There's a lot going on in Arizona right now, particularly when it comes to social services. More budget cuts have taken place at the capitol cutting vital services for the most vulnerable people in Arizona.
I want fellow students to keep that in mind as we come closer and closer to finals. Providing for clients is becoming more difficult in Arizona as services continue to be cut. This is not the time to give up. We're all overwhelmed at the job ahead of us and we're all stressed from the weight of life, work and school, but it will be worth it.
This is the time where we all need to take in a deep breath, release it very slowly, and hit the books. Give that final push that will bring us on to winter break and the much needed vacation we all want.
This is the time where we need to work our hardest as student social workers and future social workers. Soaking in as much education and learning as we can because when we leave the safety net of school it will be our job to find ways to provide services to clients with limited resources. It will be our job promoting legislation that will bring back resources and programs.
We are the future of social work and in Arizona that is not going to be an easy task. But I know we are up to the challenge.
I wish us all luck during finals time and for a good end of the semester.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Change is Coming
Yesterday, November 7th 2009 marked a very important day in our nations history.
The House of Representatives passed the Health Care Reform bill 220 to 215.
As the Senate preps to begin the discussion about Health Care Reform I can't help but wonder what is going to happen to the bill. I was at work last night when the final vote came in and celebrated with myself and my twitter friends while riding the bus home.
Now that the light of morning has hit us, I wonder what is the future of health care in our country. Nearly all Americans can agree that the current system is not working, but where do we go?
I started reading over HR 3962 again yesterday morning in prep of the vote and well... it's lengthy and rather dry. If the Senate passes it's own Health Care bill, medical professionals, lawyers and us social workers, are going to have a lot of reading ahead of us. This is huge. CNN calls it the "biggest expansion of health care coverage since Medicare was created more than 40 years ago."
That is pretty impressive.
I worry about something this massive being passed in the Senate. In all honesty, while I was going over parts of the bill yesterday I did not believe it would pass the House. Sure I called Rep. Shadegg, did my part full well knowing he would not support the bill, and that was it. I was sure the bill would fail especially after the abortion amendment was tacked on and that many Democrats were not supporting the bill.
I expected it to die.
Especially given how massive this is.
Change is hard. Most people do not like to experience any kind of change, being as small as changing up your daily routine, or as big as health care reform. We reject change because it is difficult and it breaks the status quo.
I remember from my Practice 2 class in undergrad learning about the stages of change and it feels like we're right between Preparation and Action. The passing of the bill in the House last night was a huge step towards taking Action to change, but we're not there yet.
In order for us to truly be in the Action stage we're going to need the Senate to vote for Health Care Reform.
I'm back to worrying though. I've got the numbers for my Senators, I know who to call, not that I think Kyl or McCain would support reform, but I still want them to know where my position is not only has a social worker who has seen hundreds of clients who are uninsured and how that affects their lives, but also as a constituent who has suffered as well. I've done the 3 hours phone call with my health insurance provider arguing that my trip to the emergency room was not a pre-existing condition and that they should cover it. I've watched the medical bills pile up at my parents house for a procedure that had my mother not had, might have killed her. We're all just one major health condition away from bankruptcy, yet I still feel that the Senate won't pass the bill.
We're afraid of change.
However, if the bill does pass, and President Obama does get to sign The Affordable Health Care for America Act into law, the Action Stage is going to huge.
That is where, we as social workers need to be reading up on this bill, even if you don't care about politics at all. The way we look at health care is going to change in its entirety and every client seen is going to be affected in some way. Social workers are going to need a basic understanding of how these changes affect their clients if we are going to be competent in practice.
If the Senate passes the bill, I see trainings in all of our futures.
It is going to be a lot of work, but I think we're ready. Change is really scary, but it can also be a great thing and I am ready to embrace that change.
We'll see where this all takes us, hopefully to somewhere good.
To read the bill in its entirety go here
To tweet your Senator about the health care bill go here
Let your voice be heard, if you support health care reform or your don't, your voice still matters and deserves to be heard.
Everyone have a wonderful Sunday.
The House of Representatives passed the Health Care Reform bill 220 to 215.
As the Senate preps to begin the discussion about Health Care Reform I can't help but wonder what is going to happen to the bill. I was at work last night when the final vote came in and celebrated with myself and my twitter friends while riding the bus home.
Now that the light of morning has hit us, I wonder what is the future of health care in our country. Nearly all Americans can agree that the current system is not working, but where do we go?
I started reading over HR 3962 again yesterday morning in prep of the vote and well... it's lengthy and rather dry. If the Senate passes it's own Health Care bill, medical professionals, lawyers and us social workers, are going to have a lot of reading ahead of us. This is huge. CNN calls it the "biggest expansion of health care coverage since Medicare was created more than 40 years ago."
That is pretty impressive.
I worry about something this massive being passed in the Senate. In all honesty, while I was going over parts of the bill yesterday I did not believe it would pass the House. Sure I called Rep. Shadegg, did my part full well knowing he would not support the bill, and that was it. I was sure the bill would fail especially after the abortion amendment was tacked on and that many Democrats were not supporting the bill.
I expected it to die.
Especially given how massive this is.
Change is hard. Most people do not like to experience any kind of change, being as small as changing up your daily routine, or as big as health care reform. We reject change because it is difficult and it breaks the status quo.
I remember from my Practice 2 class in undergrad learning about the stages of change and it feels like we're right between Preparation and Action. The passing of the bill in the House last night was a huge step towards taking Action to change, but we're not there yet.
In order for us to truly be in the Action stage we're going to need the Senate to vote for Health Care Reform.
I'm back to worrying though. I've got the numbers for my Senators, I know who to call, not that I think Kyl or McCain would support reform, but I still want them to know where my position is not only has a social worker who has seen hundreds of clients who are uninsured and how that affects their lives, but also as a constituent who has suffered as well. I've done the 3 hours phone call with my health insurance provider arguing that my trip to the emergency room was not a pre-existing condition and that they should cover it. I've watched the medical bills pile up at my parents house for a procedure that had my mother not had, might have killed her. We're all just one major health condition away from bankruptcy, yet I still feel that the Senate won't pass the bill.
We're afraid of change.
However, if the bill does pass, and President Obama does get to sign The Affordable Health Care for America Act into law, the Action Stage is going to huge.
That is where, we as social workers need to be reading up on this bill, even if you don't care about politics at all. The way we look at health care is going to change in its entirety and every client seen is going to be affected in some way. Social workers are going to need a basic understanding of how these changes affect their clients if we are going to be competent in practice.
If the Senate passes the bill, I see trainings in all of our futures.
It is going to be a lot of work, but I think we're ready. Change is really scary, but it can also be a great thing and I am ready to embrace that change.
We'll see where this all takes us, hopefully to somewhere good.
To read the bill in its entirety go here
To tweet your Senator about the health care bill go here
Let your voice be heard, if you support health care reform or your don't, your voice still matters and deserves to be heard.
Everyone have a wonderful Sunday.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Welcome
Welcome to the student blog for the National Association of Social Workers - Arizona Chapter.
My name is Shannon and I am the MSW intern over at NASW AZ and will be the one kicking off this blog.
The purpose of this blog is to allow an outlet for social work students in Arizona to talk about issues pertaining to Arizona, School of Social Work Education as well as answering questions and talking about social work issues on the front of students minds. Be it the budget crisis of Arizona, or when to turn in our learning contracts.
I want this to be a place where I can talk about issues that are important to me as a social work student, but I also want to know what other social work students in Arizona are concerned about.
If there is any issues you want me to talk about during my time as the student blogger please shoot me an e-mail at naswazblogger@gmail.com.
A little background on me. I got my BSW from Arizona State University in 2009. I immediately went back to school and I am in my second to last semester to receive my MSW from ASU. I did my Bachelor's internship with the Tempe Salvation Army and still volunteer there from time to time. As I said, my MSW internship is with the NASW AZ Chapter and I absolutely love it here. I knew a long time ago that I wanted to be a PAC student and this has been the perfect placement for me. The other intern and I are constantly coming up with new projects to work on, and while I can't speak for her, I am excited about the Spring semester and the chance to be down at the Capitol and being involved in the Legislative process.
My areas of interest are politics and policy, homelessness, the LGBTQ community, and welfare reform. Those are just some interests of mine, doesn't mean I don't ramble on about other issues. As the budget crisis in Arizona continues to unravel that will be on the front of my mind and how that affects us as social work students and the clients we either currently are serving or will someday soon.
I hope this blog will be educational as well as entertaining and again, please e-mail me topics or issues you want me to blog about. Feel free to leave me comments, I'll be happy to read them. I hope we can all take this journey together as we start something new for the NASW AZ Chapter.
Ciao!
P.S. Don't forget send e-mails to naswazblogger@gmail.com
My name is Shannon and I am the MSW intern over at NASW AZ and will be the one kicking off this blog.
The purpose of this blog is to allow an outlet for social work students in Arizona to talk about issues pertaining to Arizona, School of Social Work Education as well as answering questions and talking about social work issues on the front of students minds. Be it the budget crisis of Arizona, or when to turn in our learning contracts.
I want this to be a place where I can talk about issues that are important to me as a social work student, but I also want to know what other social work students in Arizona are concerned about.
If there is any issues you want me to talk about during my time as the student blogger please shoot me an e-mail at naswazblogger@gmail.com.
A little background on me. I got my BSW from Arizona State University in 2009. I immediately went back to school and I am in my second to last semester to receive my MSW from ASU. I did my Bachelor's internship with the Tempe Salvation Army and still volunteer there from time to time. As I said, my MSW internship is with the NASW AZ Chapter and I absolutely love it here. I knew a long time ago that I wanted to be a PAC student and this has been the perfect placement for me. The other intern and I are constantly coming up with new projects to work on, and while I can't speak for her, I am excited about the Spring semester and the chance to be down at the Capitol and being involved in the Legislative process.
My areas of interest are politics and policy, homelessness, the LGBTQ community, and welfare reform. Those are just some interests of mine, doesn't mean I don't ramble on about other issues. As the budget crisis in Arizona continues to unravel that will be on the front of my mind and how that affects us as social work students and the clients we either currently are serving or will someday soon.
I hope this blog will be educational as well as entertaining and again, please e-mail me topics or issues you want me to blog about. Feel free to leave me comments, I'll be happy to read them. I hope we can all take this journey together as we start something new for the NASW AZ Chapter.
Ciao!
P.S. Don't forget send e-mails to naswazblogger@gmail.com
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