Cultural Competence

HUMN 8110 Advanced Social Work Theory and Practice

Week 10 – Diversity and Multiculturalism (DM) LEON: --this other girl, and I think she was like a hairstylist. And she was real nice-- whatever. She was real cool. And then he treated her bad. And then she was like, "I'm just done," and left. TWILAH ANTHONY: If I had to speak about specific kids who struggle on a daily basis, one student that comes to mind is a student by the name of Leon. Leon suffers with sexuality. Leon struggles with acceptance, whether he's accepting himself or whether the community is accepting him and not knowing where to really fit in. AJIA MEUX: So Leon started experimenting with women's-- with hair and makeup. I'm learning more and more about the sort of urban, gay youth and the families that they belong to. And they recreate families when they leave home, or they've been kicked out of homes, and things like that. And so he talked to me about his gay family and that relationship not really working out. And that person was really trying to press him to have surgery and become a woman, and that turned him off. When I'm unfamiliar with a client's cultural background, I put myself in a position to listen and be a learner of them. That's my approach; some people feel comfortable asking. I feel more comfortable listening, because I feel like when a person wants you to know things about them, then they'll tell you. Now, as a skilled practitioner, I know when to ask questions to help folks elaborate and dig a little bit, do some exploratory work. But I will place myself in a position of learner. All right. What's wrong? What happened? LEON: Me and my father got into it yesterday and whatnot. It was because his wife-- so yesterday, I was coming from the nail salon or whatever. And I had came in the house, and I had got like tilapia fish off the freezer. And I thrown it out. So I had went in a cabinet looking for like the season that I used on it the day before yesterday and whatnot, and the season was gone, the garlic season, and the Season All salt was gone that you need to use for like fries, and meat, and stuff. So what I did is took everything out of the cabinet, all of the season and everything that was hers out of the refrigerator. And I was like, if you want to take stuff, just take all of it or whatever. So my father came in and he was like, "Why are you doing that?" I was like, "Because she wanted to take seasoning or whatever, and you under my roof; you living with me. Yeah, my father pay the bills, but you're living with me." AJIA MEUX: His girlfriend or him?

LEON: His wife. AJIA MEUX: OK, his wife. TWILAH ANTHONY: Leon struggles with the fact that his mom died. He hasn't gotten over that loss. And although I think it might have been maybe four years now, he still struggles with that. And although he has a bond with his father, his bond with his mom was stronger. And now his father has a significant other. And she's trying to play mom and trying to tell him what to do, and he doesn't like that. He's like, you're not my mom. AJIA MEUX: So your biggest thing is whether or not you were being a pig. LEON: Yeah, like if I was living with you and that happened, how would you take it? AJIA MEUX: I don't really think that we can compare what my response and your stepmom's response is. And I think because you don't really like her much. Right? LEON: Yeah, but she gave me reason. AJIA MEUX: Right. So I know you're tired. Do you want to leave the house for a little bit? Or do you want them to leave the house? What do you want to have happened? LEON: I just want to be by myself. AJIA MEUX: You want to be in the house by yourself? TWILAH ANTHONY: So lately, his father and him have been arguing more. And it's hurtful to him because he's like, “This is all I have. And that's falling apart for me.” And he doesn't know how to deal with that. For one person to endure that or to carry all that weight, that's a lot. And so sometime when he comes to class, he's not doing anything. I see him twiddling his fingers when I go and observe the class, and I'll have to pull him up like, "You're not focused." And he's like, "I'm not here today." AJIA MEUX: Some of that personal differences that have impacted my practice is being a black woman from California. I think I made the assumption early that I was going to be able to do this work with black folks and it be the same. And it definitely hasn't. I think as soon as I open my mouth and I start to speak, I have a different tone. I have a different pitch that folks already identify, and they're like, "Where you from," also because I have, to some degree, education. And so then working with my clients who don't, generally, that can create a barrier. And that can impact my practice if I don't meet clients where they are. So all that goes out the window, as sort of like, it doesn't really matter what you know and how well you can practice when you're working with

different folks. It's really about the relationship building about how well they know you and how open you are to getting to know them. Right now, you have a decision on whether or not to sort of endure and just deal with it. It just seems like it's getting more and more frustrating for you-- about ready to pop a little bit. Or you can have a conversation and sort of set a deadline. Do you want to do that? LEON: I want to do that, like a part of me want to do that. And a part of me don't, because I know she not going do right. AJIA MEUX: What you mean? LEON: I know she's not going to do right. AJIA MEUX: Give me an example. LEON: As far as, she's not going to keep her job. I don't have to, I can always change my number. But it's like; I'm going to have to hear that or whatever when she's out messing or doing whatever she doing. AJIA MEUX: From him? Because he'll call you. LEON: I'm at the point like, when I do leave, I just want to be done with him, period. That's where I'm at right now. AJIA MEUX: Let me get a napkin real quick because I know how you are about your makeup. So what's your deadline? LEON: Sometime October. AJIA MEUX: The work that I've been doing with Leon has been around motivation. And so I feel like, we've been working on him feeling confident in his abilities in him as a person and how he looks. And that he can present to MAC. He can present to Aveda. and fill out a job application. He wants to be a professional makeup artist. Leon struggles with getting started on projects and tasks. He has fantastic ideas. And he really knows what he wants his life to look like. He even knows how to start or where to start. He doesn't know how to start. And so that's been a struggle for us, just trying to get him to do different things and try different things. It sounds like at least you have a little bit of a plan on how you want to start moving and change some of that stuff. I actually wanted to talk to you about the next sort of phase that we had planned out for you. So have you ever heard of RSA?

LEON: Nuh-uh. AJIA MEUX: RSA is a Rehabilitation Services Administration. It's the agency in Department of Disabilities that help individuals that have disabilities transition into work. And so what they do is they assist people with disabilities in getting vocational training. And they do do a little bit of job placement but not a whole lot. And since you are not actually funded, you're not a funded student, DCPS is not paying for you to be anywhere and you're technically not enrolled in school, you would be eligible for RSA services. We're not telling you, "You got to go to RSA. You can't come here no more." What we're doing basically is we're trying to maximize services for you. And so you are going to continue to come here and work toward your high school diploma. But we also need to try to figure out a vocational track for you as well. So you remember that-- what was it-- the makeup application class? It was like some crazy amount of money. What I thought we would do is refer you to RSA, and get RSA will pay for it. TWILAH ANTHONY: Right now, we work in the Southeast. But a number of our students don't live in Southeast. They live in upper Northwest, or Northeast, or Southwest, or Southeast. So that social worker has to do homework for all those different quadrants to find out what the resources are, what's available for that student in their quadrant. So it's almost like being back in school because you have to really, really know the student's community. You can't be isolated on a bubble like, "Oh, I found one place and think every student is going to go there." You actually have to go into their communities to find out what things are available for them in the community. And often with Ajia, when she leaves here, she might write a list of things that-- "Oh, I'm getting ready to help this student. So let me go into his community and see what things are offered, whether it's a recreational center, because the student wants after school things or what mentor programs are offered in that student's community." So the community plays a big part in it because if we can connect the students to their community resources, then we find that there are going to be more successful at obtaining and doing the things they need to do in order to make themselves marketable in this community that they live in. FEMALE SPEAKER: Good morning, Bennett Career. How may I help you? AJIA MEUX: Hi. I have a question for you. Does your program, the cosmetology program, require a high school diploma or GED? FEMALE SPEAKER: Hold one second, OK. Yes. And if you don't have either or, you can take the ATB Test, which will be basic read and the math. AJIA MEUX: When is the test given? FEMALE SPEAKER: It will be scheduled when you come up for your enrollment process.

AJIA MEUX: OK. Thank you very much. Oh, do you all--is financial aid available— FEMALE SPEAKER: Yes. AJIA MEUX: --through the cosmetology program? But not through the— FEMALE SPEAKER: --the financial aid offices today? AJIA MEUX: I'm sorry. FEMALE SPEAKER: Would you like to speak to her today? AJIA MEUX: Sure. FEMALE SPEAKER: OK. Hold one second. AJIA MEUX: Now this does not take the place of a high school diploma, so you'll get it. LEON: What is an ATB? AJIA MEUX: You're still going to come to school. When he talks about why he hasn't done it, he's like, I don't know. He's never used the word embarrassed. But he says things like, "I just feel like I don't know." That's what he'll do. "No, you can do it." I've been to MAC. And I actually saw someone who looks just like Leon in MAC. So when I came back, I reported that to him. "I saw a man who looks just like you. He has tracks in his hair. He have full palette on. He was tall. He was attractive. And guess what? Everybody in the store wanted to come and talk to him." "Did you Ms. Ajia?" "Yes, I did." So just helping him feel like he can take control of that situation. How soon do they need to do the financial aid process? FEMALE SPEAKER: It all depends on when they would like to start. If they're planning on starting before June 30, he would complete the 2010-2011 FAFSA first and then complete the 2011-2012 FAFSA. For those who would like to start after July the 1st, they would complete only the 2011-2012 FAFSA. AJIA MEUX: But when should they do it? FEMALE SPEAKER: They can do it anytime.

AJIA MEUX: Oh, I see. FEMALE SPEAKER: Doesn't matter. AJIA MEUX: OK. Thank you so much. I so appreciate it. FEMALE SPEAKER: Sure. No problem. AJIA MEUX: OK, bye-bye. FEMALE SPEAKER: All right. Bye-bye. AJIA MEUX: I think demonstrating cultural competency is actually just being aware and listening. And that is an action. I cannot go around saying I'm culturally competent. I can put myself, again, in a position of learner and studier of people. And that requires me to just listen. Core social work practice doesn't change. And when you have good core social work practice skills, then that will address the gaps in cultural competency. Just two of the core competencies of social work is dignity and worth of the person and importance of human relationships. And so when you take those two things and you combine it with cultural competency, at the heart of the work that we do is the respect for human beings.

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