We came to Los Angeles on
a warm Wednesday in late October to dialogue on issues related to the Conference Theme of “Bridging Borders - Building
Ties – Transforming Relationships”. After a day of pre-conference
workshops, we were welcomed to Los Angeles by Conference Chair, Kim Womack and
Conference Co-Chair, Eleanor Pepi Downey.
President’s
Opening Address
BPD President
Linda Moore addressed the Conference’s important theme as the focus of her opening address. She discussed the Components of the 2006 – 2008 Social Work Reinvestment Initiative, stressing the
importance of communicating the value of our profession in society, and listed the steps being taken to gain enhanced resources
for social work education and practice.
She discussed ways in which
BPD can participate in this initiative:
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Identify stakeholders to involve in reinvestment
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Host legislative briefings to highlight the effectiveness
of social work interventions
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Collect and document the history of public support for social
workers in our states
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Do state assessments of existing reinvestment components
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Identify needed legislative and regulatory changes
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Work with NASW Chapters to draft State Social Work Reinvestment
Plans
She also shared information
about the NASW Public Information Campaign. Her address noted the upcoming Educational
Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) revisions, and the fact that BPD’s next conference will virtually coincide
with the date on which CSWE will promulgate the new version of EPAS. It will
be vital for BPDers to communicate with CSWE and within BPD to identify and address issues of key importance to BPDers.
She noted the importance
of finding a way in which all of us as social workers can work together, while maintaining our individual identities. This will be one of our most important challenges as an organization in the next few
years.
EPAS
There were several sessions
at the conference focusing on the new EPAS. Since the first draft of the new
EPAS is still being written, BPDers will have to develop a mechanism for communication about EPAS issues as they arise. Paul Dovyak noted that he will be setting up an EPAS Review Project, possibly using
Survey Monkey to send frequent short surveys to the BPD membership around key issues.
BPD Update “Extra” editions and discussion on the BPD listserv will be used as an additional mechanism
of communication.
Awards Ceremony
BPD celebrated
the achievements of its members at its annual awards ceremony. Award recipients
were:
Significant Lifetime Achievement Award - Jack R. Sellers
Distinguished Contemporary Contribution to Baccalaureate Social Work Education Award - Lori Messinger
Outstanding Program Director Award - Carol Minor Boyd, University of Mississippi
The Awards Ceremony was followed by an evening of music and
dancing featuring our own Shameless Blues Band.
Jim Wahlberg
Walk/Run, Saturday, 6:00 – 10:00 am
The Jim Wahlberg Walk/Run
this year was held on Venice Beach. Please see the Conference Photo Album, later in this issue of Update, for a photo
of the participants, dressed in their Wahlberg T-Shirts.
Ron Federico
Memorial Lecture
This year’s Ron Federico
Memorial Lecture was presented by Paul H. Stuart, University of Alabama. His subject was “Bridging Borders: How
Boundary-Spanners Build Ties and Transform Relationships”. His address
discussed the benefits of maintaining a segmented profession. He was introduced
by Brad Sheafer from Colorado State University.
Jim Wahlberg
BSW Student Scholar Award
The recipient of the Jim
Wahlberg Scholar Award is Lauren Paul Smitherman, a graduate of Taylor University
and student at the University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor. Ms Smitherman received
a full scholarship from the University of Michigan’s
School of Social Work, presented by Dean
Paula Allen-Meares of the University of Michigan. She was chosen for this award based upon her work to promote social justice, equality,
and empowerment.
Banquet
The annual BPD Banquet was
held on Saturday evening, and culminated in an exquisite desert buffet that will be long remembered by those attending.
Breakfast
and CEU Workshop
The last event of the conference
was a breakfast on Sunday morning, followed by a CEU workshop on immigration issues presented by a panel composed of Sally
Alonzo Bell, Janlee Wong, and Claudia Dorrington.
Back to Destin
This was BPD’s last
fall conference. We will be moving our conference to the spring in 2008. We are going back to Destin (March 5 –
9, 2008) to celebrate BPD’s 25th Conference. Mark
your calendars now, and don’t miss this exciting celebration!
