Social Work Professional Advisory Group Meeting Minutes
Conference Dial in 641-715-3286 546654#
19 January 2017 1300-1400 EST
General Meeting1300 Greetings
Welcome from CDR Howard
Roll Call- email your attendance to CDR Tricia Booker at
CDR Booker took roll call of executive leadership team:
Position / Officer / Attendance /Chair Elect / VACANT (TBA)
SWPAG Liaison Officer / CDR Aimee Williams- / Excused
Executive Secretary / CDR Tricia Booker / Present
Recent Past Chair / CDR Malaysia Gresham / Present
Awards Chair / CDR Todd Johnson / Present
Awards Co-Chair / Vacant
Career Development Chair / LCDR Monique Worrell / Present
Career Development Co-Chair / LCDR Monique Richards / Present
SWPAG Coin / Sales / LCDR Cara Alexander / Excused
Communication Chair / LCDR Justin Peglowski / Excused
Communications Co-Chair / Vacant
Membership Chair / CDR LaMar Henderson / Present
Membership Co-Chair / LCDR Cara Alexander
Mentoring Chair / LCDR Holly Berilla / Excused
Mentoring Co-Chair / LCDR Israel Garcia / Present
Policy Chair / CDR William Bolduc / Present
Policy Co-Chair / CDR Schimdt / Present
Readiness Chair / LCDR Tyson Baize / Present
Readiness Co-Chair / LCDR Kari Harris / Present
Recruitment/Retention Chair / LT Robert Van Meir / Present
Recruitment/Retention Co-Chair / VACANT
Table 1: Attendance List January 18 2017
Chair Updates:
· CDR Howard recognized SWPAG Senior Social Workers and leaders
· CDR Howard thanked CDR Gresham for her service and hard work.
· CD Howard reiterated the CPOS goals and vision for 2017. She plans to expand on these goals, with the first task getting our Organization chart more in line with the HSO
· CDR Howard has planned the executive/general meeting dates for the year. They will on the third Thursday every month. Executive will be at 1230 and general meeting will be at 1300
· The SWPAG newsletter was distributed and next one is scheduled to be released this week.
· CDR Howard laid out the SWPAG vision and goals for 2017. She pledges to serve and represent the Corps by displaying excellence, persistence, loyalty, honor, and truth.
o Our Theme: Social Workers’ on the Move!
o My Vision: SWPAG in keeping with HSPAC & USPHS missions to lead, plan, coordinate, establish, develop, collaborate, implement, facilitate, and replicate a systematic Social Work Professional Advisory Group Performance Improvement Program IAW Social Work Professional Advisory Group and Health Professional Advisory Group Bylaws, designed to identify challenges in areas of Officership and Officer Personal Accountability to USPHS regarding Communication, Readiness; Increased Collaboration & Expansion Efforts; Policy; Advocacy, Visibility, Compliance, Professional Development; Education, Recruitment; Retention; and Functionality.
o Goal: to enrich overall morale, cohesion, performance, efficiency, impact, and stakeholder relationships not only among Social Workers but also all Officers, the USPHS, and the nation. Furthermore, as Leaders we are responsible for initiating and developing successful collaborations among other OPDIVS / Officer Disciplines creating partnerships to expand capacity & frequency communication.
o Plan to lead the Social Work Professional Advisory Group in Education & Training Programs which will be discipline-specific through leader motivation, preparedness, & resolve.
o CDR Howard plans to be a dedicated, professional, compassionate, and flexible leader, strategic in planning, coordinating, developing, implementing, and managing; resourceful with an ability to think critically, rationally, and logically allows for imagination & creativity; adaptable; enthusiastic learner.
· Social Work Operational Goals for 2017
o Utilize SWPAG Gmail / Consolidate documents
o Recognize SWPAG members at every opportunity
o Generate, Increase, Maintain, and Enhance: Leadership, Manageability, Timeliness, Accountability, Organization, Structure, Communication, Consistency, Enthusiasm, & Fellowship
o Engage and Promote Community Outreach, Membership, Readiness, Teamwork, and Collaboration
o Maintain bylaws in keeping with HSPAC Uniform Bylaws; Utilize for historical guidance
o Promote, Maintain, and Expand SWPAG 2017 (Tentative) Activities & Initiatives (Subject to Change) - (See SWPAG 2017 Major Initiatives Sheet dtd 09 Jan 17 (Seeking Volunteers in Leadership)
o Promote Professional Social Work development and versatility by encouraging team to seek and complete specialty certifications
o Encourage, Enhance, and Promote Mentorship / Clinical Supervision / Leadership Opportunities
o Seek to promote and utilize Approved Evidenced-Based research, information, and data
Chair Elect and Committee Updates:
Chair Elect: Will be announced at next meeting. SWPGA is going to extend the voting in ore rot gather more participation and to let members get to know the candidates. New voting deadline in 15 February
SWPAG Liaison Officer Update: No Updates
Recent Past Chair: CDR Gresham congratulated CDR Howard and wished her the best of luck. She has several items to present on later
Awards - CDR Johnson
· The Awards Committee will be sending out Letters/Certificates of Appreciation. If you have not received one, please let CDR Johnson know.
· The Awards Committee is in need of new members please contact CDR Todd Johnson at .
Career Subcommittee- LCDR Worrell /LCDR Richards ( & )
· Seeking general volunteers and secretary for Career Development Subcommittee
o Meet 1st Monday of the month at 11am
o Seeking volunteers to present their research during one of the following dates:
§ April 12-TBD – materials due Feb 15
§ August 9 TBD- materials due June 15
o If interested, email LCDR Worrell and LCDR Richards your interest and presentation abstract. This is a great way to get your research out there and social workers can present their research to a broad audience. The presentation would occur virtually, so there is no travel requirement
· Opportunities for free CEUs in 2017
o VA/DOD/USPHS Social Work Training Series: 2nd Wednesday of each month at 1pm EST
Target Audience:
This program is primarily intended for all VHA, DOD and United States Public Health Service (USPHS) advance practice Social Workers in the care of Service members, Veterans, and their families.
Modality: Virtual Conference/Webinar (Adobe Connect)
Credit/hours: 1.5
Accreditations Approved: ASWB and NYSED
Attendee Guidance: All program attendees need to preregister for this course on the VHA TRAIN portal. If this is your first visit select “Create Account” on the menu to register. You only need one TRAIN account to access multiple TRAIN sites. Be sure to select the opt-in emails so that you can receive important messages. If you already have an account, please enter your login name and password in the text-boxes provided on the menu and select “Login.”
§ Click here to watch a short instructional video on how to create an account
§ User FAQ’s FAQ Link and Sign up for a VHA train account here: VHA Train
Calendar of Webinars for 2017: /February 8 /
March 8 /
April 12 /
May 10 /
June 14 /
July 12 /
August 9 /
September 13 /
October 11 /
November 8 /
§ We will publicize these webinars 1 and 2 weeks from the actual date.
o Activities in progress:
§ Host a panel discussion on maintaining social work clinical currency when you have an administrative job.
§ Looking to co-host an event with NIH for social work month.
SWPAG Coin Sales
· No updates
Communication- CDR Booker reported for LCDR Peglowski.
· No updates
Membership- CDR Henderson
· No Updates
· Seeking new members and looking for an onboarding position to open
· Questions or interest contact CDR Henderson at
Mentoring –LCDR Israel Garcia reported on accomplishments from last year.
· Subcommittee met 10 times with quorum in CY 2016.
· Served as point of contact and assisted SW Officers in accessing HSO
· Mentoring Database and accessing mentoring resources.
· Mentoring meet-and greet/networking initiative:
o 29 SW Mentoring/Meet and Greet events held nationally with 245 people reached (203 SW Officers/42 civilians). Waiting for final count for last CY 16 quarter.
o Collaborative meetings held with the eight Regional SW
o Mentoring/Meet-and-Greet POCs on a quarterly basis.
o Recognized all POCs for contributions for FY 2016.
· Created Mentoring POC questionnaire to gain understanding of experiences and best practices
· Members of the S/C have also submitted five (as of this date - at least one more will be submitted) articles highlighting mentoring, SW month event
· Cross agency, mentoring resources and lessons learned from senior officer mentors.
· The S/C revised its bylaws this year and contributed to SW PAG bylaw development.
· Additionally, subcommittee members led and provided support to the AMSUS Joint Services Social Work Panel - approx. 25 uniformed services officers (incl. RADM Peter Delany) were in attendance.
· The S/C also submitted a survey monkey tool to capture best practices and areas for mentoring program improvements for CDR Gresham's consideration and contributed to the HSO PAC Mentoring Survey that was distributed
Policy- CDR William Bolduc
· Happy to announce a subcommittee Co Chair, CDR Schmidt.
· Working on updating SOP and by laws for the mentoring, recruitment and retention and readiness committee. To date, has only received mentoring
· HSO is revamping templates/by laws. It was suggested to wait until these templates are completed and update. (Per CDR Smith and CDR Maycock). “Currently, we are revamping the PAG SOP template and HSPAC bylaws per direction from the CPO and HSPAC Chair. Therefore, I would suggest waiting until the new templates are cleared prior to reformatting SWPAG docs. Once cleared, it will be communicated to all. At this time, I cannot predict how long that will take.”
· SWPAG ill place this on hold until then
Readiness- LCDR Baize
· Working with the HSO Readiness Subcommittee
Retention and Recruitment Committee LT Van-Meir
· No updates
AMSUS Joint Services Social Work Panel: Lead – LCDR Kari Harris
· Currently looking for a Co Lead, contact LCDR Harris
· Will start planning, look for more information to come
AMSUS Professional Social Work Explosion “50”: Lead: LCDR Robert Van Meir
· Idea is to get more Social Work officer to participate and attend next year’s AMSUS
· Working with AMSUS and SWPAG to create a campaign
DoD/PHS/VA – Continuing Education: Lead – LCDR Monique Worrell
· See report under Career development
SWPAG Coin sales: LCDR Cara Alexander (no updates)
National Professional Social Work Month – George Mason University
Lead: LCDR Stephanie Felder
o Activity - Vacant
o Activity - Vacant
o Activity – Vacant
· Still in the planning phase. LCDR Harris will send out information as it becomes finalized
Professional Social Work Applicant Review Team: Lead – VACANT
· CDR Howard and CDR Gresham are working with HSPAG and developing a structured plan and SOP in bring new calls to active duty
· Looking for a team lead and volunteers, contact CDR Howard or CDR Gresham
SBIRT GMU: Lead – CDR Malaysia Gresham
· Still trying to establish a date, needing special permission due funding source
· Plan to host at George Mason University at Social Work Month or a stand alone training with Disaster Mental health
· It will be a useful tool for deployments and advance readiness
· Will have more information at the next meeting
SWPAG to present at NASW Conferences
· NC NASW – LCDR Robert Van Meir
o MAJ Ragan will also be presenting on 31 March
o Still in the planning stages
· DC NASW – CDR Indira Harris
o Sent in abstract for review, waiting to see if it was selected
SWPAG Survey / Career Progression/ Jobs Corner: Lead - CDR Kathleen Watkins
· Main mission is to assist social workers in finding jobs and support then in this process
· Help others if they are transitioning from a clinical to admin role or from administrative to clinical role
2017 Military Allied Health Leadership Excellence Awards: Lead – CDR Malaysia Gresham
· Wanting to increase the number of PHS applicant this year
· Possible training on creating a strong application.
White Paper: Lead – CDR Bill Bolduc; Consultant: CAPT Todd Lennon
· CPT Lennon has created a shell and will continue to add
· Draft is due by June
SWPAG Roster: – Lead – CDR Daniel Stanley (no updates)
End of meeting questions
· CDR Bolduc mentioned that there may be training dollars this year for deployment teams
· CDR Watkins is also advocating to send officers to the Advanced OBC Course.
Next meeting is 16 February
Adjourn at 1401
Attendance (Emailed CDR Booker):
CAPT Todd Lennon
CAPT Elise S.Y. Young
CDR Carlos Castillo
CDR Deanna Devore
CDR Marivic Fields
CDR Malaysia Gresham
CDR Donald Schmidt
CDR Kathleen Watkins
LCDR Stephanie Felder