​Author: Janet Doss, LCSW, MSCSW Board of Directors Member
With Senate Bill 1 having passed in the Senate and moved onto the House, I would like to bring to the attention of KSCSW members an a concern I have about the bill related to an issue near and dear to my heart. Earlier this month, Senate Bill 1, also known as the School Safety and Resiliency Act, passed the Senate  and moved onto the House of Representatives for its consideration. Senate Bill 1 and its companion, House Bill 1, include measures to increase school safety, with a focus on the mental health and security of students.

Author: Jennifer Connor Godbey
​President, KSCSW Board of Directors
 
We are so excited to welcome social work students and professionals from across Kentucky to celebrate SOCIAL WORK LOBBY DAY 2019 on Thursday, March 7, 2019!  This is an important legislative session, as there are several proposed bills which could significantly impact social workers in Kentucky. Please share details with anyone who might be attending.  

Click here for more Information and to register

From:
Jennifer Connor Godbey, KSCSW President
Brenda Rosen, NASW Executive Director
Lori Vogel, Kentucky Association for School Social Work
Caroline Reid, KASWE President 

12-10-19:   10:00AM
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Adam Koenig R- House District 69 will present proposed restructuring bill at Dec. 10, 2018 at the Licensing, Occupations, and Administrative Regulations Committee meeting at 10 am in Room 209 in the Annex building at the State Capitol.
This proposed bill is another misguided attempt to combine the Board of Social Work with a myriad of other boards; this will harm clinical social work practice. Our long-standing independent Board of Social Work represents clinical social workers (LCSWs, CSWs and LSWs) well because of our higher standards of ethical practice and the unique education we receive to integrate clinical practice with social justice. Consider if a complaint against you was being heard by clinicians with different training and ethical standards. The pioneers in our profession fought hard to set these guidelines, our independent board is the most effective and efficient way to ensure that clinical social workers in our state practice within these standards, get quality and up to date education and resolve disciplinary issues fairly and consistently. As the largest group of mental health providers in Kentucky, we need to fight to maintain our own Board.
Please come to the meeting AND notify your representatives, Rep. Adam Koenig R- House District 69 and Licensing, Occupations, and Administrative Regulations committee members with the following message: “I am a member of the Kentucky Society for Clinical Social Work/the National Association of Social Workers, Kentucky Chapter, and a constituent [if you are]. Please oppose any Board Restructuring Proposal which will undermine clinical social work practice and the mental health of Kentucky citizens.”
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Thanks for your participation.

For directions: Click Here!

We need as many LCSWs there as possible! Please arrange your schedule to attend, and let me know if you are coming. Time is sometimes changed up until the time of meeting:  10 AM!

Please check the following link for the meeting time: ​http://www.lrc.ky.gov/legislativecalendarv2/sp_bss_calendar_/index

Author: Lisa Berman, Pat Callahan Scholarship Committee Chair
​KSCSW is now accepting applications for the Pat Callahan Scholarships, which will be awarded to two KSCSW members at the 2018 Winter Conference. One $1,000 scholarship will be awarded to a KSCSW member to assist with the cost of LCSW supervision, and one $750 scholarship will be awarded to a KSCSW member working toward advanced training in a specific clinical area.

Scholarship recipients will be selected based on need and their expressed commitment to a career in clinical social work. Applications must be accompanied by a personal statement no more than four pages in length. The personal statement should explain the applicant's present and past work as a clinical social worker, reasons for choosing clinical social work as a career, and the contribution to society that the applicant hopes to make through this career. Applicants for the LCSW supervision scholarship must also include a one-page statement of need.

Pat Callahan was a long-time member of KSCSW and a former board member. She dedicated herself as a clinician to working with populations of great need and risk throughout her long career. Pat believed strongly in the importance of continuing education and training for clinical social workers, and she was known for giving back to the profession by volunteering to mentor MSW students and new social workers.

The application deadline is Friday, November 16, 2018. Applicants must be current KSCSW members, and incomplete or late applications will bot be considered. Scholarship recipients will be announced at the KSCSW Winter Conference on Friday December 7, 2018. The conference will held at the Fayette County Extension Office, 1140 Harry Sykes Way, in Lexington.

​For more details, or to apply for a Callahan Scholarship, download a scholarship application packet below.

​Author: Mia Perry, KSCSW Board Member
​On September 27. 2018, KSCSW presented the first Arvil Reeb Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence and Advocacy in Social Work. The recipient was Arvil Reeb himself. The award presentation and dinner took place at the Boone Faculty Club on the University of Kentucky campus.

Author: Janet Doss, KSCSW Board Member 
I was a part of a collaborative group of social workers that attended a meeting with the Commissioner for the Cabinet for Families and Children services on Thursday, May 24th. Our main reason and goal for the meeting was to ask questions about the recent news release by Governor Bevin about the High School Apprentice Program for students to work in the social work field.  The meeting was an hour long. Commissioner Johnson and her staff were in attendance; they talked about the program for approximately 50 minutes leaving very little time for questions. There was a tremendous about of information given during the 50 minutes and the information given was very confusing and disjointed leaving the collaborative group with more questions than before the meeting.

There was a great representation of social workers in the collaborative group; there were social workers from many geographic areas of KY, representation from several different organizations and social workers affiliated with several different colleges and universities as well as the KY NASW lobbyist.  After the meeting, the collaborative group discussed many concerns and possible ways to object effectively to the implementation of this program but also agreed that as a group of professions, we need to concentrate on how we can protect and advocate for our profession.  The group all agreed, we need to revisit the idea of lobbying to change licensure laws in KY to require all social workers to be licensed. This would mean changing the exemption section of the licensure requirement for social workers.

​Since this meeting Commissioner Johnson resigned from her appointed position so there has not bee any additional updates on the program proposal.

Author: Jennifer Connor-Godbey, President, KSCSW Board of Directors
Social work is a highly skilled profession that requires rigorous training, extensive practice, thorough supervision, demanding certification and ongoing education. In light of this fact, the KSCSW Board of Directors has significant concerns about the family and social services apprenticeship program Gov. Matt Bevin announced last week.  While we agree that the deficit in social worker resources facing the state demands addressing, we are not convinced that the governor’s proposed solution is the answer.