Collaborative work is critical to those that are returning from incarceration; as practitioners we often run into difficulty trying to navigate complex and fragmented systems even with our expertise and networks– now imagine being released from incarceration, with a phone that has limited Wi-Fi access to a new community, have a lack of resources and are facing high expectations from a community supervision agency. The pressure that someone feels after incarceration is immense, the walls often feel unscalable, and support is critical. This is why collaborative work is essential– we must lock arms to ensure that the very important people that we serve have the services that they need.
How do you envision collaborative work improving our impact?
Oftentimes we measure impact as a service provider as the number of relationships we’ve cultivated, the number of referrals we have made, the number of times we have met with someone. While I agree that quantitative impacts are critical to measure and assess, I think there is equal value in qualitative impacts. As a social worker, we are often taught theory which is critical to have as a framework and understanding of how we operate, but at the end of the day, the people that we serve don’t care about our theoretical approach they care about how we have made them feel. A spirit of collaboration helps improve our impact because it demonstrates that we care enough about our clients that if we don’t have the answer, we will work with others to ensure that their needs are met.
