Title: MD20260928 - Programs Meant to Protect Series: Understanding SNAP/Food Stamps with Cultural Humility
Date: Monday, September 28, 2026; 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm 
Presenter: Imani Hutchinson
Synopsis: This session in the Social Safety Net Program Series introduces social workers and case managers to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps. Participants will examine the historical development of SNAP within the U.S. social safety net, exploring how policy decisions have shaped access to food assistance and influenced public perceptions of those who receive it. The presenter will review core federal eligibility requirements for SNAP and common barriers to accessing benefits including administrative complexity, stigma, and structural inequities. Grounded in cultural humility, participants will engage in reflection and discussion about how stigma and bias impact individuals and families who rely on food assistance. Emphasis will be placed on recognizing the dignity of those accessing benefits, and situating food insecurity within broader social and economic contexts to support more equitable and responsive practice.

Register now!

Title: Structural Racism in Social Work Practice: Systemic Change and Equity in Action

Date: Thursday, September 10, 2026; 9:00 am - 12:15 pm

Presenter: Dwayne Buckingham, PhD, LCSW-C, BCD, PCC

Synopsis: This dynamic 3-hour workshop equips social workers with a clear, practical understanding of structural racism and how it shapes client outcomes, service delivery, and ethical decision-making. Grounded in the standards of the ERT Framework, this workshop moves beyond theory. It helps social workers recognize how structural racism and implicit bias show up in real practice across healthcare, child welfare, education, and behavioral health systems. Through real-world case studies and practical frameworks, you’ll learn how to identify systemic barriers, make ethically sound decisions, and take action to advance equity in social work practice. This training helps you move from awareness to action so that you are not just meeting a requirement, you’re elevating your practice.

What You’ll Gain:

A clear understanding of structural racism in social work systems

Practical tools to address bias and systemic barriers

Ethical strategies aligned with the NASW Code of Ethics and ERT Framework

Real-world application you can use immediately

Register now!

Black Language Matters: Exploring Afrocentric and "Ghetto" Vernacular as Cultural Power
Date: Tuesday, August 25, 2026 - 9:00 am - 12:15 pm EST (3 hours)
Presenter: Dwayne Buckingham, Ph.D., LCSW-C, BCD, CCTP
Synopsis: Language is more than communication—it is culture, identity, survival, and resistance. Yet Black language, particularly Afrocentric expressions, and so-called "ghetto" vernacular, is frequently misunderstood, stigmatized, or dismissed as unprofessional, improper, or inferior. These judgments are not neutral. They are shaped by historical power dynamics, racial bias, and respectability politics. This interactive 3-hour workshop invites participants to critically examine Black language as a living, adaptive, and culturally rich system rooted in African traditions, enslavement-era survival strategies, and contemporary Black creativity. Participants will explore African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and Afrocentric language without judgment, deficit framing, or mockery, while gaining a deeper understanding of how language functions as identity affirmation, community bonding, resistance, and liberation.

Register here.

The Dedicated & Committed: Introducing Identity Camaraderie to Recognize Burnout & Grief in Social Work Clients
Date: Wednesday, July 15, 2026; 10:00 am - 1:15 pm
Presenter: Dr. Shanea Thomas, LICSW, CSE

Description: Though most people still feel the lingering effects of world events such as COVID-19 and the changes brought on by our current administration, which affect our ability to practice holistically, these unprecedented times are leaving practitioners and administrators feeling a bit weathered and professionally unstable. What happens when the issues you are experiencing personally align with the community that you directly work with? When you share an identity with a client or group, how can we be sure that there is a boundary between who we are and what they need? This workshop will examine the social changes that have significantly affected our ability to provide care in direct and administrative services, and how we use our identities, consciously or unconsciously, as they affect our ability to show up as our whole selves. This workshop is based on Dr. Thomas' research and knowledge of the lived experiences of those working within healthcare and service-oriented institutions, and is inspired by Freudenberger's (1986) community-oriented research on burnout. In this workshop, Dr. Thomas believes that without equipping organizations to address the emotional effects of trauma, grief, and loss in their work, shifting an institution's capacity without installing intentional care can just result in great workers leaving.  This presentation covers the concept of identity camaraderie to describe the nuanced experience of a relationship between direct service practitioners and their clients, an offering of an Organizational Risk Assessment to evaluate the level of burnout experienced by clinicians in practice, and finally, walking through the construction of a plan for practitioners to thrive in the new era of practice.

Register here!

Structural Racism and Social Work: Disrupting the Web of Systemic Inequity – Lunch & Learn

Date: Monday, August 17, 2026

Time: 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. ET

Presenters: Luanda Johnson, LCSW-C, and Patricia Roberts-Rose, LCSW-C

CEUs: 1 Category I in Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice (Structural Racism)

Cost: $15 for NASW Members | $25 for Non-Members | $10 for Retired Members | Free for Student Members

Please Note: This workshop fulfills the Maryland BSWE's requirement in Structural Racism.

Description:

This workshop is designed for social work professionals to examine structural racism through a social work lens, emphasizing how mutually reinforcing systems—such as housing, education, employment, health care, criminal justice, and public benefits—create and sustain barriers to client well-being and self-determination.

The session frames clients and families as situated within a broader “web” of social systems rather than as isolated cases. Participants will explore how inequities across systems interact to produce recurring crises in areas such as child welfare involvement, housing instability, financial stress, and mental health challenges.

The presentation integrates applied examples and interactive activities, including case mapping and policy-focused discussions, to help participants identify intervention points at both the micro and macro levels. The session concludes by reinforcing social workers' ethical responsibility to move beyond temporary fixes and actively engage in efforts to disrupt and redesign systems that perpetuate racial inequity.