Greetings Minnesota clinical social work community and welcome to fall 2024, and all that brings for you and yours. Once again, we, your State affiliate of the Clinical Social Work Association (CSWA) have been busy attending to issues related to our field of clinical social work.
This year MSCSW is celebrating 46 years of advocating for clinical social work in Minnesota. As we were reminded of at last year’s annual meeting, we only exist due to the diligent legislative efforts of our earlier leaders: Marsha Eldot, Bill Walker, Ellen Luepker, and Clay Sankey who each went on to be some of the first presidents of MSCSW. Some of those early leaders are still in practice today, sharing their wisdom with those of us who came later. We will forever be indebted to them, their wisdom and willingness to bring licensure and well-deserved recognition to the field of clinical social work.
Since its inception in 1978, MSCSW has continually advocated for clinical social workers by lobbying at the State capitol and sponsoring a lobbyist and later a legislative consultant. That role is currently filled by the multi-talented Jenny Arneson, who works with MSCSW in collaboration with the Coalition of Licensed Social Workers and NASW. We thank Jenny for her ability to represent our interests at the State capitol and for consistently updating our membership along the way. One of our greatest legislative successes this past year has been bringing Minnesota into the Interstate Compact which will allow licensed social workers in Minnesota to belong to the Compact thereby allowing cross-state licenses. Stay tuned for more information on the national process that guides this enhanced licensure effort.
We thank Jim Stoltz for chairing the Legislative Committee these past two years and continuing to serve as the Representative to the Coalition for the upcoming year. Through his continued diligence and attention to policy development and close collaboration with Jenny and the Coalition, we look forward to hearing more about the Interstate Compact and other issues relevant to clinical practice in Minnesota.
Our Education Committee members continue to be the bedrock of our organization’s ongoing, front-facing efforts to present monthly educational webinars for our members, a big task for a small committee. Led by Chair, Monica Sowden, the incomparable Mark LaChapelle, Sandi Laski, and Kimberly DeBeer, the committee identifies areas of interest for our members, chooses and vets the presenters, prepares them for the technical parts of presenting the webinar, coordinates with our events coordinator, and responds to attendees’ feedback. They continue to navigate with excellence the unique challenges that come with being the most public aspect of our organization. I thank Monica personally for her significant effort and reflection as the Education Committee Chair, as she managed any challenges with due diligence, grace, and deep respect.
An area of challenge continues to be Board leadership development. It has been a consistent challenge to develop and maintain new Board members, especially to serve on the Executive Committee: President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The board will continue to make enhanced efforts to bring in Members at Large and introduce them to the workings of the Board in hopes that a developmental approach to learning the structure and responsibilities of the Board will increase a deeper level of understanding of the Board’s functioning and a more enduring commitment to the organization. For this year’s slate of nominees to the board, the current Education Chair is agreeing to do double duty as Co-President. A former president has agreed to reprise her role and serve as the other Co-President. Other leadership roles will be as follows: I will serve as Past President for 1-2 years, Mitch Leppicello, the MSCSW’s Past President, will continue as the Chair of the Leadership Development Committee and will continue his efforts to recruit new Board members and develop broader leadership. We will continue our efforts to diversify our Board and strengthen and deepen our leadership development to help sustain the efforts of this great organization.
MSCSW’s goals continue to be:
- To provide networking opportunities for members.
- To represent your professional interests to various parties.
- To provide legislative updates.
- To distribute a society newsletter.
- To host professional education workshops.
- To disseminate research and educate professional social workers in best practices.
- To uphold and promote ethical and responsible standards in social work.
- To advocate optimum mental health services and ethical practice for all stakeholders (constituents, citizens) through legislative endeavors and
- To collaborate with educational and public organizations to promote clinical social work practice.
We continue working to achieve these goals to the best of our ability.
Some of the past six month’s achievements include:
- Offering and subsidizing two, Low Fee Supervision Groups which have been full.
- Continuing to grow our membership and participation among outstate members.
- Continuing effective advocacy with the Coalition of Licensed Social Workers, successfully joining the Interstate Compact and addressing alternative pathways to licensure.
- Having an enhanced presence with CSWA, our national organization.
- Presenting low-cost, monthly educational webinars that are timely, well-received thought-provoking, and well-attended.
- Offering a quarterly newsletter.
- Sponsoring a listserv that is well used by members as a place to exchange information, seek referrals, and announce new providers or services.
As is required in our bylaws, we will hold our annual meeting on Thursday, September 26th, at the Semple Mansion’s Carriage House at 100 W. Franklin Avenue in south Mpls. If you have not yet registered, please do so today by following this link
We look forward to seeing many of you face-to-face at a time when that continues to be a rare event for many of us due to the risk of an ever-changing COVID-19 virus that continues to confound our lives. This year, the Membership Committee will be facilitating a more general conversation around our work, allowing us to learn about each other’s lives and practices.
With new board members being elected in August, the Board will facilitate a day of onboarding to bring on new board members. I will continue to serve as Past President and participate on the leadership Development Committee as well as maintain a connection to CSWA. I continue to be dedicated to expanding and diversifying our membership and Board participation with outstate and BIPOC clinicians.
I continue to feel honored to be part of an organization that grew organically from a need to organize and advance the priorities of clinical social workers around the State, and that continues to be relevant in today’s world of mental health professionals.
I look forward to our community of clinical social workers growing and meeting whatever challenges come our way and feel confident the Board will continue to effectively guide the Society into the future.
Thank you all for your support of these efforts through your membership and for the important work you do in your community. Again, please reach out to me or any of the other Board members with any ideas or concerns related to our organization, our efforts as a Board, or any other thoughts you might have, especially if you might be interested in increasing your involvement with our organization. We are here to serve the needs of our clinical social work community and to support you, the provider of these critical services.
-Shelley Berven
