Becka Ross, MSW, LCSW
Three Rivers District Chair
I don’t know about you, but I cannot believe it is August already! The summer is flying by, and those of us who are Chicagoland natives know that summer heat is not over yet! We also know the start of a new school year in our area is starting this month, which brings transition and potential for anxiety, especially with the continuing threat of COVID-19. Social workers are needed now more than ever. Thank you for your membership and commitment to NASW. Your membership allows NASW to provide support and advocate for the important issues that us social workers are managing every day. I’d also like to send a warm welcome to all of our new members!
July has been an exciting month at NASW! Here are just a few highlights:
The national NASW office held a Social Worker Advocacy Day on July 22, 2021, to advocate for some key legislation to improve mental health in America. I personally had a very successful meeting with Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi’s office from the 8th District to advocate for legislation that impacts our community as well as us social workers.
The national NASW publicly released the “Undoing Racism Through Social Work” report in which the NASW acknowledges, as a profession, not always living up to supporting social justice, offers an apology, as well as a clear path forward to strengthen efforts to end racism.
Illinois House Bill 3308 was signed into law. This bill has a huge impact including:
Reducing barriers to Illinoisians looking for mental health care by ensuring telehealth access.
Aligns in-person and telehealth coverage and pay reimbursements to ensure equity.
With back to school comes the potential of bullying, please find some resources to learn more on what you can do to support anti-bullying programing:
ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) EVENTS:
The first ever virtual job fair hosted by the Chicago District will take place August 20th from 12 to 3pm: https://naswil.wufoo.com/forms/43030082021chicago-district-job-fair
A Meeting of the Profession: 2021 Multistate NASW Virtual Conference will be taking place Oct. 21 & 22, 2021. In partnership with the NASW-North Dakota and NASW-Nevada Chapters, this year's conference will offer an engaging conference and up to 8.0 CEUs. Learn more here: http://naswmeets.org/
Full list of NASW-IL events can be found here: https://www.naswil.org/events
Thank you for your continued support of NASW-IL—your membership is invaluable. If you have any suggestions or feedback please feel free to e-mail me at threerivers.naswil@socialworkers.org