2022 NASW-NJ Impact Report

From Our Leadership

Friends and Colleagues,

What a year this has been! This moment indeed this past year has proven how necessary the profession of social work is and how your individual contributions make our communities stronger, healthier, and more sustainable We are inspired by our social work community, our members, partners, donors, and team who have risen to the unprecedented challenges of recent years You have demonstrated resilience and dedication to the communities we serve, while simultaneously navigating vast challenges in your own lives

Over the past year, the NASW-NJ community has been able to continue to lead across the state of New Jersey and the nation We made critical strides in workforce issues, advocating with our state’s largest insurers, and protecting the rights of vulnerable and historically oppressed communities. We launched the first NASW office in the metaverse, where together we can learn, grow, and explore where our profession will go and grow in the future.

Hand in hand, our community has led in the call for investigation, reparations, and accountability in the wake of the ASWB Exam Report. You have shown an unwavering commitment to taking a hard stance, demanding change, leaning in to challenging conversations, and creating an equitable licensing system for all social workers.

This year, through your collective organizing, commitments, and passion, you have propelled NASW-NJ to become the second largest Chapter in the nation. While our strength in numbers alone is tremendous, we know that your strength and resolve in advancing social work and social justice is second to none.

We invite you to celebrate and look back on our collective victories in this report, as we enter 2023 a time where we imagine more innovation, more advocacy victories, and a more equitable community and profession of social work.

GROWING TOGETHER

Over the course of the last year, you have come together as a social work community to share how you are working in your communities and organizations, creating change, building programs, supporting clients and navigating the evolving landscape of social work and our broader society. You engaged in challenging conversations with our community and Chapter leadership through a variety of ways including participating in a listening session surrounding the ASWB examination. You did so by making more than to the Chapter each month, speaking directly to members of our teams about your unique challenges. Our team members spent an average of on phone calls per month. That doesn't even include time spent on Zoom calls, cell phone calls, and at in-person meetings. More than received personal phone calls from our team welcoming you to the Association and sharing with us why you are here. You raised your hand to lead where we were vulnerable with one another, grew as a community, and challenged ourselves to grow together These activities shaped our work and grew our community That’s powerful We are stronger as an Association when more voices are at

ADVANCINGSOCIALWORKVALUES Advocacy

Our profession is diverse, ever changing and nuanced. There is no place or space social workers are not present. In 2022, our advocacy and outreach work focused on seven key areas where we felt the social work voice and action was most needed. These represent some of the most pressing and challenging issues our communities and profession face and issues that are directly related to our Code of Ethics, values as a profession, and our call to action as social workers.

Area 1: Social Work Professional Issues

Addressing deficiencies and delays at the NJ Board of Social Work Examiners

Advocating for student loan forgiveness and loan redemption programs Developing equitable paths to licensure following reports of ASWB licensing exam disparities

Contributing to Intestate Licensing Compact for Social Workers Creating a pathway to insurance reimbursement for LSWs working under clinical supervision

Area 2: Racial and Social Justice

Area 3: Reproductive Health and Choice

Area 4: Public Safety and Social Work

Call for reparations for the descendants of enslaved Black people Furthering public safety initiatives and police reform Decolonizing social work and becoming an anti-racist profession Securing passage of the Reproductive Freedom Act in New Jersey Protesting outside the Supreme Court following the overturning of Roe v. Wade Exploring and supporting social work roles in public safety and emergency response Highlighting the work of social workers leading transformative public safety initiatives in New Jersey

LEARNING TOGETHER

NASW-NJ continues to be the leading provider of social work continuing education and professional development programs in New Jersey. We’ve listened to your feedback and requests about the types of workshops and certificate programs you’re looking for, and in response we are in the process of developing certificate programs around both Grief and Older Adults, both expected to launch in the first half of 2023.

We also continued our Race, Responsibility & Reconciliation (RR&R) Series by offering a total of 8 CE credits in this series in 2022, including a workshop provided by nationally known expert, Crystal Bennett, on the topic of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Shaping the Future of Social Work Supporting New

Social workers from across New Jersey and beyond convened for the 2022 NASW-NJ Annual Conference to earn CEUs while collectively shaping the future of social work.

In recognition of the hardships social workers have faced these past few years and the difficulties many social workers experienced obtaining CEUs during the pandemic, we launched registration for the 2022 NASW-NJ Annual Conference with a deep discount for NASW members just $99 for the two-day conference and the opportunity to earn up to 21.5 CEUs!

While we hoped to return to an in-person Annual Conference in 2022, the arrival of the Covid omicron variant dictated a return to the virtual conference format. This didn’t keep you away, though. Nearly 1,500 people attended the conference.

Aug.

Clinicians

Developing the next generation of social workers wouldn’t be possible without developing the next generation of clinical supervisors. In 2022, more than 200 experienced social workers took advantage of our highly regarded Clinical Supervision Course to advance their careers and prepare to train newer professionals entering the field.

Sep.

September 26

NASW-NJ ASWB Task Force Meeting

September 27 NJBIZ Health Care Technology Panel

October 6 Health Care Workforce & Careers Panel

Nearly 700 social workers from around the country took advantage of our Race, Reconciliation, & Responsibility Continuing Education offerings.

Shaping the

DRIVING INNOVATION

FUTURE OF SOCIAL WORK

Our profession, perhaps more than any other, is charged with balancing two stances: being present in the moment sitting with our clients where they are, supporting them in the minutes, moments, and days immediately before them—while simultaneously looking ahead to future situations, systemic change, and how our profession will meet and address those societal issues that have not yet presented themselves.

The challenges of today and tomorrow require the best of social workers and the social work profession. And NASW-NJ is dedicated to working with social workers to shape the future one where social workers will be called upon to lead boldly and leave our indelible mark on history, while simultaneously charting the course for our future.

The Future of Social Work Is… Developing the Next Generation

NASW-NJ created a year of free career development activities for our student members, and we were excited to have

Monthly events created just for students that include networking, mentorship.

ums on our national “social” platform giving you an nnect with other future social workers across the

ation & Advocacy Day taking you to Trenton while you cacy in action!

rships to help you on your educational journey.

volunteer on committees and run for Chapter elected can develop your leadership skills. searches and licensing.

The Future of Social Work Is… Embracing Technology THE METAVERSE

The metaverse is a virtual reality (VR) space where users can interact with a computer-generated environment and other users. In past years, we’ve explored the intersection of social work and VR, highlighting the work social work and technology futurists have engaged in to create virtual spaces for social work training and practice.

This year, NASW-NJ further embraced the metaverse by launching an online Chapter office in the metaverse and hosting our first webinar in a virtual reality setting. As we prepare for the widespread proliferation of this technology, we pondered: What are the ways in which we, as social workers, can use VR and the metaverse in our practice, education, classrooms and beyond? Why should we understand it? And why should we be at the table while technologists develop this platform?

Business Systems

Over the past few years, you have shared with us that the business and technology components of our profession are ones you frequently have questions on and seek additional support with, and that you are looking for turn-key solutions to these issues.

This year, NASW-NJ presented that solution to you through our partnership with RingCentral— offering you discount access to the tools you need. We’ve worked with RingCentral to ensure they understand the technology needs of social workers, giving them a sense of the tools you need to be successful, the technology challenges you’ve shared with us over the years, and helping them understand the various ways they can position themselves to best support the technological needs of social workers. In turn, they’ve created solutions for you to safely communicate with your clients on compliant software, using secured, encrypted platforms from anywhere your business finds you from your office, to home, and anywhere in between.

For more info visit: Ringcentral com/naswnj

The Future of Social Work Is… Building upon our past to inform our future

The history of the social work profession is long and deep marked by the deeds of advocates who led us, teachers and who inspired us, colleagues who mentored us, and coworkers who uplifted us on the hardest of days. Their stories are those of change agents, leaders and helpers generations of social workers who uplifted communities and the legacies they have built.

The stories of these social workers enrich our understanding of our past, allow us a glimpse into the lives of those on the front lines, and help us understand how our profession changes the lives of everyday people, families, and communities across our nation These narratives also allow us to learn from the past, while encouraging us to draw inspiration from social workers whose dedication, passion, and insight have improved social and human conditions

In order to document and preserve these stories for generations to come, NASW-NJ introduced “Stories of Change: The Social Work Oral History Institute” in collaboration with StoryCorps during Social Work Month 2022. Launching with the stories of 16 prominent New Jersey social workers, these narratives will be preserved for generations to come in the American Folklife Center at the U.S. Library of Congress.

Learn more about the Social Work Oral History institute on our website: https://naswnj.socialworkers.org/News/Institute-for-Oral-History

Or visit the Oral History Institute on the St https://archive storycorps org/communitie

The Future of So Transforming Ou

“It is not acceptable for social workers and financial strain because they work

Dr. Steve Burghardt, author of the book "Th Worker in Times of Transformation," joined discussion of social work's future and how w

Improving social work salaries

Establishing the practice of paid fie

Furthering loan forgiveness for our

Elevating social work voices by gain

Creating a diverse and robust pipeline of new social workers

Gaining a student membership has allowed me to bu community. I am take advantage of the free LSW examination course, which is a great tool to help me further my career. Job postings and community chats have been beneficial in connecting with like-minded social workers, as well.

-Imani W., MSW

Investing in the

NEXT GENERATION

Brittany Macaluso, MSW

As a recent (May 2022) MSW graduate, the NASW-NJ has been extremely instrumental to the development of my social work career thus far, and I have no doubt it will continue to do so I first learned about NASW-NJ when I was a BSW student at Monmouth University. Shortly after joining the organization, they reached out to me to see if I was interested in participating in a video called Social Work Generations they were creating for Social Work Month

I had the distinction of being the youngest member of the Chapter and they wanted to hear about my inspiration and influences to enter the field and my thoughts about the profession’s future.

Currently, I am in my first role as an MSW, serving as the policy and advocacy director at the Lesniak Institute for American Leadership. As I have grown from student to young professional, my relationship with the NASW-NJ has shifted. I now interact with the Chapter not just as a member, but as a community partner. In the past several months NASW-NJ has partnered with my organization to participate in our March for Our Lives rally and a Mental Health Roundtable I have also had the opportunity to present a Community Conversation about Wrap Around Community Schools for NASW-NJ’s members.

Most recently, because of my passion for policy advocacy and my MSW specialization in policy practice with a specialization in contemporary social issues, I have been invited to sit on the NASW-NJ Legislative Action Committee. Being part of a state-wide community of social workers through the NASW-NJ has been great for my career development. I cannot wait to see how I will be able to work with NASW-NJ, as a member and community partner, to continue to help grow my career.

We asked a few recent social work graduates to share how membership in their professional organization helped launch their new careers. Here's what they had to share:

Investing intheNEXT GENERATION

Resia Coo

On August 12, 2021, student to a social w placement has falle replacement for the advanced-standing weeks; time was no Franticly seeking a n see if they could acc had my first intervie the team as the 8th how many doors thi

During my field plac team that helped me important to the pro strengthened my lea take initiative, supp seeing what our pro

The internship prov experiences that so conference planning and building my netw Work Conference in a a, sa s a d e po e o supporting up-and-coming, young social workers and the fun of tabling at an event a memory I will carry with me for a lifetime

I was also able to use advocacy skills I developed to bring a state legislator to my University and host a robust conversation on a bill that would impact social workers in New York. With support and guidance from Chapter staff, I no longer felt intimidated by the prospect of preparing policy briefs and tracking legislation. I felt empowered.

NASW-NJ not only provides support for their student interns, but also works tirelessly to provide all social work students with opportunities for growth and advancement. I graduated from Fordham University with my MSW on May 24, 2022. On June 1, I started a full-time position with NASW-NJ as the new Engagement Coordinator. I would love to connect with you to share more about our work and profession association and look forward to doing so in my new role

Investing intheNEXT GENERATION

Leah Rousso, MSW

I consider myself extremely fortunate to have advanced MSW field placement at NASW-NJ intern with the NASW-NJ was certainly one f able to learn about the legislative process, pa marches, gain an appreciation for the import broad spectrum of professional competencie a membership organization runs, and so muc

One of the most memorable projects I was inv to give back to social work students through development of a program for other students traditional social work jobs and better unders work career options. I also had the opportuni for a bill pending in the NJ legislature, track t calendar, attend professional conferences, a a live webinar about animal-assisted social w

Interning with the NASW-NJ allowed me to de professional skills and learn what it really me social worker, as I saw the many areas the or involved in It was also inspiring to have fellow as an expert for information about the NASW licensing, legislative issues, and other areas I through my internship.

My field placement with NASW concluded thi student My time learning and growing with N upon the completion of my internship, I was e continuing education associate In this role, I influential social workers from across the cou speakers and presenters for NASW-NJ’s upc this work and I look forward to continuing to g

Why I SERVE

Dr. La'Tesha Gasby, Ph.D, MPA, MSW, LCSW

Becoming an NASW-NJ member in 2018 changed the trajectory of my professional career I'd previously been a student member of NASW while completing my BSW over 24 years ago and never got around to rejoining. To be frank, I didn't see the benefit of becoming an NASW member because it seemed like it was a gatekept organization where I wouldn't have much of a voice or impact. My perception changed one morning over coffee with our Executive Director, Jennifer Thompson. I can't recall what brought us together that weekday morning, but I am so glad I accepted her invitation.

Jennifer encouraged me to get active in the Chapter and assured me that all views and voices were warmly welcomed.

I reluctantly submitted a proposal to present at the 2019 NASW- NJ annual conference in Atlantic City and my presentation was accepted. My training was well received and I was asked to present at another local NASW event. I was receiving consistent emails from the Chapter and attended a few networking events that yielded some great new connections

By this point, I was energized and engaged and wanted to serve the Chapter in a more impactful way. Because I am politically active, I became involved in the PACE Committee and served 1 year before being selected by the Board of Directors to serve as Chair. I was also the first African American and woman to serve the Chapter in this capacity!

Working on the PACE Committee presented some unique challenges because I'd never acted in this capacity before, but my Committee members and the Chapter leadership were there with me every step of the way.

Due to my work on the NASW-NJ PACE Committee, I was selected by NASW NJ President, Mit Joyner, to serve on the NASW National PACE Committee in 2021. In 2022, I was voted in as Secretary of the Committee.

If this wasn't enough, I was supremely honored by the Chapter to be the 2022 NASW-NJ Emerging Leader of the Year

If you would have told me in 2018, that my NASW journey would be filled with these exciting twists and turns, I would not have believed you! This Chapter has brought some amazing professional and personal relationships into my life and the trajectory of my career will never be the same.

During this time of reflection, at the end of the year, I am supremely grateful for the passion, advocacy and work of the Chapter. Salud!

2022 Sponsors

Thank you to our partners and sponsors.

We couldn’t do this work without you.

Chapter Leadership

Unit Leaders

Afifa Ansari

Sarah Delicio

Jeanne Koller

Tina Maschi Vimmi Surti

Shalini Basu Melissa Donahue

Hannah Korn-Heilner Dina Morley Miguel Williams

Ethics Committee

CHAIR, David Rosen Tiffany Mayers

Chris Heer Juan Rios Darcella Sessomes

Jenny Conger

Anthony Gallo Sarah Miller

Anthony Francis Judyann McCarthy Hina Rehman

Priscilla Carmona

Anthony Gallo Dawn Konrady

Committee on Nominations and Leadership Identification (CNLI) Finance Committee LASA Committee

Natalie Bembry Jesselly de la Cruz

Erica Goldblatt Hyatt Ameerah McCoy

Carrie Conger Lakeesha Eure Brittany Macaluso Susan Menahem

Elizabeth Lawrence

NASW-NJ ASWB Taskforce

Edward Alessi DuWayne Battle

Marla Blunt-Carter

Zakia Clay

Ralph Cuseglio

Christine Heer Tawanda Hubbard

Robin Mama Phylis Peterman Laura Quiros

Dawn Apgar

Emmanuel Bioh

Lana Church

Andrea Cole

Jenny Dunkle Christa Hogan May Lewis Widian Nicola Dean Potter Kathleen Ray Svetlana Shpiegel

Chapter Leadership

PACE Committee

CHAIR, Fred Samson

Kathy Dixon

Terry Lyons

TREASURER, Anthony Gallo Allison James-Frison Miriam Stern

President, Widian Nicola

First Vice President, Carrie Conger Secretary, Tiffany Mayers

Board of Directors Chapter

President Elect, Lisa Lawson Second Vice President, Jennifer Sorensen Graduate Student Representative, Matt Sato

Regional Representatives, Lana Church, Veronica Grysko-Sporer, Oninye Nnenji, Courtney Wise

Office

Executive Director, Jennifer Thompson Director of Education & Development, Helen French Engagement Coordinator, Resia Cooper Continuing Education Assistant, Leah Rousso

Director of Advocacy & Communications, Jeff Feldman Membership & Education Specialist, Willis Williams Executive Assistant, Britta Shrewsbury Graphic Designer, Katherine Girgenti

NASW–NJ CHAPTER OFFICE

100 Somerset Corporate Blvd, 2nd Floor, Bridgewater, NJ 08807 Ph: 732 296 8070, www naswnj org info.naswnj@socialworkers.org