“Any situation or event that leaves a child feeling overwhelmed and alone needs to be considered as trauma.” This presentation was by Jane Evans, UK author, and Parenting Expert at our SWHELPER Summit 2018. Citation Evans, Jane. What is Early Trauma and Why Does it Matter?. SWHELPER Summit, 20 March. 2018, https://swhelper.org/2022/09/25/what-is-early-trauma-and-why-does-it-matter/.

View Full Article - What is Early Trauma and Why Does it Matter?

 Jay Sanders’ presentation on Body Safety aims to empower children with skills and knowledge that will lessen the likelihood of them becoming victims of childhood sexual abuse. Citation Sanders, Jay. Body Safety Education. SWHELPER Summit, 20 March. 2018, https://swhelper.org/2022/09/01/body-safety-education-for-children-to-help-lessen-or-prevent-sexual-abuse/ .

View Full Article - Body Safety Education for Children to Help Lessen or Prevent Sexual Abuse

 Tina Maschi’s presentation was on advancing global justice through forensic social work education and practice at our SWHELPER Summit 2018. Citation Maschi, Tina. Advancing Global Justice through Forensic Social Work Education and Practice. SWHELPER Summit, 20 March. 2018, https://swhelper.org/2022/06/10/advancing-global-justice-through-forensic-social-work-education-and-practice/.

View Full Article - Advancing Global Justice through Forensic Social Work Education and Practice

Back in October of 2020, single father Robert Carter adopted a set of five siblings so that they would never again be separated by the foster care system. Robert became inspired to foster after being split up from many of his own brothers and sisters when he entered the system at the age of 12. Following […]

View Full Article - Single Father Adopts Five Siblings from Foster Care System

The nation saw an uptick in domestic violence calls in the midst of the pandemic and the shutdown. The convergence of social isolation, economic pressure, and psychological stress created favorable conditions for abuse to occur. Adults are not the only victims of abuse in the home. Children, too, are vulnerable. History shows that violence against […]

View Full Article - Protecting Children from Harm in the Context of Distance Learning

Program Will Provide Critical Aid to the Maryland Health Department’s Effort to Address Disparities and Better Serve the Behavioral Health Needs of  Underserved Communities The primary goal of the project is to support pediatric primary care providers, strengthening their capacity to meet the behavioral health needs of young people in their care. To accomplish this […]

View Full Article - Morgan State University School of Social Work Secures Contract to Support Baltimore City Pediatric Primary Care Providers

Online training helps health professional meet state law Chapter 260 requirements and prepare them for work with survivors and others impacted by domestic and sexual violence  Simmons University’s School of Social Work recently announced a new comprehensive online domestic violence and sexual violence (DV/SV) training to educate Massachusetts-based health professionals and prepare them for work […]

View Full Article - Social Work School Launches New Domestic and Sexual Violence Training for Massachusetts Licensed Health Professionals

There is a quote attributed to Sigmund Freud, “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar”. So too of childhood behaviour and incidents; they may be simply within the range of normal childhood life. However, in the context of high conflict separated parents, the simple explanation can get transplanted with extraordinary suspicions and theories. Normal childhood […]

View Full Article - Normal Childhood Behaviour Misconstrued and How Assessments Are Helpful

Rising Ground, a leading human services provider in New York City, is piloting a new practice in which parents and foster parents will co-parent a child while the child is in foster care, announced Alan Mucatel, CEO of Rising Ground, today. He noted that similar programs in other states have shown that shared parenting reduces […]

View Full Article - Rising Ground to Expand the Role of Foster Parents in Supporting Both the Child and Family to Speed Up Reconciliation

Homelessness is a pressing problem in many U.S. cities. In response, many local governments have enacted controversial measures such as restrictions on public health services or prohibitions on eating, sleeping, sitting or storing property in public spaces. Sometimes called “nuisance” or “quality of life” measures, such steps seem designed to reduce the visibility of unsheltered […]

View Full Article - Why There Are Better Alternatives Than Punitive Policies Targeting Homeless People

SWHELPER will host its four day annual virtual Global Social Welfare Digital Summit beginning on February 25th through February 28th, 2020. The Summit’s primary goal is to enhance practice for helping professionals by using technology to eliminate geographical borders for training, networking, and collaboration.  “Our goal is to use an interdisciplinary approach for helping professionals […]

View Full Article - Global Social Welfare Digital Summit Call for Proposals: Interdisciplinary Approach to Global Social Change

In the early morning hours on a cold January night, city officials in a small college town took to the streets with a clear purpose. Their mission: to take an accurate count of the number of homeless citizens living in the city. As they checked under bridges and highway overpasses, the count escalated. Then they […]

View Full Article - A Closer Look at Homelessness

While most of the mainstream media has failed to report on this momentous piece of legislation created to address the inequities of systemic racism impacting child welfare reform and parental rights, Rep. Rena Moran, DFL-St. Paul, and Sen. Jeff Hayden, DFL-Minneapolis quietly introduced the Minnesota African American Family Preservation Act (HF 3973). The bill was […]

View Full Article - The Minnesota African American Family Preservation Act: One Small Step in the Right Direction Towards A More Just Child Welfare System

Sponsored by Aurora University Children who are in the court or social service systems due to neglect or abuse are vulnerable, and they often lack reliable adult advocacy. For the past 40 years, however, volunteers have been stepping up to help protect and guide these at-risk youths during their proceedings. In 1977, Seattle juvenile court […]

View Full Article - How to Become a CASA Volunteer

WASHINGTON – Yesterday, Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) introduced legislation to authorize funding to support mentoring programs that have a proven track record in serving foster youth. Rep. Bass and Rep. Bacon both serve as co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth, which is a bipartisan group of lawmakers dedicated […]

View Full Article - Bass, Bacon Introduce Bipartisan Foster Youth Mentoring Act

Sponsored by Campbellsville University According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, there were approximately 443,000 children in foster care in 2017 with more than one-quarter of those children waiting to be adopted. Unfortunately, the foster care system needs help, according to Anne Adcock, program director and assistant professor of social work at […]

View Full Article - Building Families: Social Workers in Foster Care

On March 19th thru March 22nd, SWHELPER will be hosting the Global Social Welfare Digital Summit which is an all online digital conference. You can attend the conference from any place in the world with an internet connection. The conference themes will focus on advocacy, trauma-informed care, self-care and healing, and solutions. Are you feeling unmotivated or uninspired? Maybe you need some […]

View Full Article - SWHELPER Announces Its Second Annual Global Social Welfare Digital Summit

It is widely accepted the earliest months and years of a child’s existence have the most profound impact on the rest of the lives. Attachment theorists believe the early bonds and relationships a child forms with his/her carer(s) or parent(s), informs that child’s ability or inability to form successful and healthy relationships in the future. […]

View Full Article - Right from the Start: Investing in Parents and Babies – Alan Sinclair

Earlier this week, Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and Congressman Tom Marino (R-Penn.), Co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth, introduced legislation to provide grants to states, tribes (including tribal consortia), territories or community-based organizations to develop, enhance, and evaluate Kinship Navigator programs. Kinship Navigator programs support family caregivers through complex legal and administrative systems, […]

View Full Article - Reps. Bass, Marino Introduce Legislation To Develop And Enhance Kinship Navigator Programs

Collaborative Family Law offers divorcing couples a new approach to untangling marriage. The traditional approach has family lawyers settle disputes with at least the threat of litigation. Collaborative Family Law takes the threat of litigation out of the equation to concentrate on helping the parties settle between themselves yet with legal support. Litigation is not […]

View Full Article - What is Collaborative Law and Social Work