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Chapter Update
Nov-Dec-January 2015
Newsletter Date
Chapter Update Nov-Dec-January 2015
Spring Symposium
Plans are well underway for our 2015 Spring Symposium, to be held March 23-25 at the Marriott Hotel in
downtown Columbia. The theme this year is: Social
Work Paves the Way for Change.
We are pleased to have some dynamic speakers already booked. Dr. Roberta Greene, our opening plenary speaker, was professor and the Louis and Ann
Wolens Centennial Chair in Gerontology and Social
Welfare at the School of
Social Work University of
Texas-Austin. She previously was professor and
dean at the Indiana University School of Social
Work and has worked at
the Council on Social
Work Education and the
National Association of
Social
Workers.
Dr.
Greene has numerous publications including Resiliency Theory: An Integrated Framework for Practice,
Research, and Policy; Social Work with the Aged and
Their Families, and Human Behavior Theory and Social Work Practice. She served on the Commission on
Educational Policy and Innovation.
Chapter Update Editorial Committee
Sandra Grimble, Chair
Carla Damron, staff
Juliana Palyok, staff
Tawanda Rouse, MSW Intern Contributor
Alek Dolge, MSW Intern Contributor
Sally Hayes, proof reader
In addition, Darrel Wheeler, PhD, MPH, President of
the National Association of Social Workers will
present. Since 2011, he has been the dean of Loyola
University’s School of Social Work; prior to his post
at Loyola, Wheeler was associate dean for research
and community partnerships at the Silberman School
of Social Work at Hunter
College (CUNY).
Wheeler is an educator and
researcher who is one of
the leading social work experts on HIV prevention
and intervention, particularly in the AfricanAmerican gay, bisexual,
and transgender communities. He has authored and
co-authored many articles, book chapters and monographs on AIDS.
Teresa Arnold, State Director of AARP SC will be
our closing speaker. Forty-eight additional workshops will be offered.
Registration is scheduled to open by January 1.
Please check our website: www.scnasw.org for up-to
-date information.
WHAT’S INSIDE:
From Where I Sit
2
The President’s Letter
3
Bourdieu’s Theory vs The Bus
4
Globalize 13
5
Ethics Consulting Hours
7
Lifelines
9
NASW Links
10
Chapter Update
Nov-Dec-January 2015
Page 2
From Where I Sit
Carla Damron, LISW-CP, Executive Director
“We already have him. He was running up the road.
He says he came to rake yards.”
“I didn’t see a rake,” I said.
The officer shrugged. “Neither did we.”
“Let me call my neighbor.” I should have done that
immediately. I dialed Gloria’s cell phone and told her
what happened.
It was a typical Friday morning; I was down in my
home office writing and drinking (worshipping) my
coffee. Around ten, as I climbed the steps for a refill, I
glanced out our dining room window. A young man
ran down our porch steps and across the lawn. A delivery guy, I decided, so I opened the front door expecting a package. Nothing was there.
“I’m not at home,” she said.
“Did you hire anyone to rake your yard?”
“Yes. A teenager who lives up the street. Bobby Johnson (Not his real name). He’s emotionally disturbed.
Autism, I think.”
I described the “suspect” and Gloria said that sounded
I watched the young man bolt across the street to a like Bobby. “Maybe he came to the house and when I
house which is being renovated. He climbed the front wasn’t there he tried the other houses,” Gloria said.
steps and tugged on the door knob. He then ran to a So now I felt terrible. This kid with autism had come
side door and attempted to open it. Unsuccessful, he to rake and I’d called the police on him. I ran up the
moved behind the house.
road to explain the situation and found six police ofI grabbed my cell and dialed 9-1-1. “I think ficers surrounding the pale, very scared looking teen.
someone’s trying to break into a house,” I said. The He looked at me and said, “Hey, Miss Gloria.” Clearkid reappeared and approached the brick ranch next ly, he was confused. I felt relieved when I saw they
door to the home he’d just tried to enter, again trying hadn’t handcuffed him.
to open a side door.
“Can you describe the suspect?” the 911 operator
asked me.
I pulled an officer and his captain aside and explained
what I’d learned. The captain told the other officers,
“Special needs, guys,” and the tone immediately
changed. An aggressive, “What were you doing at
those houses?” turned into “You can’t try to open people’s doors. It can get you in trouble. It isn’t even safe
to do that.”
“I’m looking right at him.” I watched him scurry
around to the front and pull on the knob to that door.
“White kid, dark sweatshirt and dark pants, thin, has
short black hair. And now he’s crossing the street
Bobby’s mom was called. No charges were filed.
again and going to my next-door neighbor’s.”
This kid was not a subtle crook. I wondered if he was That afternoon, his mother called me. We had never
very desperate (drug seeking?), or simply not very met. I worried she’d be angry about what happened,
but instead, she wanted information. We ended up
smart.
having a forty-five minute conversation in my front
“Police are on their way,” the operator said.
yard. She explained how Bobby was only recently diagnosed. He’s a highly intelligent, yet very disabled
Ten minutes later, a police officer arrived and asked
young man, who functions socially between the ages
me to again describe what I saw. I repeated what I’d
of five and eight. He attends a special school program
told the operator.
Continued, Page 7
Chapter Update
Nov-Dec-January 2015
Page 3
The President’s Letter
Jeanne Cook, MEd, MSW, PhD, LISW-CP Chapter President
decision in favor of the school districts, the SC
General Assembly will finally be forced to
provide equitable funding to the rural school
districts located along I 95 (the subject of the
documentary The Corridor of Shame).
AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE
I saw Senator Al Franken (D-MN) on television last
week. He is one of my favorite U.S. senators because
he is smart, progressive, and caring. Franken is also
one of my favorite satirists and was a regular on Saturday Night Live. One of his characters on SNL was
Stuart Smalley, a self-help guru and member of numerous twelve-step programs. Stuart had many quotable quotes, including reminding viewers that they
should have “an attitude of gratitude.” It seems to me
that social workers need to take stock of this from
time to time. So during this holiday season and in
honor of Senator Franken, here goes my list.
Some of the things I am grateful for:
NASW SC Executive Director Carla Damron and
Office Manager Juliana Paylok who keep the
Chapter humming along. Their talent, energy,
and knowledge are amazing.
The NASWSC Board of Directors. The Board
does a fine job of guiding the Chapter overseeing our initiatives and activities.
The local units of NASWSC for their great community work, including chapter meetings
where one can learn about a topic relevant to
our profession and get CEUS at a minimal
cost.
The SC Supreme Court ruling on Abbeville County v State of SC. As a result of the Court’s
Governor Haley’s declaration of December as
Random Acts of Kindness month. I wish she
would do a few RAKs of support on issues
social workers care about.
Governor Haley again for appointing a task force
to study criminal domestic violence. Since SC
is ranked 2nd in the nations for deaths resulting
from CDV, it is appropriate that our governor
for the next 4 years do something to address
this issue.
Attorney General Alan Wilson and State Senator
Larry Martin for advocating for a stronger
criminal domestic violence law in SC. Senator
Martin introduced the bill and AG Wilson
spoke before the Senate subcommittee in support of revisions in current state law to put emphasis on the severity of a CDV act rather than
the number of incidents when determining
criminal penalties.
US District Judge Richard Gergel for his November ruling that declared SC’s ban on same sex
marriage as unconstitutional and to the US Supreme Court for refusing to hear the state’s
appeal of this decision. As a result, marriage
equality in SC is legal.
Circuit Court Judge Carmen Mullin for vacating
the conviction of George Stinney, Jr. In Alcolu, SC in1944, Stinney an African American
youth was only 14 years old when he was convicted for killing 2 young white girls)by an all
white male jury based on speculative testimony by prosecution accompanied by no presentation by the defense attorney. Stinney was
continued, page 9
Chapter Update
Bourdieu’s Theory -vs- The Bus
By Tawanda Rouse, SW Intern
I learned of the French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu’s
Theory of Practice this past summer in my Human
Behavior and the Social Environment (HBSE) class.
The first half of fall semester, that theory became
alive for me. In a diluted version, Bourdieu’s theory
of practice highlights that our society is hierarchical
and resources are distributed unequally. Groups of
people live in several social classes with varying
quantities of resources- economic capital, cultural
capital, linguistic capital, symbolic capital, and social
capital. Based off the shared life experiences of those
individuals and their capital, those in the same strata
tend to bond and rarely seek out opportunities to
bridge the social strata. Now, I don’t know if the
Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority
(CMRTRA, Columbia’s bus system) considers itself
to be a vehicle (excuse the pun) used to allow people
to have access to resources that is necessary for social mobility, but even if by unintended consequence,
it is such an instrument.
Bridging
As a new resident of Columbia, South Carolina in
2011, I learned of the threat to discontinue full week
scheduled bus rides provided by CMRTA, currently
operating as The Comet. Coming from a smaller city
and rural county like Florence, with limited bus
transit routes, I understood the need for a comprehensive public transportation line for a city and county as
large as Columbia-Richland. As a concerned citizen
and residential stakeholder, I understood the need to
provide a service to a community at the best level
possible and to advocate for the community to fund
the need. When the time came to vote for the Transportation Tax, I made sure that my vote was in favor
of what I had advocated for. Over the next 22 years
or until it reaches the 1.07 billion dollar mark, the 1%
sales tax will be in effect for all of Richland City and
County residents who buy groceries. Twenty-nine
percent ($300,991,000) of those funds will be allocated to the transit system provided by Central Midlands
Regional Transit Authority (CMRTA).
Nov-Dec-January 2015
Page 4
Bonding
Let’s fast forward to July, 2014, when I had to depend on The Comet for reliable transportation to
work, school, meetings, and appointments. I am
grieved to report that the service seemed to deteriorate during those hot, rainy, hill-walking, 75 days!
From bus routes running 5 to 45 minutes past scheduled route times; to bus drivers disregarding the definition of “connecting bus route” to me with a right
shoulder injury (sling and all); to chasing down a bus
(being so close that I touched it) that obviously the
driver had to see me; to twisting my foot after being
dropped off at a undesignated bus stop; to CMRTA
administrative staff being elusive and unresponsive.
Unfortunately, I could continue this list of woes and
more than frustrating mishaps. Thinking of Bourdieu,
I began to think about my plight and realized that I
had become “a people like them”. Before “the bus”,
as I like to call it, I was an educated woman, fairly
independent, financially responsible, culturally sensitive, and associated with people of clout. I had various amounts of capital! On the bus though, you become a person that no one sees, understands, or cares
to know your struggles, except those that are riding
the bus with you.
Still, I am optimistic that the transportation system
was and still may be going through a transitional
phase. I’m hoping that “the bus” will get it together
to be a part of Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice. Instead
of stalling out, CMRTA will be an effective and efficient resource to drive people forward on their way to
social mobility.
Page 5
Chapter Update
Globalize 13
By Alek Dolge, SW Intern
Frederick Douglass once said, “It is easier to build
strong children than to repair broken men”. This
statement could not have been truer than on the 17th
of November 2014. The students at Westwood High
School in Blythewood, SC hosted the Frederick
Douglass Family Initiatives (FDFI), City Council,
Appleseed Legal Justice, and NASW-SC to celebrate their movement to educate and bring awareness
Nov-December-January 2015
tered on abolishing modern day slavery. These modern-day abolitionists were enthusiastic to share with
assembly members what they learned through their
service-learning projects. The limit did not exist for
these students and their learning experience. After
they began their studies last year, they craved more
and asked for additional resources, including books
in the library. Following a syllabus is important;
however, the librarians, teachers, and principal all
worked together and supported their students to learn
outside of heir learning structure. For them, having
students excited about learning and soaking
knowledge in like a sponge, encouraged them and
they too wanted to learn more. Books and media
sources were provided to the student body.
Through song, videos, readings, and even interpretative dance, these kids communicated what they’d
learned about trafficking. Their passion shone
through each presentation.
The students noticed an injustice and worked to educate themselves, ask for help, and host an event to do
something, and do something they did. Children are
a vulnerable group, and for these children to stand
projecting one voice that human trafficking must
end, was quite remarkable. What does this mean for
our future or what does the next generation hold?
I’m unsure if anyone really knows the answer to
these questions but one thing is for sure, these children are advocates! Whatever career path these children take, it is encouraging to know that within them
are advocates who are willing to go against the odds
to modern-day-slavery also known as human traf- for justice.
ficking.
The keynote speaker, Kenneth Morris, Jr., gave a
speech centered on the notion that in order to move
forward we need to understand our past. The students did just that. What first began as a class project last year studying the 13th Amendment and narrative of Frederick Douglass’ life, turned into a high
school awareness project. Students from all subjects
and class ranks began to uncover the truth about
slavery then and now.
Globalize 13 is FDFI school-based curriculum cen-
Have You Taken our Survey?
It’s not too late to take our Social Worker
Perceptions of Safety in the Field Survey!
We need your input.
Go here:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/naswsc
Thank you!
Chapter Update
Nov-December-January 2015
Page 7
From Where I Sit, Continued
Monday-Thursday, and receives an hour of therapy
every day.
“But I now see I can’t leave him unsupervised on Fridays,” she said.
After his encounter with the police, Bobby had spent
the afternoon crying in bed. I tried to imagine how terrifying his experience had been. My guilt about calling
the police quickly dissolved; he needed to learn that
his behavior was dangerous.
There are several ways this could have gone horribly
wrong. For example, I think Bobby is lucky that he is
white. Had he been an African American young man,
dressed in dark clothes, attempting to enter houses—
would the police response have been more hostile? I
want to say no. I want to think we are all treated the
same, but that isn’t always the case, is it?
Extended Ethics Consulting Hours from
NASW-OEPR
In an effort to improve the members’ ethics consultation experience, the Office of Ethics and Professional Review (OEPR) is excited to announce the
extension of the ethics consultation days and
hours. Beginning Monday, January 5, 2015, ethics
consultations will be provided as follows:
Hours & Contact Info
(800) 638-8799
Mondays 1:00pm – 4:00pm (ET) ext. 223
Tuesdays 10:00am – 1:00pm (ET) ext. 231
Wednesdays 1:00pm – 4:00pm (ET) ext. 223
Thursdays 10:00am – 1:00pm (ET) ext. 231
Also, we live in a “stand your ground” state. Had Bobby tried to open the wrong door, I hate to think what
might have happened.
Lastly, Bobby has a mental illness. For years, people
with mental illnesses have ended up in jails and prisons; it’s even said among mental health advocates that
Richland County’s Alvin S Glenn Detention Center is
the largest psychiatric institution in our state. But Bobby didn’t go to jail. Once the police learned of his autism, they showed concern and sensitivity in how they
dealt with him. They backed away. They used a gentler, more paternal tone. They wanted him to see that
what he did was wrong, and could get him hurt.
I feel for Bobby and his family as they come to terms
with his disorder. He does have a habit of “sneaking
into places,” his mom told me. I hope what happened
will discourage that behavior. It may, or may not;
Bobby processes information in a different way than
you and I. If he does have future interactions with law
enforcement, I pray they treat him like the officers did
that afternoon--as a confused kid who needs help.
There are lots of additional exciting plans for the
OEPR in 2015, including:
Ethics 8 Monthly Tips
Ethical Standard of the Month
Code of Ethics app
National Professional Review Process
…and much more! Please stay tuned!
http://www.socialworkblog.org/featured-articles/2014/12/
nasw-expanding-ethics-consultation-days-and-hours/
Chapter Update
President’s Letter, continued from page 3
for the crime. Judge Mullin’s called the verdict
shocking and extremely unfair.
President Obama for using his executive action
power for immigration amnesty. Perhaps
now Congress will pass a bill on immigration reform.
President Obama again for getting a diplomatic
relationship with Cuba reestablished.
Mrs. Rosa Parks who refused to give up her seat
in the “white” section of a Montgomery, AL
bus on December 1, 1955. And to Mrs. Sarah
Mae Flemming who did the same thing on a
Columbia, SC bus on June 22, 1954. These
brave women made a valuable contribution
to civil rights.
As we close out 2014, let’s remember all the big and
small ways that people contribute to successful advocacy efforts. They help make all our lives better.
So to each of you reading this: Merry Christmas.
Happy Holidays. Happy Hanukkah. May a Happy
Kwanzaa be followed by a happier new year. And
remember to develop your own ATTITUDE OF
GRATITUDE.
From NASW-SC!
Nov-Dec-January 2015
LifeLines: Stories from the Human
Safety Net
Greg Wright, NASW
The University of Maryland Journalism Center
on Children and Families, with suppor t of
the NASW Foundation, commissioned pr ofessional journalists to do the project, Lifelines:
Stories from the Human Safety Net.
These print, radio, video and even cartoon stories will educate the public and reporters about
the various ways social workers help people
across our nation overcome life's hurdles.
In this SocialWorkersSpeak.org article we also
gave social workers tips on how to use the
package during Social Work Month and beyond
to get reporters to cover more stories involving
social workers and issues important to the profession.
The stories come in a variety of formats – audio, video, print and even a cartoon – and delve
into many of the kinds of work social workers
do.
During the Holidays and beyond, take time to
check it out Lifelines: Stories from the Human
Safety Net.
http://joblink.socialworkers.org/jobs
The PACE online fundraising tool has been officially launched! It can be found at :
http://socialworkers.org/pace/default.asp
There’s also a link to it from www. socialworkers.
org. Please remember that all online contributions
will be shared with the chapters, just like contributions we receive through membership renewals.
So it’s in our interest to promote the new online
fundraising capability.
CEUSchool’s goal is to provide you with quality on-line
course content in a format that is convenient to use, affordable, and relevant for today's social worker. Their site offers
fully accredited NASW classes that meet all of your CEU
needs. You will receive the same academic benefits that you
would enjoy at an onsite facility,
along with the flexibility and self-paced learning that comes with an online education.
http://nasw.interactyx.com/
Register with CEUSchool through NASW South Carolina
and you will automatically receive 3 FREE credits !!
We love your stories!
NASW SC encourages everyone to contribute noteworthy information for Chapter Update. All material should be typed
and emailed to the Chapter Office. Chapter Update is published by the National Association of Social Workers South
Carolina Chapter.
For information about advertising in the newsletter or renting membership labels, contact the chapter office at (803) 2568406. NASW reserves the right to accept, reject or edit advertisements and notices of events based on publication schedule, space limitations and appropriateness. The views expressed in Chapter Update do not necessarily represent positions
of NASW. Because of the commitment of NASW to nondiscriminatory personnel practices, advertisers in NASW publications, by action of the NASW Board of Directors, must affirm that they are equal opportunity employers. For violations of professional ethics or personnel practices, a person may file a complaint with the NASW SC Chapter Committee
on Inquiry. For information, write the Chapter Office at 2537 Gervais Street, Columbia SC 29204 or call 803-256-8406.
For information regarding: Social work licensure, call or write the Board of Social Work Examiners, PO Box 11329, Columbia, SC 29211-1329, 803-896-4665, www.llr.state.sc.us