This course is approved for 3 MSDE Continuing Professional Development/CPD credits as course #22-66-04R and fulfills the requirements of the Maryland State Department of Education for certification of school-based social workers. Because social workers provide related services that are part of the educational programming of students with special needs, they must understand the legal mandates, federal and state policies and standards, as well as the specific instructional methods and technologies used in the classrooms that serve those students, from the least restrictive settings of inclusion to the more clinical settings, including residential.

Title: What’s Always Been at Stake: Examining the Impact of the Socio-Political Climate on the Social Work Profession
Date: Monday, October 19, 2026; 5:00 PM - 8:15 PM
Presenter: Lee Westgate, MBA, MSW, LCSW-C, (he/him/his)  
Synopsis: The exponential rise in harmful and overtly discriminatory bills in state legislatures across the country coupled with efforts to erode the fundamental rights and freedoms of historically marginalized people continues to harm population-wide health and wellbeing. There remain relentless efforts to compromise individual legal and human rights as evidenced in the systematic targeting of structurally vulnerable populations to include people of color, LGBTQIA+ people, and children. Social workers practice at what has become a complex intersection evidence-based, bio-ethical practice and politically motivated interference in and the delivery of care. Parallel to this, the social work profession must continue to work toward embracing an anti-oppressive approach to practice through reckoning with its own problematic professional roots. This session will examine the phenomenon of criminalization of social care and underscore the critical need for political action by the social work profession.

Register here.

Prolonged Grief Disorder
Date: Monday, October 19, 1:00 pm - 4:15 pm
Presenter: Julie A. Guistwite, PhD, LSW, FT, CSWM
Synopsis: The most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed., text rev.) (DSM-5-TR) includes the inaugural diagnosis of Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD). PGD is a relevant diagnosis for consideration in assessing/treating persons navigating traumatic death experiences, including suicide, heart attack, and accidental death. This interactive, case-based course describes the diagnosis’ progressive evolution from pathological grief and discusses core categories/criteria relevant to assessment/treatment. Discussions of underlying risk factors and the sudden/violent death experience’s impact on the biopsychosocial-spiritual well-being of persons will interweave across the diagnostic analysis. Drawing on the Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement, attendees will engage with case studies and colleagues in examining well-being-enhancing strategies and best practice tools across therapeutic processes.

Register here!