IASSWIllinois Association of School Social Workers
Dear Colleagues,
Last year, the state of Illinois passed the Firearm Concealed Carry Act and created additional reporting requirements for mental health providers. These requirements also extend to schools and school social workers as well, mandating that agencies report individuals who might be considered dangerous to the state as a safeguard against present or future gun ownership. These requirements and procedures have caused much concern amongst social workers and the administration (at least at my school!).
IASSW has provided some information via our newsletters and during the annual conference last fall. However, many members have continued to express the need for additional guidance in both understanding the requirements and in developing school response policies. I am pleased to announce that in order to help fill this need the Region 10 spring seminar will focus on the FOID law and reporting requirements.
Our speaker for this event is Sandra Kopels JD, MSW. Sandra is a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is also an IASSW Board Member, serving as the Chairwoman on the IASSW Journal. Over the course of the last several years I have come to appreciate and respect her opinion on a host of social work issues, especially those involving school social work and the law. I have heard her speak several times, particularly on mandating reporting and DCFS regulations and have found her comments to provide insight and clarity on issues that can be vague and ambiguous. I am very excited for her to bring this same sense of precision and thoughtfulness to this new topic.
Given the topic at hand it may be useful to share word about this presentation to others within your schools. I will be reaching out to our administrative team, as well as other school support professionals, such as our school nurses and psychologists. This can be opportunity to team with other educators to help create a more comprehensive school response plan and provide better service to students in need. It also can be an opportunity to demonstrate to those within your school systems the valuable contribution social workers provide to the entire school system in helping plan for and manage complex policy issues.
The presentation will take place on Thursday April 23rd . This year the presentation will be held in the afternoon, from 1:00 PM till 4:00 PM. Registration will be at 12:30 PM. and the presentation will begin at 1:00 P.M. and go until 4:00 PM. I will have some light snacks and drinks as usual. I have attached the flyer as well as directions to the Northfield Campus. The cost is $35 with IASSW members receiving 3 C.E.U.s for free. For non-members there is an additional $15 fee for C.E.U.s. The deadline for registration is April 17th2015. Please feel free to contact me with any concerns or questions.
I look forward to seeing you on April23th.
Sincerely,
Robert Georges AM, LCSW
IASSW Region 10 Representative