22 Mar, 2017

There’s More Than One Way to Be a Social Worker

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T19:29:18-04:00March 22nd, 2017|Categories: Public Health & Social Work|Tags: Social Work|0 Comments

March is Social Work Month, and today’s post was inspired by a comment left on the article “I am Getting in MSW, but I Do Not Want to be a ‘Social Worker‘” on the Social Work Helper. The comment reads:

“Although trained to think in a multi-systemic way, many of us choose to specialize. I do a great deal of mezzo and macro work; however, I chose to concentrate on clinical practice when completing my master’s in social work…Outside of our profession, there are some practitioners who do not understand what social work is. When I’ve testified on legislation and engaged in policy making, people assume I don’t have the skills necessary because I am not a lawyer or didn’t major in criminal justice. I can’t help but wonder then if this is why some social workers impose practice goals and assumptions on others (or upon students) as a part of assuaging the anxiety produced by how our profession–as a whole–is undervalued and misunderstood by society.”

According to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, social work is one of the fastest growing careers in the United States. The profession is expected to grow by 19% between 2012 and 2022, and more than 650,000 people currently hold social work degrees. If you’re not in the profession, chances are you know someone who currently is or who currently studying to enter the field. And there are some common misconceptions about the field. The biggest misconception about social workers is that they only work with individuals and families, provide therapeutic counseling or link clients to programs and services via case management, or that our days only look like Mrs. Weiss’.

The foundation of social work rests on social justice, with social workers like Jane Addams in the late 1880s dedicating their career to taking action against the injustices of sexism, racism, classism and poverty, taking the approach of addressing these through research, reform, and building up urban areas.

And then professionalization happened

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15 Mar, 2017

Reproductive Justice: Your Struggles, Your Recommendations [INFOGRAPHIC]

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T19:28:44-04:00March 15th, 2017|Categories: Equity & Justice|Tags: program evaluation, reproductive justice, Research|0 Comments

One of my projects for 2017 is the creation of a training series that aligns my business’ primary offerings: program design, program evaluation, and Reproductive Justice.

My original idea was to create a product or service that helps nonprofits evaluate their programming based on the RJ framework, based on my training as an evaluator with knowledge on different types of evaluative theories that I feel best align with Reproductive Justice.

My focus shifted largely based on my experiences with current and past clients. They shared that while they embrace Reproductive Justice, some weren’t sure how they could implement the framework in their workplace, on campus, or in their community settings. Some of their concerns included a lack of overall knowledge around RJ, an inability to explain what the framework is to various audiences, not being in positions of influence where they have the authority to include the framework in their programming and activities, or they see how RJ could fit within the context of their current work (even though the desire is there).

Plus, for a long time I’ve been hired to work with clients in a very siloed way, where they originally work with me in one way, and would rehire me because they see that they can benefit from one of my other offerings. I wanted to create a way to marry program design, program evaluation, and Reproductive Justice, and for it to be useful for clients, community members, students, human service providers, educators, activists, government agencies, and whoever else wants to see Reproductive Justice within the context of design thinking and evaluation theory. In essence, this training and toolkit is my way of intentionally shifting toward teaching and educating the value of design thinking and evaluation (along with Reproductive Justice) so that it becomes more engaging.

In order for make sure this training and toolkit will be useful, I conducted a survey to see what are current struggles folks are facing with Reproductive Justice, how they create programs, services and campaigns (and what are the driving factors behind why these programs, services and campaigns exist), and how they gather feedback that shows the impact of their work on the communities they care about. Using Piktochart, I created an infographic below that shares some of the highlights.

For now, this project is called the “Reproductive Justice Training & Toolkit”. When it launches (which is expected to be in early Summer 2017), it’ll have a catchier title. While the survey is closed, you can still share how this training and toolkit can help you. Email me at contact[at]nicoleclarkconsulting[dot]com and we’ll set up a time to chat.

And now, let’s take a look at the infographic:

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8 Mar, 2017

Try This: Ask Better Questions

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T19:28:59-04:00March 8th, 2017|Categories: Research & Evaluation|Tags: program evaluation, Research, Try This|0 Comments

Starting today, we’re going to ask better questions. Questions that allow you to dig deeper to unearth richer experiences. This is crucial in gaining a better understanding of why someone keeps (or stops) coming back to your programs, products or services.

When I say “dig deeper”, what I’m getting at is being strategic in how we ask questions. There’s a difference between asking questions that allow you to truly hear what someone is saying, and asking questions because you’re searching for certain types of responses.

Digging deeper, goes beyond “I love it!” or “I wouldn’t change a thing”. People are coming back to you for a reason, and these reasons can help you enhance what you’re offering, and can also inspire you to come up with creative and engaging solutions to address other needs that you’re currently not addressing.

Tips and examples

Good questions are:

Unbiased
Empowering
Provide a safe space for the person to feel comfortable responding to
Stretch the person who is responding

I’ve highlighted the last point for a reason. Here’s an example:

Back in 2015, I facilitated a few focus groups for a client, a nonprofit that provides social justice oriented feminist leadership for young women of color. The focus groups were for the organization’s 6-week summer leadership program for young women of color in the New York City area. The organization wanted to know, among other things, how effective the program had been that summer.

Okay, sounds easy. I did a few site visits during the 5th week of the program to facilitate the focus groups. I had my questions ready based on the evaluation questions the organization sought out to explore. During the first focus group, I asked “Looking back on everything you’ve learned during the past 5 weeks, can you share something that you would change?” Some of the responses I got looked similar to “I loved everything!” or “I wouldn’t change a thing” or “Everything was good”.

Initially, I chalked it up to the participants being teenagers. Then I realized they were responding this way because of HOW I asked the question.

So, I tried a different approach for the second and third focus groups:

Looking back on everything you’ve learned during this program, if you could rebuild this program from the ground up, based on your own needs and interests, what would it look like?

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1 Mar, 2017

Ask Nicole: What Should I Do With “Pick My Brain” Requests?

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T19:06:10-04:00March 1st, 2017|Categories: Consulting|Tags: Ask Nicole|0 Comments

Do you have a question to share with the Raise Your Voice community? Let me know.

I recently got a tweet from Raise Your Voice reader Jocelyn, a social worker and consultant in the Boston area:

I LOVE your emails. Looking for tips on how to make others pay you when they’re seeking “informal” consultations? Any links?

This is something I’ve been going back and forth with for some time. Maybe it’s the social worker in me that just wants to be as helpful as possible. But sometimes being helpful can get in the way of getting work done for my clients and even working in my own projects.

The reason why these requests can be annoying is that they can be very time consuming, and as writer Ruchika Tulshyan shares in “How 3 Successful Women of Color Navigate ‘Can I Pick Your Brain?’ Requests“, you have to create your own criteria for how to handle these requests. I tend to have a soft spot for some people (most notably social work grad students or people interested in entrepreneurship), so it’s not uncommon for me to schedule time for them when I can. If the person is someone I’m interested in building a professional partnership with, I don’t mind having them pick my brain because I’m picking their brain right back.

Here are my recommendations:

Get Money!

Requesting money up front can show people you mean business. Here are some examples:

Web designer Krystle Rowry of Kriss Did It: Krystle has a “Kriss Critique” where you pay to do a walk-through of your website design and she provides areas of improvement. She also has a “Pick My Brain” service where you can ask her specific questions related to your website design. She follows up with you a month later.
Social Worker and business brand coach Vasavi Kumar: Vasavi Kumar gives you 2-hour, 4-hour, or 6-hour opportunities to pick her brain. This service can focus on self-promotion, content and product creation, pitching yourself, and more.
Branding boutique Ready To Werk: Ready to Werk provides 45 or 60 minute phone consultations for budding entrepreneurs who need some help in flushing out their ideas.

Create a “Frequently Asked Questions”

My “Ask Nicole” blog posts are my way of providing a FAQ for my business. Throughout the month, I get emails from a variety of folks–social workers, graduate students, activists, executive directors, etc. I often get the same kinds of questions, and to prevent me from answering the same question multiple times, I may share a question in a “Ask Nicole post” so when someone emails me with the same question, I’ll point them to that post as well as add any additional (but brief) information specific to their situation. I also point them to my Blog Archives so they can read blog posts related to their question, as well as read related blogs posts by topic. I do this to not only save time, but it’s also a good way to share information on a much broader scale.

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22 Feb, 2017

3 Ways to Reflect after a Client Relationship Ends

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T19:05:50-04:00February 22nd, 2017|Categories: Consulting|Tags: clients, consulting|0 Comments

Back when I was working full-time as a direct practice social worker while building my consulting business on the side, I had two types of clients. The clients I had at my day job who wanted me to help them with tasks such as applying for Medicaid, finding housing, or accompanying them to their medical appointments. My business clients, on the other hand, were executive directors or program directors wanting assistance with facilitating a workshop, designing a program or evaluation, or implementing an evaluation. Two different types of clients, two different sets of challenges and opportunities.

It didn’t matter whether the clients were seeking services on their own or where coming to me by referral. The common thread with these clients was that, eventually, the relationship would end.

In social work and in other helping professions, there’s a process that takes place when working with a client:

Phase One: Engagement, Assessment, and Planning
Phase Two: Intervention and Goal Attainment
Phase Three: Evaluation and Termination

This process also takes place when you transition away from working one-on-one with individuals and begin working directly with nonprofits, community groups, and government agencies. Today, I’m focusing on Phase Three and how I’ve been applying it to how I reflect on the work I’ve done with my consulting clients.

Regardless of the length of time I’m contracted to work with a client, at the end of each relationship, I use this process. It’s very simple, and sometimes it’s more about quiet reflection, though I may write or type up how I’m feeling. I highly recommend using this process as it helps you to not only be reflective, but also be more strategic in how you choose your clients moving forward:

1) How did I feel about the overall project?

When a potential client fills out my client questionnaire , it gives me the chance to screen them before speaking with them face to face or by phone. It’s very encouraging when you’re contacted to gauge your interest in working for someone, and sometimes I’ve jumped at the chance to work with a client simply because I’ve always wanted to work with that group or organization. When a potential client tells you what they need and why they feel you’re the person for the job, it’s very flattering but I try to gauge my interest in working on the project based on my own interests, and if I can actually provide value to the client. Some questions to consider:

How did I find out about this project, or how did the client find out about me? (Did the client contact me directly or was the client a referral?)
Did I enjoy the focus of the project?
Have I worked with this population before or did this project give me the opportunity to work with a new population?
Did this project provide opportunities for me to learn new skills?
Was this an opportunity for me to work with a group or person that I consider my ideal client?

2) How did I feel about my work/role within the project?

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There’s More Than One Way to Be a Social Worker

And then professionalization happened

Reproductive Justice: Your Struggles, Your Recommendations [INFOGRAPHIC]

And now, let’s take a look at the infographic:

Try This: Ask Better Questions

Tips and examples

Looking back on everything you’ve learned during this program, if you could rebuild this program from the ground up, based on your own needs and interests, what would it look like?

Ask Nicole: What Should I Do With “Pick My Brain” Requests?

Get Money!

Create a “Frequently Asked Questions”

3 Ways to Reflect after a Client Relationship Ends

Phase One: Engagement, Assessment, and Planning

Phase Two: Intervention and Goal Attainment

Phase Three: Evaluation and Termination

1) How did I feel about the overall project?

2) How did I feel about my work/role within the project?

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