Mary Garrison, LCSW, ACSW East Central District Chair
Greetings, and happy July 2020! Wow, time is moving quickly with so many moving parts. I hope you all are doing well and taking care of yourselves and one another. Daily we continue to face many, many challenges both personally and professionally, and I know for me, at times it is difficult to “keep on keeping on.” When I feel stuck and think there is no forward movement, I rely on my social work values and ethics to keep me afloat. I am a social worker at my core—it is my identity. I know I can make a positive impact and face the challenges before me, turning them into opportunities for change. I am proud to be a social worker and to have all of you as colleagues.
I need your help! I want to offer events—both CEU events and social events—that are the most beneficial to you. Please let me know what type of events you want, and I can make them happen. What specific topics are important to you, and if you know of any speakers that you could suggest, please let me know. I hope to hear some great suggestions!
Welcome to our newest members and to those that have renewed your membership! We are so glad you are a part of the Illinois chapter family.
CHAPTER NEWS:
Congressional Briefing: Black Lives Matter: Social Work and the Future of Policing – soon there will be a link to this briefing available that I will forward to all of you. In the meantime, you may be interested in the following policy brief that was just published by Michael Sherraden at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis (we have a couple of alumni on the board from Washington University) entitled, Social work and the future of policing: Key points for changes in policy and practice.
2020 Statewide Awards
Our Chapter Awards Committee would like to request that board members help promote this year’s awards process. Please consider nominating a colleague who is a leader in the profession here in Illinois. The deadline is July 31, 2020. For more information, please click here.
Social Justice Resources
In addition to the COVID-19 sub-tab on our news page, the chapter has also created a social justice sub-tab for news and information pertaining to social justice in Illinois. You can find both either at the links below as well as national’s extremely valuable COVID-19 resources page.
NASW-IL Social Justice News: https://www.naswil.org/blog/categories/social-justice
NASW-Illinois Chapter COVID-19 Updates page: https://www.naswil.org/blog/categories/covid-19
National NASW Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources: https://www.socialworkers.org/Practice/Infectious-Diseases/Coronavirus
NASW Illinois MyNASW Community (NASW-member only): http://mynasw.socialworkers.org/naswil
ANNOUNCING! Rethinking Ethics: 2020 NASW-Illinois Chapter Hybrid Conference
This year’s Rethinking Ethics: 2020 NASW-Illinois Chapter Conference will be taking place on Thursday, November 19, 2020, in a new hybrid format. Meet with other social work professionals from around the state to earn up to 6 CEUs, including licensure requirements for ethics and trainings on sexual harassment prevention and mandated reporting. Read more here: https://www.naswil.org/conference
Other Chapter News
For more, go to the NASW-Illinois Chapter News page: https://www.naswil.org/blog