Social Workers

andrear@herald-mail.com Less than one year ago, neighbors Diane Thompson and Arlene Flora were fretting about their impending move from the Westview Homes public housing complex in Hagerstown. The women were among nearly 600 residents who had to move before the rows of government housing were demolished to be replaced by the $73.5 million Gateway Crossing neighborhood - a class-integrated community that Hagerstown Housing Authority officials hope will reinvigorate that part of the West End. Longtime friends and Westview residents Flora and Thompson didn't want to go. They feared they would be separated, and forced to live in smaller, dirtier apartments.

Brook Lane Health Services and Meritus Medical Center are co-hosting a seminar on evidence-based treatment of challenging behaviors in individuals with autism from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, May 20. The seminar will be held at Robinwood Professional Center, off Robinwood Drive, east of Hagerstown. Presenter is Michael D. Powers, a pediatric psychologist and the director of The Center for Children with Special Needs in Glastonbury, Conn., and assistant clinical professor of psychology at the Yale Child Study Center at Yale University.

Hagerstown Community College, in collaboration with Brook Lane Health Services, is offering a three-hour seminar titled "Assessment and Management of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. " It will be held on Friday, Feb. 22, from 8:30 a.m. to noon, in the Kepler Theater at HCC. The seminar will examine the causes of PTSD, signs and symptoms, diagnosis criteria, and cognitive and behavioral interventions to help manage symptoms. Continuing education credits will be provided for social workers, psychologists, counselors/therapists and nurses.

Death penalty opponents' arguments are flawed To the editor: In response to the letters from Russell Williams and Hans Buhrer supporting the abolition of Maryland's death penalty, I say "hogwash. " Sirs, I find it difficult, if not impossible, to follow your logic. Law, like medicine, has very strict rules. Under Maryland's "10 Aggravating Factors" that warrant the death sentence, none lists "race" or mentions "race," or has anything to do with "race. " How in the world can you logically use "race" as an issue?

BOONSBORO -- On Sept. 19, Greenbrier Elementary School held a bake sale and teamed up with a national nonprofit organization, CancerCare, for the sixth annual Cupcakes for a Cause, supporting children affected by a cancer diagnosis. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and Greenbrier Elementary participated with its cupcakes event. Many parents baked cupcakes to donate to the cause along with Safron Bakery of Hagerstown, which also donated cupcakes. The children loved the designs of the various cupcakes, and of course, enjoyed each little bite.

A child advocacy center in Washington County may become a reality if area police, prosecutors and social workers have their say. "This would be a safe, central place for sexually abused children that is child-friendly," said Stephanie Andrews, a social worker with the Washington County Department of Social Services. In Huntsville, Ala., it's called The Little House. "At such a place, a child victim could be interviewed just once by everybody ... in a quiet, safe place," Andrews said.

MERCERSBURG, Pa. -- It took nine months of bargaining and five days of picketing to get it, but teachers in the Tuscarora School District said "yes" Tuesday to a contract that they felt was "livable" for four more years. Union spokeswoman Marcia Bender said the 180 unionized teachers voted after school Monday on the tentative agreement reached Sept. 7 between the Tuscarora School District and the bargaining team. Bender said Tuesday that the contract is "a done deal" now that both the Tuscarora School Board and the required two-thirds of the teachers have accepted its terms.

Group for children from broken homes FREDERICK, Md. - Children from Changing Families, a 10-week group for children in grades one through eight, whose parents are divorced or separated, will meet from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursdays, Jan. 19 through March 23, at Families Plus!, 35 E. Church St. Jill Goodman, school counselor at Thurmont Elementary School, and Sarah Fawley, school counselor at Emmitsburg Elementary School, will help children learn that they didn't cause the problem and they can't cure it, but they can learn to cope with changes in their lives.

A program called "Differentiating the Masks of Mental Illness in the Aging" will be from 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Friday, April 8, at The Merle S. Elliott Continuing Education and Conference Center at Hagerstown Community College, off Robinwood Drive, east of Hagerstown. Speakers include:  Dr. Matthew Wagner will speak at 8 a.m. on the topic "Delirium and Dementia, Similarities and Differences" and at 9 a.m. on "Medical Psychiatric Interface in Older Adults. "  Lt. Paul Kifer will speak at 10:15 a.m. on "Handling Behavioral Situations in the Elderly.

Hagerstown Community College's Center for Continuing Education is offering a one-day seminar on substance abuse on Fri., Oct. 23, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in The Merle S. Elliott Continuing Education and Conference Center on HCC's main campus. The seminar, entitled "Complexities of Substance Abuse in the Clinical Setting," will cover a variety of topics, including differentiating abuse and dependency, theories regarding the causes of abuse and addiction, common risk factors, behavioral indicators, contributing co-occurring disorders, intervention methods and therapeutic treatment approaches, matching treatment to individual needs, and treating the family, as well as case studies in child, adolescent, adult and geriatric populations.