News Release

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March 25, 2005

BSU Instructor Named Social Worker Of The Year
Awards Also Given To Elected Official, Public Citizen

The Idaho chapter of the National Association of Social Workers recently honored three individuals for their commitment to helping people in need and addressing social problems. Awards were given for Social Worker of the Year, Elected Official of the Year and Public Citizen of the Year during a Social Work Month celebration dinner at the Hispanic Cultural Center in Nampa.

Honorees were Kathy Tidwell, Social Worker of the Year; Roger Sherman, Public Citizen of the Year; and Sheila Sorensen, Elected Official of the Year.

Kathy Tidwell, LCSW, Social Worker of the Year — Throughout her career, Tidwell, an adjunct instructor at Boise State University, has made a difference in the lives of vulnerable populations through her tireless advocacy efforts and innovative program development. She demonstrates outstanding leadership skills and takes risks on behalf of the clients she serves to benefit their lives and the profession of social work as a whole. After working in the California mental health system for 10 years, Tidwell received her master’s degree in social work from California State University, Sacramento, in 1989. She spent the next 12 years working in the public sector in adult and children’s mental health, sexual abuse treatment and crisis response for children and adults.

Four years ago, she started her own private practice, Tidwell Social Work Services, in Boise. She provides clinical counseling services to a mixed clientele as well as training and consultation to groups such as Head Start, the Community Building Refugee Project and the Idaho State University Institute for Rural Health. In September 2003, Tidwell also became co-founder of a non-profit organization called Equine Partners Offering New Awareness (EPONA), which helps low-income clients cover expenses related to using horses to assist with psychotherapy.

In addition to teaching in the School of Social Work at Boise State University, she supervises master’s level interns through both Boise State and Northwest Nazarene University. She has also been a very active community volunteer and mental health advocate, having served as president of both the Idaho Society for Clinical Social Work and the LAMP board of directors, a board member of NAMI and committee chairperson of a statewide mental health stakeholder group which contributed to the Idaho Association of Counties Mental Health Group.

Roger Sherman, Public Citizen of the Year — Sherman has been an activist, organizer and visionary in Idaho for a quarter century. NASW Idaho recognizes that a multi-issue, multi-constituency movement for social justice has taken root in this state in large part because of his leadership and dedication. He has been a mentor and strategist with most of the social justice organizations in southern Idaho, initially working as a Vista Volunteer in Burley in the early 1980s, eventually becoming executive director of the Idaho Citizens’ Network and serving as key organizer

of the Idaho Progressive Student Alliance and the Interfaith Alliance of Idaho. Sherman, who has a bachelor’s degree in government from St. Lawrence College, is currently the program director at United Vision for Idaho; through his work he exemplifies the values of the social work profession, fighting for issues close to the hearts of social workers such as affordable housing, access to health care and fair wages.

This year Sherman has worked actively on many important pieces of state legislation including implementing fair tax structures, Medicaid buy-in for people with disabilities and extended family planning health-care services for low-income men and women. He is also focusing his efforts on rallying citizen groups in opposition to the threat to dismantle Social Security.

Sheila Sorenson, Elected Official of the Year — Sorensen, a former senator and current congressional candidate, has combined lengthy political service in the Idaho House and Senate with efforts toward social justice and an understanding of the dignity and worth of individuals. Sorensen was appointed to the Idaho House of Representatives in 1987 and was subsequently elected to that office in 1988, serving three terms. She was then elected to the Idaho State Senate for six consecutive terms from 1992-2004. During her legislative tenure, Sorensen served in many leadership roles including chair of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, majority caucus chairman, and chairman of the Senate State Affairs Committee. She has a bachelor of science degree in nursing from Loretto Heights College and was certified as a pediatric nurse practitioner from the University of Colorado Medical School.

During her service as a legislator, Sorensen served as an expert on health-care policy in Idaho and was a leader in advocating for women’s health care. In addition, she prevented an attempt in 2004 to amend the definition of marriage in Idaho’s constitution.

For more information on NASW Idaho, contact Wendy Cary, executive director, at (208) 345-4060 or by e-mail at naswid@qwest.net.

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Contacts: Wendy Cary, National Association of Social Workers, Idaho Chapter, (208) 345-4060 or Shelton Woods, BSU School of Social Work, (208) 426-3349

Media Contact: Kathleen Craven, University Relations, (208) 426-3275, kcraven@boisestate.edu

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Last reviewed on Thursday, December 22, 2005