Social work is 'a profession built on relationships'

Mar. 24—EAU CLAIRE — Nicholas Stabenow-Schneider listened as the young man spoke with his father for the first time. After he hung up the phone, the teenager, eyes welling, looked at Stabenow-Schneider and said "I have a dad."

After sitting together with those emotions, Stabenow-Schneider, who had connected father and son, told him, "This is why I do what I do."

In his role as a child protective services intensive permanency specialist with the Eau Claire County Department of Human Services, Stabenow-Schneider works with youth in placement to heal their trauma by connecting them with family or natural supports so they can form lasting connections. That reunion between father and son is emblematic of the ongoing efforts carried out by DHS social workers like Stabenow-Schneider: arduous, emotionally sensitive labor in service of a client.

With March being Social Work Month in the U.S., here is a look into the responsibilities, challenges and rewards of being a county social worker.

What is social work?

Social work is a broad category of jobs that includes counseling, crisis support, child protection and policy advocacy, among many others.

"Social workers are trained to help people address personal and systemic barriers to optimal living," according to the National Association of Social Workers. "They are employed to effect positive change with individuals, families, groups and entire communities."

DHS Director Diane Cable has been a licensed social worker for about 30 years. She said the profession's ethical foundation and emphasis on social justice appealed to her, as did the option of applying those ethics in a variety of ways.

Cable's department consists of many types of social workers. She said 88 employees do social work in nearly every DHS division, and 15 managers have a social work background. That totals nearly half of the department's 229 employees as of February.

Cable said more proactive social work has contributed to better personal and financial outcomes recently. The department's 2020 anticipated cost overages of about $400,000 are an improvement compared to seven-figure losses in the previous few years.

Why social work?

Stabenow-Schneider works with several youths, mainly teenage boys, who are disconnected from immediate family and involved in child protective services. Those young people may be perceived as difficult, but part of Stabenow-Schneider's job involves reframing their actions as pain-based behavior.

"Adolescents often don't know how to express what they're feeling and going through verbally, so it's a physical expression that oftentimes comes across in a way that gets them in trouble," Stabenow-Schneider said. "They're just acting out their trauma and their pain and expressing an unmet need."

Indeed, trauma-informed care is a growing emphasis in social work. That means working with people through the lens of how trauma impacts them and influences their behavior.

"Almost all of us have experienced trauma in our lives, and how do we approach families, how do we approach children, recognizing that that trauma exists?" John Welch said.

Welch is a DHS child protection social worker whose job is to assess child maltreatment allegations. Welch has a maximum of 60 days to work with a family once he receives a child safety report, so he often makes decisions without knowing every aspect of a domestic relationship, an ongoing challenge.

Welch has spent 11 years as a social worker and said its values and ethics appealed to him. He said his role is to facilitate a person's or family's transformation by providing choices, not making choices for them.

"I cannot know an individual's story," Welch said. "I don't know what is best for them, even though I might think I do ... My job is to give people options, help them identify resources that allow them to make the changes that they want to make."

The ethics of social work also attracted Stabenow-Schneider, who dealt with prejudice and wanted to help people facing challenges.

"The dignity of all people is important, regardless of where they're at in their journey," Stabenow-Schneider said. "Being an openly gay man having experienced oppression and marginalization growing up, and sometimes still today, gives me that passion for ... social justice, and it's a profession that really values that."

In his role, Stabenow-Schneider must gain the trust of a youth and an adult close to that youth and then connect them so that his services are no longer needed.

"The (youth) begin to rely on you less and less," Stabenow-Schneider said. "You're transferring that relationship to their loved ones."

It can be tough to let go, but that means Stabenow-Schneider has done his job well.

The same is true of many types of social work. Julie Dilley, DHS Comprehensive Community Services facilitator, has been a social worker for 25 years. Dilley aids people going through challenges related to substance use and mental health with the goal of them improving and no longer requiring her support.

Pandemic impact

Dilley shifted to remote work because of the COVID-19 pandemic a year ago. It was a massive adjustment at first, but now she and her clients are used to it. Remote work can present more challenges than in-person meetings, but Dilley said it has gone well overall, in part because clients glimpse her home life as they chat on the computer.

"I'm sitting on my couch talking to them, and they're on their couch," Dilley said. "I think it normalizes the experience."

A year into the pandemic, Cable said about 75% of the department works remotely. Some social workers do not have that option, since they must handle crisis situations in-person while wearing personal protective equipment and social distancing as much as possible.

Jamie Kurth, DHS mental health and alcohol and drug abuse crisis social worker, is one of those people. Kurth follows up when someone is going through a mental health crisis and makes sure the person is safe before determining next steps.

Rewards

Kurth has been a licensed social worker for about a year but has had jobs similar to social work since 2008. Her role also involves counseling people dealing with substance abuse challenges.

Social workers interviewed by the Leader-Telegram universally said the most rewarding aspect of the job involves helping people grow and feel better about themselves.

"Folks in the community work very, very hard on getting their life on track," Kurth said. "They do it themselves. I'm just there like a cheerleader in the background, like, 'You can do this.' They really should get all the credit for the work that they do."

Marissa Wulterkens, DHS crisis social worker, agreed.

"It's not like we fixed them," Wulterkens said. "They have utilized the resources and services that we have available ... to grow. They're applying their resilience and skills."

Key qualities

County Board Chairman Nick Smiar said those selfless attitudes are fundamental to social work. Smiar has been in the profession for about 50 years and is a certified independent social worker. He previously taught social work at UW-Eau Claire and currently leads sessions on ethics and boundaries as part of continuing education requirements for social workers.

Smiar, along with everyone else who spoke to the Leader-Telegram, said social workers must be compassionate and sensitive to ethical issues.

"The people who come to you, however they come to you, they're in a bad space in their lives," Smiar said. "They're vulnerable, maybe they've been literally beaten up or emotionally beaten up. What they need is healing, not lecturing, not punishment. What they need is recognition of their humanity."

Other vital traits include being non-judgmental and able to communicate well.

"It's a profession built on relationships," said Stabenow-Schneider, who has been in social work for six years. "The ability to engage in relationships is essential."

Welch said additional characteristics include critical and creative thinking; comfort working in gray areas; and a willingness to be vulnerable with someone discussing trauma.

Welch said success occurs when he can help a family identify a plan to ensure the safety of a child in a non-intrusive way. That can be a highly emotional and difficult task, since he often works with people during one of the worst phases of their lives.

"When I show up on somebody's doorstep, particularly in child protection, I am not wanted," Welch said.

Because of that, Welch must stay calm and collected while determining the best way to move forward.

Cable said social workers must blend an analytical background with dedication to the people they work with.

Dilley agreed.

"There is a certain personality (of social workers) — it's almost like you exude, 'I'd like to help you if I can,'" Dilley said.

Dilley added that relentless curiosity is key.

"If you don't know something, find out," Dilley said. "Never stop exploring, investigating what could be out there that might help the situation."

Challenges, misconceptions

Helping someone's personal growth requires skill and is fulfilling, but social work also entails many difficulties.

It is tough "bearing witness to the youth's pain and trauma," Stabenow-Schneider said.

Dilley has witnessed death and severe injuries to vulnerable people, which have caused many restless nights.

"It's commonplace for me to wake up in the middle of the night and think about a client," Dilley said. "It is always with you."

Welch said it is difficult to support a family working through traumatic situations, but he feels privileged when families trust him enough to allow him to assist them.

Welch and several others noted the misconception that social workers want to take children away from their homes. Removal happens, but as a last resort.

"We will walk as far down the road as we can with a family to avoid removing children from their homes," Welch said.

Self-care

Because of those stressors, every social worker told the Leader-Telegram about the importance of collegial support, taking care of oneself and separating work and non-work time.

"In (social) work, we are the tools," Smiar said. "Just as a carpenter makes sure his tools are clean, we have to do the same thing in terms of ourselves."

After work, Welch mentally drops off his occupational stresses at River Prairie Park, which he drives past every day. Occasionally he sits on a park bench for a few minutes before moving onto other aspects of his life.

"It's this opportunity in my day to shift a little bit away from work and start thinking about my family," Welch said. "If I'm coming to work without having taken care of myself, I can't possibly be at my best and do my best work with the families."

Kurth's job as a crisis worker is intense and unpredictable, so she must be organized and steady.

"A lot of the stuff coming through is very negative and sad, so you have to be strong and be able to work with people to help them get to a better place," Kurth said. "If you do not take care of yourself, you cannot help anyone else."

Kurth enjoys spending time with family and being outdoors to relieve stress, whether that be snowmobiling, hunting or gardening.

Dilley often cooks or walks to deal with stress. She has occasionally considered a career change but has stayed with social work for more than two decades because her skill set matches the requirements of the job, and the benefits outweigh the challenges.

"Sometimes it would be nice to not be so entrenched in people's pain and suffering," Dilley said. "It's hard, but it's more rewarding than difficult."