WEEK 6 DISCUSSION: INTERVIEW WITH A SOCIAL WORKER
Interview With a Social Worker
Larissa Garcia Halbert
MSW, Walden University
SOCW-6002-6: Changing Lives
Dr. Hicks
October 02, 2023
Agency Introduction
Compass Health
Compass Health is a leading behavioral healthcare agency in Northwest Washington. Services are provided to all ages, and by accepting state insurance, the agency bridges gaps to underserved populations.
Individual therapy, case management, peer counseling, and medication management are all roles taken on in this agency, providing comprehensive community mental healthcare.
The mission of Compass Health is to “advance behavioral health in Snohomish, Skagit, Island, San Juan, and Whatcom counties.”
Core Values:
Integrity
Dedication
Diversity
Connection
Excellence
Leadership
Financial Management
Resourcefulness
Collaboration
Social Worker Introduction
Roberta Racine, MSW, MA, MHP, LICSWA
Compass Health Child Youth and Family Crisis Team, Program Manager
Program manager roles for the CYFCT team are relationship and process dependent and involve activities such as:
Program development
Hiring
Budget
Policy compliance
Team meetings
Supervision
Morale building
Staffing
Community representation
Promoting program
Direct service as back-up
Coaching and mentoring
Quality assurance
Providing interventions
Collaboration
Problem-solving
Systems coordination
Roberta Racine is a Licensed Social Worker in the state of Washington. She has a robust work experience engaging in a combination of direct and administrative roles. As a parentified child with a curious disposition, she explains that she was born into this work and has always been a relationship-focused person. Currently, she is working for Compass Health as a Program Manager for a new crisis program called the Child Youth and Family Crisis Team (CYFCT).
Social Worker History
Social work was a field that naturally gravitated to Roberta. Her own family background, curious nature, and valuing of relationships all assisted her establishment in the profession.
Early Employment
Roberta began her work history in service of others. Early employment included babysitting, house cleaning, and eventually becoming a CNA at age 16.
Professional Beginnings
Post Bachelor’s degree, Roberta started working for Angel View Crippled Children’s Foundation as an administrator and mental health technician. After this, she became an outreach mental health provider for Seamar, providing service to members in their communities. It was here that she was recommended to work for Indian Child Welfare (ICW).
Establishment
Roberta worked for ICW for about 5 years. Although she liked the work, it was demanding, and she took a 4-year break. Brigid Collins welcomed her after the break as a part-time case manager and eventually full-time manager. She did target-intensive case management for pregnant and parenting addicted women. She enrolled in grad school after realizing direct service wasn’t enough and she wanted to learn about system intervention. After graduating with two Master’s degrees, she returned to ICW as a social worker and did direct service as well as writing policy. She took the position she has now of program manager with Compass Health to prepare for eventual retirement.
Professional Development & Self-Care
Professional Development
Roberta explains that generally having some grit, being willing to take risks, and being an open learner have been most productive in her professional development. This includes willingness to not be afraid to try new things, talking to others, being open-minded, having mentors, and taking the time to really listen to other people.
More specific areas of development include ongoing required CEUs for suicide prevention and ethics.
Self-Care
For self-care, Roberta likes to take a bath every day, go for walks, watch nonsensical comedies, do DIY projects (knocking down walls and painting), redecorate people’s homes, spend time with her pets, visit with family and listen to stories. She is an introvert and needs down time. Music is important to her as well as being able to laugh.
Job Satisfaction
Satisfaction With Social Work Career
Roberta explains what she loves about social work is the depth of breadth of what you can do. It feels good to not be pigeon-holed. She finds it interesting and dynamic and enjoys the diverse ability to do so much.
She states, “They say you can do anything as social worker, policy, therapy.. didn’t make sense until I went to grad school. Okay they are preparing me to be a generalist. You can be an expert in child welfare, government, wherever in the mezzo, micro, macro world – it all trickles down to the individual. The system helped me understand the trickle down and gave crystallization about all the things I’ve been working towards and getting into my own niche. The organizational part as well as doing direct service. Prepping for final goal of when I retire to make sure can still do part time private practice. Can’t imagine just not ‘impacting’ in some way. I try to remember I’m a work in progress.”
Reflection
Agency Reflection
I respect and admire community mental healthcare agencies such as Compass Health. I believe this work is important, and I share values the company upholds, so it makes sense that I would have a positive reaction to this agency.
Social Work Values and Ethics
Values of Compass Health such as integrity, connection, diversity, and collaboration directly align with social work ethical principles. Ways in which Compass Health honors these values are providing service to low-income community members of all ages, collaborating with community resources, and having integrated treatment strategies.
Cultural Awareness
Roberta demonstrated a vital aspect of the importance of cultural awareness. Her open-mindedness and commitment to client perspectives led her to a pivotal moment in her career. She was embraced as a white women into indigenous communities and was respected enough to be asked to come back and work for them because of it.
Social Justice
Social justice refers to the belief that everyone deserves access to basic human rights. At Compass Health, clients can not only receive therapy, but they can access case management and medication. They can address their mental health needs, but they can also address their needs for housing, childcare, employment, food security, and more. This accessing of human rights makes Compass Health an agency that addresses social justice.
References
Compass Health. (N.d.). About Us. https://www.compasshealth.org/about-us/#:~:text=Compass%20Health's%20mission%20is%20to,Northwest%20Washington's%20behavioral%20healthcare%20leader.
National Association of Social Workers. (N.d.). Code of Ethics. https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English.