{"id":1201,"date":"2024-02-13T14:47:44","date_gmt":"2024-02-13T14:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/?p=1201"},"modified":"2024-02-23T15:28:13","modified_gmt":"2024-02-23T15:28:13","slug":"its-not-an-easy-role-social-workers-listen-look-for-workforce-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/its-not-an-easy-role-social-workers-listen-look-for-workforce-solutions\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s not an easy role\u2019; Social workers listen, look for workforce solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From left to right: Outpatient therapist John O\u2019Neill, wellness counselor Leslie McCoy and team leader Holly Branon<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is part three of the Messenger\u2019s \u201cHELP WANTED\u201d series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excerpts from article:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRural healthcare and social service organizations need to be proactive and strategic about recruiting and retaining personnel,\u201d the report reads. \u201cSuccessful recruitment and retention practices can minimize the number and duration of staff vacancies, which can, in turn, save money, improve quality of care and ensure that services are provided in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NCSS alone has 100 open positions, according to NCSS\u2019 executive director Todd Bauman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe staff we have are stable, but we\u2019re still struggling to recruit new people to fill those gaps,\u201d Bauman told legislators this past December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in 2023, social workers heard some hard stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt honestly seems impossible sometimes; it\u2019s so sad to say,\u201d social worker Holly Branon said. \u201cThe way the world is right now, it\u2019s really difficult.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holly Branon recently took the leap to complete her masters degree in social work, as she was promoted to help her home- and community-based team within NCSS\u2019s children\u2019s division, which serves six- to 22-year-olds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really flexible position to meet the clients\u2019 needs where they\u2019re at,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of the job, Branon and her colleagues often spend hours in one-on-one conversation with their young clients. They try to stay out of the office \u2013 kids don\u2019t exactly love spending time in cubicles \u2013 and at the end of the day, their work helps children get through difficult times. Needs can range from supporting a child through a change in their life, such as a move to a new school, to more serious issues, such as therapeutic sessions meant to help a child process trauma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest impact is for the staff to show up for them consistently, to have a safe adult in their life,\u201d Branon said. \u201cResiliency is a word we talk about a lot. \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John O\u2019Neill also has a graduate degree, necessary in his role as an outpatient therapist at NCSS. Set up in an office across the street from Branon, O\u2019Neill tends to see clients over the age of 60 who get referred to him so he can help them work through various challenges, like retirement concerns, or adjusting to new medical issues. He\u2019s been working in the social work field since \u201891, landing with NCSS after being interested in psychology and helping people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI work for the most part with a group of good people and they\u2019re doing the best they can. The organization is a good one with good values,\u201d O\u2019Neill said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O\u2019Neill has also seen how the social work field has changed in recent decades, and he said he understands some issues facing the industry. Working as a social worker has only become more and more complicated and burdened with administrative tasks, assessments and tests. Meanwhile, the benefits just aren\u2019t there like they used to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not an easy role,\u201d O\u2019Neill added. \u201cWe have a lot of rules to play by, we have people auditing all the time. Insurance companies come and if they find things aren\u2019t in order, it\u2019s always the bottom line. They run the world. They run our world, anyway.\u201d Read more\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Link to entire article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.samessenger.com\/news\/it-s-not-an-easy-role-social-workers-listen-look-for-workforce-solutions\/article_38a2093a-c77f-11ee-95ed-ebc4b0b6076d.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From left to right: Outpatient therapist John O\u2019Neill, wellness counselor Leslie McCoy and team leader Holly Branon This is part three of the Messenger\u2019s \u201cHELP WANTED\u201d series. Excerpts from article: \u201cRural healthcare and social service organizations need to be proactive and strategic about recruiting and retaining personnel,\u201d the report reads. \u201cSuccessful recruitment and retention practices […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1201"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1201"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1203,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1201\/revisions\/1203"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}