Samantha Allen, MSW, LCSW, Calumet District Chair
Greetings Calumet District!!
Welcome to the beautiful month of May! It is National Mental Health Awareness Month, which is a month that calls awareness to mental illness and the impacts on individuals, families, and communities. As social workers, we play a vital role in educating, advocating, and treating issues of mental health. As of recently, we have assisted many through a global crisis, a pandemic, and issues of racial injustices and trauma. Let’s continue to assist in reducing the stigma and myths associated with mental illness through education, awareness, and the normalization of therapy/counseling.
In lieu of Mental Health Month, we are also encouraged to take some time to engage in self-care. As social workers, self-care is vital for helping us prevent and overcome stress, burnout, and fatigue. Self care also helps us to become refreshed, rejuvenated, and restored. Research informs us that consistent self-care has the ability to increase our concentration, decrease depression and anxiety, decrease stress, and improves our mood. The quality of care that we provide our loved ones, relationships, and clients is based upon how well we take care of ourselves. Don’t be afraid to place yourself care first. Encourage those close to you to do the same.
CHAPTER NEWS
Rules Filed to Remove In-Person CE Requirement
As much as we’d love to report an update, there is still nothing new to announce with regards to the department’s removal of the in-person CE requirement for licensure. Please continue to share our last article (with update) about the removal. Read it here: https://www.naswil.org/post/2021-2023-licensure-renewal-update-rules-filed-to-remove-in-person-ce-requirement. If/when new rules have ben adopted, rest assured that we will post an update to the NASW-Illinois Chapter community in MyNASW as well as the NASW-Illinois Chapter News page: https://www.naswil.org/blog
March 2023: NASW-Illinois Chapter Advocacy Update
As we approach the final weeks of the spring Illinois legislative session, you can check out some of the legislation that the NASW-Illinois Chapter has been either working on to address issues with or supporting. Read the full article here: https://www.naswil.org/post/march-2023-nasw-illinois-chapter-advocacy-update
Ask NASW-IL: Can a CEU course fulfill 2 CEU specialties at once?
Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation (IDFPR) renewal requirements for the current 2021–2023 licensure cycle increased with the addition of new training requirements (implicit bias awareness, mandated reporter with a section on implicit bias, and Alzheimer's disease and other dementias) in addition to the previous requirements (ethics and cultural competency). Due to the potential overlap in training topics, it's possible that a CEU course may appear to cover topics applicable to two specialty CEU requirements, such as cultural competency and ethics; or a training on mandated reporter with implicit bias might appear to fulfill the implicit bias training requirement. As such, members have been asking the chapter: Can you use one course to fulfill more than one specialty CEU requirement? Read more here: https://www.naswil.org/post/ask-nasw-il-can-a-ceu-course-fulfill-2-ceu-specialties-at-once
Other Chapter News
• NASW opposes anti-LGBTQIA2S+ legislation: https://www.naswil.org/post/nasw-opposes-anti-lgbtqia2s-legislation
• Gender-Affirming Health Care Saves Lives: https://www.naswil.org/post/gender-affirming-health-care-saves-lives
• Social Work Profession One Step Closer to Interstate Licensure Compact: https://www.naswil.org/post/social-work-profession-one-step-closer-to-interstate-licensure-compact
• Ask NASW-IL: Will this course count for CEUs in Illinois? - https://www.naswil.org/post/ask-nasw-il-will-this-course-count-for-ceus-in-illinois
• February 14, 2023 Update on the Social Work Interstate Compact: https://www.naswil.org/post/february-14-2023-update-on-the-social-work-interstate-compact
For more news, go to the NASW-Illinois Chapter News page: https://www.naswil.org/blog
All the best,
Samantha Allen, LCSW
Calumet District Chair