By Nancy Wackstein, MSW, Executive Director, United Neighborhood House
October 2003
I hope it is a significant symbol to those in our profession that the top leadership position of United Neighborhood Houses of New York, the federation of the City's 36 settlement houses and neighborhood centers is held by an MSW social worker and that almost half of the Executive Directors of our member agencies also are credentialed as MSWs. It is a statement that professional social work training remains a significant and relevant asset in leading complicated but critically important social service institutions in our City. In fact, settlement houses, many of which were founded at the turn of the last century, helped give birth to the profession of social work in the early l900s. I am proud that our a gencies remain so closely linked today to the profession and its values.
What are the values of social work that help me and other settlement house leaders do our jobs as Executive Directors?
First, the ability to listen and empathize with others. Agency leaders assume many different roles in the course of an average day: manager, advocate, organizer, fundraiser, and direct client service provider. To do any of these jobs well you must “start where the person is”, in other words, be able to hear what others need and want without imposing your own views on them, whether they are Board members, government officials or clients. I would argue that the ability to do this well characterizes all successful social workers, no matter the position they hold.
Second, respect for the individual, no matter their background or experience. Settlement houses are terrific places to work in their wide and wild diversity. Since all serve multiple generations and are characterized by a variety of programs for a variety of populations, they are places where interaction with people different from you – age, race, ethnic background, sexual orientation, disability, and educational level – is a common and ever yday occurrence. To me, this is a real strength of our agencies, but it does require staff members and leaders to approach this delicious mix with a real sense of respect, appreciation and sensitivity. I think these, too, are characteristics of the professional social work approach.
Third, social work training teaches us to look at individuals and families holistically and dynamically, not to view them as a set of disparate pathologies. Settlement houses, by definition, use and promote an integrative model. By assembling under one roof and one agency umbrella a continuum of services that target different members of the same family or different aspects of the same person, we promote a view that does not carve people into different categorical problems (even though our funding certainly does!) Rather, we understand that if, for example, a person is homeless, he/she might need literacy classes, entitlement counseling, and vocational training in addition to shelter and housing. And, the fact that these different services can usually be provided by staff that works to gether in the same settlement house really improves the way services are delivered and how a person is helped to feel whole.
Last, social workers are use to being asked to do a multiplicity of diverse tasks, calling upon a variety of skills, no matter the setting or field of practice; it is fairly easy to predict that no, two days at work, will ever be exactly alike. This experience and reality is the perfect preparation to work in a settlement house! By definition, jobs in multi-service agencies like ours require flexibility and willingness to work “outside of the job description”. This is sometimes a challenge and headache, but can also lead to greater professional growth and career development, as staff are thrown into new situations and on-the-job training that allow them to prove themselves and learn new skills. Social work training recognizes that rigidity and preconception do not have a place in good professional practice. This is certainly a value that informs settlement house work as well.