Social Workers from Within and... Outside ACS Express Their Views

Q: What perspective do you have on the presence of ACS staff at the School of Social Work?

A: The ACS staff who are students at Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service are a wonderfully diverse group of persons representing a variety of ethnic, cultural and racial backgrounds. They bring with them rich experiences in working in and across the various social systems to achieve better life chances for vulnerable children and their families, as well as a thirst for knowledge and a determination to succeed at graduate study that will help them to become better professionals. These unique individuals from one agency who may or may not have similar work and service backgrounds help to enhance the sense of "community of learners" here at FUGUSS through their identification with child welfare issues and their willingness to share fully with other students in their educational process.

Dr. Steve Burghardt, Professor, Hunter College School of Social Work

Q: What do you think has enabled broader institutional change to occur? How do you sustain that change?

A: Institutional transformation, as opposed to organizational tinkering, is only possible with sustained leadership united around a singular vision and with access to resources capable of implementing that vision. I have seen up close that the Commissioner and his senior team are committed to such a vision; they work ceaselessly to make it real. But transformation in such a complex organization takes more than five years. The peril is that a new mayor will play traditional power politics by replacing the present team. At this moment they are close to getting wage parity for contract agencies; reform is emerging in daily line practice. With managerial continuity, NYC child welfare can be a reform model for the nation; without it, we will witness the public re-emergence of tragedy. I hope the next mayor cares about the difference.

Melba Butler, CSW, Executive Director, Harlem Dowling, Westside Center

Q: From your position as an executive level staff member for a contract agency and an MSW, how do you view the change in the way ACS directly and through it's contract agencies looks to interact with New York City's families?

A: ACS has assumed a leadership role in ensuring that birth parents have a more pronounced voice in the planning process. First and foremost parents are ensured a part in planning for the welfare of their own children. Secondly, birth parents participate in strategic planning related to policy that affects all of NYC's children. Harlem Dowling's Parent Peers exercise this empowerment through service on the ACS Advisory Board and by using the successes of their families to inspire other parents who are pursuing reunification with their children. Parent involvement at all levels is critical to the success of the ACS Reform Plan.

Naomi Lynch, CSW, Council of Family and Child Caring Agencies

Q: From your perspective as a staff member of the Council of Family and Child Caring Agencies (COFCAA) and an MSW, how would you reflect on the changes at ACS and the staff there?

A: What stands out the most for me as a COFCCA Director and a Social Worker by training, is ACS's investment in "best practices." This investment in "best practices" is manifest through an impressive internal allocation of resources to staff training, professional development and an improvement in salaries. This investment has widened to include a strong collaboration and leadership with NYC's voluntary agencies in order to strengthen capacity building and implement a state of the art child welfare reform plan. This child welfare reform plan required ACS and the voluntary agencies to buy into a paradigm shift. This paradigm shift required behavioral and attitudinal changes that supported the best interest of the child and their family. An example of this was reflected in moving service delivery to a community-based, family-centered practice, and re-investing in the strength of informal systems that live within the communities of children and families connected to NYC's child welfare system.

This investment in "best practices" can be seen in the improved attitudes and types of individuals who work for ACS. Again, as described above, collaboration is now more the norm than an aberration. This new ACS models the concept of a high performance team and demonstrates a sense of urgency about children's lives. ACS's investment in a high performance team and communicating a sense of urgency about children's lives has raised the bar on consumer services. ACS constantly reinforces the integral role of consumer feedback and satisfaction as a primary tool toward quality assurance of "best practices."

I conclude by stating that overall, ACS's changes are making children safer, families receive appropriate, timely assistance, staff are adequately trained and developed to work efficiently and effectively with families, organizations receive financial and organizational incentives to provide children with permanent homes and families with the right services to fit the right challenges.

Janele Hyer-Spencer, Attorney-at-Law, Legal Counsel Unit, ACS

Q: You have both a law degree and an MSW. How do you think your social work degree has influenced how you handle your cases?

A: Having a dual JD/MSW has enabled me to view cases from a broader perspective. I am able to examine a case for its legal significance, and also with an eye toward working with the social workers for an outcome designed to both protect the children and address the multiplicity of issues facing the families involved with ACS. Because of this my cases tend to involve a close interface with ACS social work professionals in a team oriented approach to the case.

Benjamin Charvat, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Management, Development and Research, Division of Management and Planning, ACS

Q: Your office focuses on creating research and statistical analysis of social work for the agency- how has your Phd in social work helped you with these reforms?

A: A Ph.D. education provides one with a greater analytic ability to collect and synthesize all available information to support management decision-making. A strong emphasis in statistics and research methods becomes vital to evaluate practice and child welfare outcomes so that child welfare can become evidence-based. It is imperative that we know what we have done in child welfare, how well it worked, and have the ability to replicate it and modify it as the context of practice changes. Also, a doctoral education allows a public service manager the ability to see the trees and the forest at the same time, allowing for greater appreciation of the ever changing playing field.

Zeinab Chahine, Associate Commissioner, Division of Child Protection, ACS

Q: How do you think your MSW and experience in the field have helped you as a manager to effect change in Child Protective Services?

A: "My education has helped me to recognize that with every change there is an opportunity and my experience provided me with the necessary skills to effectuate change. However, the creation of ACS and reform effort were critical to actually making change happen. As a result of the reform effort, the environment was conducive to change at all levels of the organization."

Sujata Pai, Deputy Director, Adoption Review Unit, ACS

Q: How do you think your MSW has helped you implement change here at ACS?

A: Just over a year ago, I earned my MSW from Fordham University with a concentration in administration. Unlike administration in other organizations, social work administration entails the knowledge of human behavior, social policies and social work values in addition to core administrative disciplines such as organizational theory, policy development, financial management, and program development and evaluation.

This multidimensional approach to administration is critical to the effectiveness of the Adoption Review Unit, a specialized unit of the Office of Adoption Services that monitors contract agency adoption programs, sets their annual goals, and monitors performance. In my role as adoption specialist and assistant to the director at ARU, the professional competencies and skills that I gained through my education have helped me better identify some of the systemic and organizational barriers to timely adoptions, advocate for change, and ensure quality services for the children of New York City.