Social Work Guidelines in Animal Welfare Settings

Open Door Veterinary Collective Webcast Series

Doors Wide Open: Social Work Guidelines in Animal Welfare Settings

Tuesday, November 18, 2025 @ 12pm PT - 12:30pm PT

Join Open Door Veterinary Collective for a second series of lively conversations as we explore innovative and practical solutions that organizations are using to address barriers to accessing pet care and resources in their communities.

Join us for a 30-minute panel discussion with the five social workers who facilitated the national social work teams that collectively authored the new Social Work Guidelines for Animal Welfare Settings through a year-long participatory action research project funded by the ASPCA. The guidelines were developed by and for social workers embedded in animal welfare organizations across North America and are designed to support best practices at the individual, organizational, and systemic levels.  This session will explore how animal welfare organizations - whether they currently employ social workers or are considering doing so -can begin to integrate and apply the guidelines in meaningful, sustainable ways that advance their missions.

Panel discussion prompts will include:

- How can these guidelines support animal welfare organizations that employ - or are considering employing - a social worker?

- What challenges might arise when using the guidelines, and how can those be addressed?

- How can non-social work animal welfare staff engage with and benefit from these guidelines?

Come with your lunch and your questions!  This will be an engaging, real-world conversation about advancing human and animal well-being together.

Register for the series: https://maddies.fund/DoorsWideOpenWebcastSeriesRegister

Facilitator: Janet Hoy-Gerlach, PhD, LCSW, LISW-S, Director of Veterinary Social Work, Open Door Veterinary Collective

Panelists:

• Kayla Anderson, Veterinary Social Worker, The Program for Pet Health Equity
• Kelly Bremken, Veterinary Social Worker, Oregon Humane Society
• Laurie Maxwell, Director of Veterinary Social Work, MedVet
• Augusta O'Reilly, President, International Veterinary Social Work Association
• Alexis Telfair-Garcia, Director of Social Work Program Development, Austin Pets Alive!

Who should attend? Everyone is welcome! This series is perfect for those interested or involved in access to veterinary care. Each session will be recorded and viewable on-demand within a few days after the event.

Earn continuing education credit from The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement towards CAWA CEs as well as from the National Animal Care & Control Association (NACA).

Questions on the topic? Ask them to the guest speakers on the Forum discussion thread: https://maddies.fund/OpenDoorForum11182025