Thousands of New Jerseyans have had to seek refuge in shelters or have spent days without power.

I know that social workers across the state have been busy reaching out to those affected by the hurricane. If you have helped in your community, you can share your story here on our blog.

And now a word from Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor, wrote an Op-Ed piece for the New York Times this week. It's entitled "Stop Coddling the Super-Rich." You can find it here. And here’s an excerpt:

While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks. Some of us are investment managers who earn billions from our daily labors but are allowed to classify our income as “carried interest,” thereby getting a bargain 15 percent tax rate. Others own stock index futures for 10 minutes and have 60 percent of their gain taxed at 15 percent, as if they’d been long-term investors.

These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places.

Last year my federal tax bill — the income tax I paid, as well as payroll taxes paid by me and on my behalf — was $6,938,744. That sounds like a lot of money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office.

And I'll add another item from the New York Times that appeared after the debt limit bill passed:

Each year, the government provides $1 trillion in tax breaks ...Right now, wealthier taxpayers get the greatest benefit. The process needs to be reformed so that most of the help flows to those who most need it: low- and middle-income taxpayers.

As social workers, many of those we serve are low-and middle-income taxpayers. They don't get the tax breaks that Warren Buffett and other wealthy folks enjoy. Those we serve may not have a job, they may be on welfare or unemployment, or they may be struggling to make a dollar stretch as far as possible.

Yet, as social workers, we persevere and do our best to help those we serve. That's a tall order, but we try very hard. And we also get involved in advocacy and political action, two things that can have an enormous influence on the positions our politicians take here in NJ and nationwide.

I'd like to hear from you about Buffett's comments on taxes and on what we can do as social workers to make a difference - to balance the equation.

Would You Let a Social Worker Handle Your Investment Portfolio?

A Message from the NASW-NJ Executive Director Walter Kalman

I thought you might be interested in this July 18th NASW press release.

"...The National Review posted an article entitled “Would You Let a Social Worker Handle Your Investment Portfolio?” attacking Senator Debbie Stabenow (MI), and specifically the Battery Innovation Act that Senator Stabenow recently introduced. The Battery Innovation Act encourages businesses, local government and universities to collaborate on advanced science and engineering efforts related to battery production. It is specifically designed to boost jobs and productivity throughout Michigan... 

This attack implies that Senator Stabenow’s social work training has somehow rendered her incompetent to serve on the Senate’s finance committee...If anything, social workers have a uniquely helpful perspective on the importance of finances, since many of our members work with economically vulnerable members of society.

The National Review could have balanced their piece by including Senator Stabenow’s strong record of cutting taxes on property, small business and manufacturing, dating back to her time in the Michigan state legislature. Such achievements are directly in line with The National Review’s own philosophy, and yet TNR chose to ignore them. 

NASW supports Senator Debbie Stabenow in her wide range of legislative achievements, and wishes The National Review could have been more fair and reasonable in assessing her significant and impressive policy record."

I'm not going to weigh in on the pros and cons of Senator Stabenow's legislation, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on the "Would You Let A Social Worker Handle Your Investment Portfolio." Is this another instance of labeling social workers? What's your take on the National Review article?

Aging in America

I read a couple of interesting news items this week. Since both stories deal with the realities of life in the U.S. today, I thought that all of us, as social workers and concerned citizens, might find them informative.

One story concerns life expectancy. Apparently, in large swaths of the nation, it has stopped increasing. In fact, it's even declined slightly over the decade that ended in 2007, particularly among women. This decline appears largely due to the growing inequality of American society. In less affluent communities, such as those in rural areas of Appalachia and the Deep South, or in the low-income neighborhoods, residents have life expectancies shorter than people in some Third World countries, along with comparable rates of infant and child mortality. Here's a link to the full article.

A second article, also related to age, concerns the caregving role. According to a new study, since 1994 the percentage of Americans who provide care for their aging parents has tripled since 1994. And these caregivers lose an estimated $3 trillion in wages, pension and Social Security benefits when they take time off from work to provide this care. Here's a link to the full article.

Clearly, we're seeing great changes in American society. These changes will affect our role as social workers and as advocates for those we help every day. I'd like to hear what you think about these, and other, trends we're seeing as a nation. Your thoughts?

VOTE

Still pondering WHO to vote for on Tues, Nov 2nd? Consider voting for our NASW-NJ endorsed candidates: http://tinyurl.com/NJEndorsements.

The Annie B. Casey Foundation Kids Count Data Book is available online at: http://datacenter.kidscount.org/databook/2010/OnlineBooks/2010DataBook.pdf

Searching for the Soul of Atlantic City

Here's a great article by NASW-NJ members Rich and Elizabeth Lombino. They were in Atlantic City presenting at the NASW-NJ Annual Conference. Rich also facilitated a discussion following the screening of Dark Days, a film about homeless individuals living in the tunnels below New York City.

Read the article at: http://homelessness.change.org/blog/view/searching_for_the_soul_of_atlantic_city

Governor Nominates Allison Blake to Lead DCF

We are very pleased that Governor Chris Christie has nominated former NASW-NJ President, Dr. Allison Blake, to be the new Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Children and Families (DCF).

Many of you will remember Allison's tenure as NASW-NJ President from 2005 to 2007. During that period, we made major strides in our Chapter's work on key issues, such as child abuse training in cooperation with schools of social work statewide.

Now, with her nomination, we are taking another major step in our Chapter's relationship with DCF and the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS).

Never has the emphasis been placed so squarely on social work as child welfare's primary discipline. Today, the direction in social work within state government is clearly toward mandated social work training and ensuring trained social workers in supervisory positions.

The leaders who have driven these changes have predominantly been social workers, such as Allison Blake, Eileen Crummy, Christine Moses, Lisa Eisenbud, and Jackie Zavaglia.

We can all take great pride that one of our own, and our former NASW-NJ President, has been selected to fill this very important Cabinet position in state government, and that we can continue to work closely with DCF and DYFS to build on our successes.

We wish Allison a speedy confirmation process and a successful tenure as Commissioner of the Department of Children and Families.

Freedom

Here's a quote from a commencement address by the late David Foster Wallace, author of Infinite Jest, which Time magazine included on its All-Time 100 Greatest Novels list. Foster was speaking to Kenyon College’s graduating class of 2005. The full address has now been issued in book form as This Is Water, by Little, Brown, and Co. We think this quote speaks to our social work values and what we do for people every day.

“The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day.”

How about you? Is there a quote that you think speaks to the values we, as social workers, hold dear?

Message from NASW-NJ Executive Director Walter X. Kalman

Gov. Chris Christie's proposed a $29.3 billion 2010-11 state budget. And while I’m not going to join the chorus of supporters or detractors, I will say that, on face value, this budget is not good news for the individuals, children, and families we serve.

If we look at the Governor's intention to let the surcharge on the wealthiest New Jersey residents expire – a revenue source that represents an estimated $1 billion of the budget – we know that not everyone is going to be held accountable for heeding the Governor’s statement that “difficult times call for shared sacrifice.” The Governor has proposed some very important, and overdue, changes to the way we do business in Trenton. But if the burden is all placed on the poor and middle class, this is nothing more than warmed-over Reaganomics, which put the nation on a slippery slope financially. 

The budget cuts in the Governor’s proposed budget mean that townships in Sussex, Burlington and Passaic counties will have their aid cut by the largest percentages. Also of great concern is that residents in Newark, Jersey City, Camden and Trenton, where many of our clients live and work, will see the biggest reductions in raw dollars. Schools will also face enormous revenue reductions, with cuts of 40-, 50- or even 100 percent of state aid allotments for the coming year. Clearly, schools will have to cut programs and services, and put teaching positions, office staffing, and administrative positions on the chopping block.

Governor Christie said that his budget is designed to be "the first step on the path to a brighter future." Unfortunately, the road to a brighter future may be one marked by reduced or suspended programs for children, senior citizens, and the state’s poorest families.

Certainly, we will need to analyze and discuss the Governor’s budget in the months ahead and be ready to make our position as social workers heard as the Legislature grapples with the realities of these revenue reductions. Our upcoming Annual Conference will be a good time to continue that discussion.

I would like to know what you think of the Governor’s proposed budget and the role social workers can play in helping those we serve to reach the brighter future the Governor predicts. Feel free to share your thoughts here.

Guest Blog on Social Workers, by Rich & Elizabeth Lombino

This week's blog entry comes from Attorney-social work student Rich Lombino and social worker Elizabeth Lombino, a husband and wife team dedicated to ending homelessness. Rich works at the Coalition for the Homeless and Elizabeth has worked at the Hyacinth AIDS Foundation. Rich is currently pursuing his MSW at Columbia University, where Elizabeth received her MSW in 2002.

We encourage you to visit Rich and Elizabeth's blog on their Web site at: http://homelessness.change.org/

The following blog entry, dated March 8, 2010, is entitled:

In Defense of Social Workers

Since 1984, the White House has officially recognized March as Social Work Month. Each year, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) uses it to promote the profession in general and the specific vulnerable populations that we work with. The National Social Work Public Education Campaign was enacted during the last five years to help promote positive images of social workers.

And boy do we need the positive publicity. Social workers have long gotten a bum rap. We are often seen as "do-gooders" or decried as people who take children away from their families. Unfortunately, the media only seems to pay attention to our profession when a child tragically dies due to system neglect. Those stories are horrific, and they do happen, though rarely. Every profession has its unfavorable images. We're not alone in that.

There aren't many positive stories in the media about social workers. This is why Social Work Month is so important -- so we can give people a better understanding of the profession by describing the vast and dynamic work that dedicated social workers do. Much of this work is on behalf of the homeless.

Read more

Photo credit: Rich Lombino

NASW-NJ Annual Conference: Early Bird Registration Ends Feb 20

Early Bird Registration for the NASW-NJ 2010 Conference is ALMOST OVER! Lower rates only until February 20th!

Low hotel rates of $89/night, lots of networking and fulfill your CE requirements- See here for our theme, registration information, special events & early bird prices: http://tinyurl.com/NASWNJ2010Conf

Pyrrhic victory: health care reform 1, women's reproductive rights 0

HR3962, The Affordable Healthcare for America Act, passed the House of Representatives by a narrow vote. Included in the bill was a controversial amendment, introduced by Congressman Stupak, a pro-life democratic from Michigan. Under this amendment, abortion would not be included as a covered health insurance benefit under a government sponsored, tax-funded health care plan.

Many of us have fought long and hard to ensure passage of this bill, which would provide near universal health care coverage to all Americans.

Conversation overheard on my Facebook wall:

N: I'm a pro-choice Democrat and the health care reform bill doesn't take away women's rights to choose... it just doesn't want to pay for it.... as is the case with many many other things the government doesn't want to pay for....

C: But if a woman cannot afford health care and must use the government option health care then it DOES take away her right to choose

N: I'm sure there will be a provision for women who are rape victims or incest victims, etc

C: Let's hope so, because as it stands now, there are NO such provisions for survivors of rape or incest

"Anti-abortion Democrats objected that the bill still would provide a federal subsidy for insurance plans that allowed abortion. After days of tense talks, they reached agreement early Saturday with Democratic leaders and the White House on an amendment that would refuse abortion coverage to "anyone who receives federal aid to buy an insurance policy or enrolls in the proposed government health plan."

N: That's not the finished product though and I think they will have enough reasonable thinking votes when all is said and done to allow for cases of rape and incest and when the mother's life is in danger.

J: the devil is in the details... they can enact certain provisions in the final rule implementation but only if they're not expressly forbidden in the law. Right now there seems to be no wiggle room. there is still hope in the consolidated bill, but I dont see the Senate correcting this problem. Not after 60 House Democrats supported it.

The National Organization for Women had this to day: http://www.now.org/press/11-09/11-08.html

What are your thoughts? Is this a setback for women's rights in our country? Was it a necessary sacrifice to ensure this bill would pass the House in some form?

An Empty Place at the Table for Domestic Violence Victims

While we put an announcement for this event in our newSWire publication last week, we were unable to make the vigil that took place in honor of Union County domestic violence victims this past Monday night. When agencies and students partner for projects like these, the results can be extremely powerful. You can read the full article here: http://www.nj.com/news/local/index.ssf/2009/10/setting_places_at_the_table_fo.html

A Familiar Face for Equality

Carol Benevy, former NASW-NJ Sussex-Warren Unit Chair, took to the streets of Washington, DC in her wedding dress for the National March for Equality on October 11th.

You may have seen pictures of Carol, and Kendra Hayes (NASW-NJ Advocacy Coordinator), in newSWire last week, but you can also read Carol's own words and see her featured here: http://zackfordblogs.com/2009/10/faces-for-equality-carol-benevy/

Yeah Carol!