BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Friday, September 26, 2008 National Office, Washington, DC PARTICIPANTS

Transcription

1 BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Friday, September 26, 2008 National Office, Washington, DC PARTICIPANTS Present: Absent: Staff: James Kelly, President Willie Bo Walker, Vice President Nelrene Yellow Bird, Secretary Josefina Ahumada, Treasurer Christina Austin-Valere Diane Belinsky Becky Fast M. Vincentia Joseph Esther Langston Patricia Maxon Christina Michels Rosalie Migas Nelly Rojas Schwan Mark Smith Chanda White Elizabeth Clark, Executive Director Lisa Kingsley Rebecca Myers Carolyn Polowy Doreta Richards Samuel Reed, Jr. Gail Waller Melvin Wilson Linda Mockeridge Sharon Otagaki Donna Pincavage Robin Russel Olga Sarabia Lann Thompson Guests: Kathy Murphy-Stevenson, Chair, Council of Chapter Presidents Steve Karp, Representative, Council of Chapter Executives Page 1

2 BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Friday, September 26, 2008 National Office, Washington, DC SUMMARY OF ACTIONS/MINUTES The meeting was called to order by President James Kelly and began with an executive session of the Board. (Thompson/Mockeridge) To move into executive session (Walker/Thompson) To end executive session. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF AGENDA (Maxon/Sarabia) To adopt the agenda as amended, moving the agenda item Advance Certified Hospice and Palliative Care Social Worker Credential from the consent to the general agenda for discussion and action. Comment: Minutes of the June 2008 Board of Directors meeting and the Annual Meeting of Members were approved on the consent agenda. (Maxon/Mockeridge) To approve the Advance Certified Hospice and Palliative Care Social Worker (ACHP- SW) credential. FINANCIAL REPORT The Treasurer of the Board and Chair of the Finance Committee, Josefina Ahumada, presented the financial reports for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008 and the year-to-date statement as of August 31, The following motion was subsequently adopted. Page 2

3 (Walker/Langston) To receive the financial report as presented by the Treasurer. Comment: The Treasurer reported on the pre-audited figures for the periods ending June 30, 2008 and August 31, As of August 31, total assets were $15.7 million and liabilities and net assets totaled $15.8 million. PRESIDENT S REPORT President James Kelly gave highlights of the meetings that occurred in conjunction with the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) 19 th World Conference held in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, in August He mentioned that by virtue of his role as Regional President for North America Region, which includes Canada, the US and Mexico, he is a member of the IFSW Executive Committee. He noted that there were policies passed at the General Meeting in the areas of health, aging and a draft policy on genocide. President Kelly also attended portions of the World Conference which drew approximately 2300 Brazilian social workers. The next IFSW world conference will be in Hong Kong in Also mentioned was the Social Workers Across Nations (SWAN) Symposium, which was hosted here at the National Office. The Symposium brought together those who have been interested in the SWAN Initiative such as deans of schools of social work that have an international program. The Initiative has a practice focus and is geared towards capacity building and sustainability of programs. The President thanked staff for the planning and implementation of an impressive meeting. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR S REPORT Executive Director, Dr. Elizabeth Clark, referenced her written report which summarizes the programmatic efforts of the national office staff for the first quarter of the fiscal year. Additionally, she mentioned the NASW Annual Practice Conference, The Aging Boom: Is Your Clinical Practice Ready? The conference is scheduled for March 15-16, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. DELEGATE ASSEMBLY DEBRIEFING A total of 199 participants completed an online evaluation of the 2008 Virtual Delegate Assembly. Of these respondents, the majority (65 percent) reported that the Assembly accomplished its mission. Sam Reed, Jr., Director of the Customer Services Division gave the salient points of the evaluation summary. Many of the delegates were first time participants; 80 percent participated in pre-assembly activities such as hearing panels, coalition meetings and Page 3

4 pre-assembly trainings. On the substantive portions of the Assembly, for example, bylaws amendments and policy revisions, the majority rated those processes as excellent or good. It was suggested that Emerging Issues could be used as a jumping off point for the next round of issues that may come before the 2011 Assembly. It was noted also that moving the Assembly to a virtual platform significantly reduced the financial liability of the Association. The cost to the National Office for an in-person meeting was estimated at $500,000 versus approximately $102,000 to fulfill the contracts with CommPartners and the Hyatt Regency Hotel. REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES REPORT Some of the issues brought to the fore were: clarification of the role of Regional Representatives, the 2008 Delegate Assembly, Licensing, the Social Work Reinvestment Initiative (SWRI), the declining membership and continuing education online courses and their financial impact on chapters. Staff cautioned the Board about taking on the issue of state licensure, noting its complexities, and instead suggested that the discussion be subsumed within the Emerging Issues Forum and addressed at the state level in conjunction with schools of social work and state licensing boards. It was pointed out that states are reluctant to relinquish their power in legislating professions to the federal government (for further discussion see below). The decline in membership was acknowledged as a trend among associations and one that NASW is working to reverse. It was also noted that while the membership numbers were lower, renewals had been steady. UPDATE ON SOCIAL WORK REINVESTMENT ACT (SWRA) Rebecca Myers, Special Assistant to the Executive Director reported that the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act was introduced in the U.S. House of Representative in February and there are now close to 80 cosponsors. The Bill was introduced in the Senate in April. If the Bill does not pass during this session of Congress, it is anticipated that it will be reintroduced in the House and Senate in late January Members were encouraged to visit the reinvestment and chapter Web sites to see what is happening on state issues including licensure. A provision in the legislation creates a commission and part of the commission s charge is to look at the challenges related to state licensure. Other parts of the initiative including mental health parity in Medicare were enacted during the summer. Page 4

5 Concern was also raised about workers safety. It was explained that a piece of the initiative is the Terri Zenner Social Work Safety Act which deals with the issue of social worker s safety while on the job. PACE UPDATE Staff reported that there has been an examination of key issues for local elections/campaigns to determine the race(s) in which the national PACE should be involved. Where national has endorsed candidates in congressional races, the chapters have been informed and invited to participate. For the presidential race, the PACE Board of Trustees endorsed the Obama campaign and we are conducting phone banks on Monday nights from the national office as well as, sending out weekly s on key issues to encourage members to become involved. Mention was made of the Press conference with Every Child Matters and the women s groups for Obama. We continue to seek ways to connect with the McCain Campaign. OTHER BUSINESS (Pincavage/Thompson) To recommend to the Assurance Services, Inc. Board that at least 50 percent of the net profit of the business for FY , be allocated as a dividend to NASW. ADJOURN There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 3:00 p.m. APPROVED: Nelrene R. Yellow Bird, LCSW, LAC Secretary Date Page 5