Good morning!
We’re hosting a virtual gathering, where we will be talking about how social workers can get more involved in technology and startups, and find well-paid jobs that are more fulfilling and less stressful. If you’re interested, you can sign up here 🖊️
Today’s question takes us back to our school days. The NASW Code of Ethics outlines 6 core values for social workers. Which one of the values below does not belong? 🙈
Service
Social Justice
Dignity and Worth of the Person
Commitment to Ethics
Importance of Human Relationships
Integrity
Competence
News
Social Workers’ Safety 🦺
There is great concern over the safety of social workers and caseworkers in general after the recent death of Deidre Silas, an investigator with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), who was stabbed to death last Tuesday “after responding to a call of possible endangerment of children in a home in the central Illinois town of Thayer.”
There have been 20 other reported incidents within the department where workers were subjected to “threats or acts of violence” in the field.
The death has led to many questions, including the obvious: Why are social workers going into dangerous locations alone?
The answer, as always, is that it’s complicated.
There are rules and laws that help protect social workers. Police are allowed to accompany workers to homes, and workers can request to bring a colleague to a home visit. The difficulty lies in that police supervision can sometimes harm rapport between the family and the worker. Another problem is that there is an overall shortage of caseworkers (I wonder why 🤔)
This, in turn, has led to extremely high caseloads.
In response to these incidents, a new Illinois bill is set to treat aggravated battery of a DCFS employee as a Class 1 Felony, meaning that DCFS employees would be granted the same protections as police officers, firefighters, private security employees, correctional officers and community policing volunteers. Unfortunately, this still does not address the issue of caseworker safety.
A 2017 CBS news article reported that social work is the 20th most dangerous job in the country.
The Dangers of Guardianship
It’s Britney B… 👱♀️
No, but seriously. Earlier this year, the Emmy-nominated show Framing Britney Spears detailed the star’s conservatorship which placed her under her father’s control from 2008-2021. Unfortunately, while Britney Spears was able to leave her conservatorship, many people who want independence remain stuck.
There are about 1.3 million adults in the U.S. who are in legal guardianships and many of these cases involve people with disabilities, the elderly, people recovering from an injury or a medical condition, and people with severe mental illness.
What’s the difference between guardianship and conservatorship, you ask?
There’s no one standard legal definition for either term, but usually:
Guardianship refers to minors, while conservatorship refers to adults
Guardianship gives a person control over the personal, day-to-day decisions of the other person, while a conservatorship provides control of another person's financial decisions
Unfortunately, under the current system, people under guardianship have a difficult time gaining independence. An NPR article introduces us to Nick Clouse, who had his mother and father become guardians after his traumatic brain injury.
Over time, he tried gaining his independence, but his parents resisted. And he wasn’t able to sue his parents because they were controlling his finances. Fortunately, Nick was able to find pro-bono legal services which helped him to become independent.
Many factors contribute to this flawed system of guardianship, including:
Casual laws which make it easy for someone to enter a guardianship (a simple consent form and no medical proof requirement in some states)
A flipped burden of proof, which tends to fall on the person with the disability as opposed to one which falls on the party which brings up the dispute
Other social work-related news
Check out these new, beautifully-designed affordable- and supportive- housing units in Brooklyn 🏠
Clinicians warn us not to self-diagnose on TikTok 👀
Can social workers (and others from “soft disciplines”) save tech? 💻
Social worker-turned-Deputy-Secretary-of-State Wendy Sherman may help prevent the war involving Ukraine 💥
The intimate (and tragic) story of a man who was sexually abused as a child
Policy
What’s California doing now?
The self-proclaimed Golden State has had an interesting week 🌉
First, Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled a $213.1 billion state spending plan that would distribute:
Another $2 billion in homeless aid, on top of the $12 billion currently passed. $500 million of this would go towards dealing with homeless encampments
$119 billion to K-12 schools
$34.6 billion for reserve accounts and paying down billions in pension debt
$22 billion in spending on combating climate change
Then, a proposed bill and a state constitutional amendment were unveiled that would create a free universal healthcare system in the state. All California residents would be eligible and there would be no fees, payments, premiums, copayments, deductibles, or other charges.
Other reads on policy
A summary of Temporary Protected Status, which has helped hundreds of thousands of migrants from countries with unsafe conditions to reside and work legally in the United States.
The Medicaid Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMD) exclusion prevents inpatient treatment facilities larger than 16 beds from obtaining federal funding. Some are pushing back on this law, stating that it denies protection to the most vulnerable members of our society.
Research
Light it up
A recent study by the Journal of Natural Products found that two Cannabis compounds, cannabigerolic acid (CBGA) and cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), prevented the COVID-19 virus from penetrating healthy human cells.
The study was led by Richard van Breemen of the Oregon State’s Global Hemp Innovation Center, who stated that:
“These cannabinoid acids are abundant in hemp and in many hemp extracts. They are not controlled substances like THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, and have a good safety profile in humans. And our research showed the hemp compounds were equally effective against variants of SARS-CoV-2, including variant B.1.1.7, which was first detected in the United Kingdom, and variant B.1.351, first detected in South Africa.”
Other reads on research
Access to Gender Affirming Hormones (GAH) during adolescence and adulthood is associated with better mental health outcomes such as lower suicidal ideation compared to desiring but not accessing GAH
In 2020, there were 45,979 deaths by suicide in the United States, making suicide the 12th leading cause of death in the country
Ketamine shows much promise in helping to treat depression
A psychological intervention by the World Health Organization was effective in preventing mental disorders among Syrian refugees in Turkey
Answer: Commitment to ethics does not belong! You can read more about the NASW’s core values here.
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