BUSSW, NASW-Massachusetts Co-Sponsoring Leadership Summit on Social Worker Safety

The Boston University School of Social Work and the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers are co-sponsoring A Leadership Summit on Social Worker Safety. The invitation-only meeting will be held at BU on September 12.

Summit organizers explain that "Recent and ongoing events related to safety of social workers highlight this critical concern for social work practitioners, administrators and educators. In an effort to bring together representatives of the professional practice and education communities, BUSSW and the Massachusetts chapter of NASW are co-sponsoring this sumnmit to enhance understanding of the current state of our knowledge and efforts to maximize worker safety and to ensure continuing and new efforts to address this concern.

"We acknowledge that this is a challenging and complex issue in practice and that we have much to share with and learn from each other. This Summit provides an opportunity for educators, administrators and practitioners to collaborate and commit to next steps to maximize the safety of social workers."

The Summit will begin with welcoming remarks by BUSSW Dean Gail Steketee and NASW Massachusetts Chapter Executive Director Carol Trust. Marilyn Anderson Chase, Assistant Secretary for Children, Youth and Families, Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services, then will moderate a panel that includes Jennifer Zelnick, Assistant Professor, Salem State College School of Social Work and Eva Skolnik-Acker, Chair, NASW Massachusetts Committee for the Study and Prevention of Violence Against Social Workers. Respondents are Angelo McClain, MSW, PhD, Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Children and Families and Earl “Skip” Stuck, MA, Executive Director, Family Continuity Programs, Inc.

For more information on the Summit, please contact Associate Dean Ruth Freedman at freedman@bu.edu