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12 March 2009 Dear SASW Members, Social Workers & Social Service Practitioners UPCOMING ACTIVITIES FOR 2009:
1) ACCREDITATION OF SOCIAL WORKERS AND SOCIAL SERVICE PRACTITIONERS
2) SASW MEMBERSHIP The past year has been very rewarding for us here at SASW and indeed for all social workers in Singapore. We celebrated Social Workers’ Day in April 2008 with the highlight of conferring Fellow membership to the President S R Nathan, while appreciating the valuable contributions of the social workers. For 2008’s award of the Outstanding Social Worker, a new category of award, the Promising Social Worker Award, was introduced. This award serves to give recognition to up-and-coming social workers. On the training front, we launched the Advance Certificate in Social Work supervision course, in preparation for the accreditation exercise. UPCOMING ACTIVITIES FOR 2009 In 2009, the following programmes are lined up for the year: Social Workers’ Day 2009. The Association will be celebrating Social Workers’ Day with a buffet dinner to show case the talents of social workers on 31 March 2009 at The Grassroots’ Club at $15 per person for members and $25 per person for non-members . Please check out the SASW website for more details and bookings on a first come first served basis. Accreditation for Social Workers and Social Service Practitioners. As you are aware, the accreditation of social workers and social service practitioners was announced by the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, on 20 January 2009. The Social Work Accreditation Board (SWAB) comprising representatives from the social work profession, employers, academia and SASW has been appointed by the Ministry to approve applications for accreditation. To be implemented on 1 April 2009, the accreditation system marks an important milestone in the enhancement of the social work profession. The social work accreditation is a result of one year of dialogue sessions held by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports with SASW to explore a national system of accrediting social workers and social service practitioners in social work positions. The notion of creating a national accreditation system is to further enhance and strengthen current professional standards of practice and to further augment our current capability to promote the professional image of social workers and social service practitioners. At the last SASW AGM, members have voted unanimously to support this new national registration system. Thus, as of 1 April 2009, SASW will cease its current Registration of Social Workers and would implement the new national accreditation system. Under the national system, the social worker need not be a member of the Association in order to be accredited. Membership would be for social work practitioners who wish to support the cause of the Association to be part of a professional body in promoting social work in our country and to enjoy the many benefits that the Association offers to members in the form of free use of facilities, free publications, awards and special rates for events. We are proud to announce that majority of our members have opted for accreditation. Depending on educational qualifications, work experience and other criteria, you can now apply for accreditation as a Registered Social Worker or a Registered Social Worker-Provisional or a Registered Social Service Practitioner. No fee is charged for accreditation. We are pleased to inform you that application for accreditation is now open. More details and application forms are available on the SASW website at www.sasw.org.sg. For your convenience, a copy of the application forms for practising social workers with social work qualifications recognized by SASW and practising social service practitioners without social work qualifications are enclosed for your completion and submission. For enquiries, please contact the Accreditation Secretariat, SASW at tel: 67787922 or email us at
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. Hurry, apply now to get yourself accredited as soon as possible! SASW Membership Renewal. We would like to take this opportunity to invite you to apply for SASW membership if you are not yet a member and to renew your membership with us, if you are already our member. As the current membership for all members will expire on 31 March 2009, the new membership will take effect from 1 April 09 for a period of 2 years. As a member, you will receive the Association’s newsletters containing the latest news on job openings and have access to professional discussions and initiatives. You will also be entitled to special rates for training programmes and events such as the Social Workers’ Day 2009 and free use of our library resources. Please note that Ordinary Membership is open to social workers with recognized social work qualifications while Associate Membership is open to social service practitioners without recognized social work qualifications and Student Membership is for students enrolled in recognized social work courses. The membership fee for Ordinary Member and Associate Member is $120 for 2 years while the fee for Student Membership is only $10 for the same period. Please check out our website at http://www.sasw.org.sg/ for more information. If you apply for or renew your membership before 1 April 2009 or within the grace period of one month by 30 April 2009, there will be no administrative charge for the application/renewal, otherwise a one-time administrative charge of $20 will be levied. Please submit in person cash payment or by post cheque payment addressed to “Singapore Association of Social Workers” together with the completed membership application/renewal form enclosed and a recent passport sized photograph. For existing members who are renewing, please note that we have filled in your personal particulars in the renewal form based on our records. Please update and amend on the form should there be any changes. Please also provide us with an updated record of your educational qualifications and employment history. We would like to inform you that with the introduction of the accreditation system for social workers and social service practitioners, the registration of social workers as Registered Social Worker by the SASW Membership & Registration Standing Committee will cease after 31 March 2009. It will instead be taken over by the SASW Accreditation Secretariat together with the accreditation for non-members. While accreditation is not compulsory, we would like to encourage you to apply for accreditation to be a Registered Social Worker or a Registered Social Worker-Provisional or a Registered Social Service Practitioner, depending on the criteria stipulated in the application forms for accreditation. As SASW’s initiatives gather momentum, we draw our motivation and direction from a strong membership. To those who are joining us for the first time, we look forward to welcoming you as our new member and to our existing members who are renewing, we thank you for your continued support and look forward to serving all our current and new members in the next 2 years! Yours truly, Bryan Lim Chong Chee
Chair, Membership & Registration
Singapore Association of Social Workers
Encl Application Form for Accreditation for Practising Social Workers and Social Service Practitioners:
Form RSW-P (for practising social workers who are new graduate/entrant)
Form RSW (for practising social workers with social work qualifications)
Form RSSP (for social service practitioners without social work qualifications)
SASW Membership Application / Renewal Form
Block 324, Clementi Avenue 5, #01-209, Singapore 120324 Tel: 67754776 / 67787922 Fax: 67780609 Web: www.sasw.org.sg |
