December is National HIV/AIDS Awareness Month!

The Social Work Policy Network sends weekly resources regarding national & local legislature, events, as well as media. 

Thank you for your continued support of the Social Work Policy Network!

Professional Opportunities
Fellowships & Internships

Campaigns Intern - League of Conservation Voters

Eagleton Graduate Fellowship Program - Rutgers University Eagleton Institute of Politics

Jobs

Research Manager - Research Collective (remote)

Supervising Manager of Economic Empowerment and Client Advocacy Programs -  New York City Anti-Violence Project (New York, NY)

Program Coordinator - More Than Food Consulting (remote)

Healthcare Government Relations Officer - New Jersey Innovative Institute (Newark, NJ)

Social Services Supervisor, First Step Program - Coalition for the Homeless (New York, NY)

National Grants Manager - America Votes (Washington, DC)

Project Coordinator II - Rutgers School of Social Work (Center for Prevention Science) (New Brunswick, NJ)

Executive Director - Wafa House, Inc. (Fair Lawn, NJ)

Policy and Planning (temp)/Program Specialist Trainee - NJ Division of Aging Services (Mercerville, NJ)

Chapter Organizer - Lift Every Voice Philly (LEV) (Philadelphia, PA)

Spring Courses for your Consideration!
Poverty, Inequality, Discrimination & Public Policy (19:910:544)
offered by the School of Social Work
Wednesdays, online, 6-9pm

"Confronting issues of poverty and inequality is a core value of the social work profession. This course will provide students with a theoretical, empirical, and analytical understanding of poverty and inequality in the US. Throughout the course comparisons will be made with other developed nations."
Prerequisite: Human Behavior and the Social Environment

LGBTQIA+ Policy (34:833:687:01)
offered by the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
Mondays, Civic Square Building, 12:10-3:10pm
 
"For years, LGBTQIA+ individuals have fought at the ballot box, through rallies and protests, in government, and in the courts for lived equality under the law. The LGBTQIA+ community has had a long history of political movements that have helped to shape and hinder public policy regarding healthcare, education, employment, etc. This year alone, the LGBTQIA+ community has faced over 500 anti-LGBTQIA+ bills across the country, which has been the result of LGBTQIA+ issues becoming prominent in mainstream political debates and agendas. This interactive course will explore the history of LGBTQIA+ political movements, its impact on public policy, how intersecting identities correlate to public strategy, and how the media has affected the movement. What is the current political climate as it pertains to LGBTQ+ issues across the country? How has the anti-LGBTQIA+ movement impacted New Jersey state legislation, policy, and local politics?"

Upcoming Events
What the Duck?!
Presented by the NJ Policy Perspective
Tuesday, December 13th, 2023, 12:00 p.m.
With the election now behind us, the time has come to ask: What bills will move this lame duck session? What changes are lawmakers down to make in the Garden State? Will they lay an egg and allow the Corporate Business Tax surcharge to expire?

We know lame duck can be confusing with all of the fast-moving pieces of legislation to keep quack of. That is where NJPP and their flock of analysts come in! Join them as they egg-splain it all at What the Duck?!

Join them as they break down the policies they expect to move forward in the coming weeks — and know that they won’t be ducking any issues. 

Register for the Zoom here.

Center for the Study of Social Policy's December 2023 Strengthening Families Webinar: Trauma, Resilience, Care of Self, Community Care, and the Role of Culture
Thursday, December 14th, 2023, 3:00pm 
Join the Center for the Study of Social Policy on Thursday, December 14 for a presentation by Kheya Ganguly. Understand how trauma affects us and the people we serve through the lens of what has happened in Vermont over the past few years. Learn about a new way to conceptualize resilience by thinking of it as transformation. We will use these ideas to examine the role of self-care. Self-care has become a $2 Billion dollar industry that is based in profit, structural racism, and classism - and often does nothing to help support us. This training will give you a new way to imagine and re-invent self-care by transforming it into Care of Self and Community Care, creating a place where we can break paradigms and envision a new way of doing things.

They will also hear updates from CSSP and the Children's Trust Fund Alliance on other work related to Strengthening Families.

Register for the Zoom here.

National Updates
The Border Where Different Rules Apply - The New York Times Magazine

“The Coast Guard frames its operations in the sea as lifesaving work: Crews rescue people from boats at risk of capsizing and pull them from the water. But the agency, which is an arm of the Department of Homeland Security, also operates as a maritime border patrol, its ships as floating holding facilities…The public has no way of knowing what happens on board. Unlike at the U.S.-Mexico border, which is closely monitored by advocates, the courts and the press, immigration enforcement at sea takes place out of public view.”

America’s unique, enduring gun problem, explained - Vox

“Three people were killed and another injured in a mass shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on Wednesday. The shooter, a former college professor in his 60s who reportedly had applied for a job at the university, was killed in a shootout with police…The shooting was one of several hundred mass shootings this year, and it took place not far from the site of the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, in which 58 people were killed and hundreds others injured at a Las Vegas music festival in 2017.”
 
‘Stalemate’ on AIDS relief to drag into 2024 - POLITICO

“The top Republican working to extend the United States’ global HIV/AIDS relief work admitted negotiations are deadlocked, jeopardizing one of the most successful U.S. foreign interventions of this century. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee that oversees the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, had been cautiously optimistic for months that he could broker a deal to re-up a program that is credited with saving 25 million lives and long enjoyed bipartisan support.”

So-Called “Child Welfare” Tears Families Apart. How Can We Repair This Harm? - Truthout

“Activists are organizing to end punitive family policing policies that unnecessarily separate children from families…Abolishing family policing, advocates say, requires a multitiered and comprehensive strategy. It must merge on-the-ground legislative reforms with educational efforts to shift public attitudes about child protective services. Simultaneously, it must keep the big picture — abolition of the entire system — in focus.”

Local & Regional Updates
Lawmakers advance bill to allow some 17-year-olds to vote in New Jersey primaries - New Jersey Monitor
“New Jersey would allow 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections if they will turn 18 by the general election under legislation advanced Thursday. Nineteen states and Washington, D.C., already have such laws, which are intended to boost voter turnout and engage young voters. The Senate’s state government committee unanimously agreed to advance the bill, dubbed the “New Voter Empowerment Act,” after hearing from two voting rights advocates supporting it.”

Trainers at New Jersey police seminar disparaged women, made ‘inappropriate’ remarks, officials say - WHYY/NPR
“A police training seminar in New Jersey included instructors making lewd comments about women, encouraging officers to pull people over for no reason and showing a photo of an ape after talking about pulling over a 75-year-old Black man, according to a new report from the state comptroller. The six-day seminar in October 2021 was conducted by a New Jersey-based law enforcement training company called Street Cop, a privately run firm that bills itself as one of the largest in the country, according to the 43-page report. Some 1,000 officers from around the country, including about 240 from New Jersey, attended the seminar, primarily funded by taxpayers, the comptroller found.”

 

Could NJ’s 1st wind projects be salvaged? It’s not up to Gov. Murphy. - Gothamist
“When the world’s largest wind developer backed out of two projects it planned off the New Jersey shore, it dealt a potentially catastrophic blow to Gov. Phil Murphy’s ambitious plans for all-clean energy sales by 2035. There’s only one other wind project yet approved in New Jersey, and it’s years behind the “Ocean Wind 1” and “Ocean Wind 2” projects that Danish developer Orsted scrapped in late October, citing economic pressures. But there’s one way New Jersey could potentially salvage the projects: if Orsted sold its rights to develop them to another company.”

Governor Murphy, Speaker Coughlin, Senate President Scutari Announce Appointments to New Task Force Charged with Aiding Implementation of Stay NJ Property Tax Relief Program - New Jersey Office of the Governor
“Governor Phil Murphy, Assembly Speaker Craig J. Coughlin, and Senate President Nicholas Scutari announced [on 12/4] the appointment of six highly regarded public servants to a newly created task force charged with putting forth recommendations to implement the new Stay NJ property tax relief program, which is designed to cut property tax bills in half for New Jersey’s seniors…In order to implement Stay NJ, the task force will review all of the State’s existing property tax relief programs and present a report to the Governor and the Legislature, no later than May 30, 2024, containing recommendations on how to restructure and consolidate the various programs into one streamlined property tax relief program for seniors through a singular application, with a target implementation date of January 1, 2026.”

Media of the Week: The Weeds Podcast
Every week on The Weeds, host Jonquilyn Hill and guests break down the policies that shape our lives, from abortion to financial regulations to affirmative action to housing. They hear from leading experts, reporters, and the people impacted by these decisions, because they know that policy is personal. New episodes drop every Wednesday! Click the image to visit The Weeds' page and episode guide.