社会服务委员会向同行和教授学习

九州娱乐官网 hosted the annual 马里兰州社会服务委员会协会 conference in October, highlighting academic programs with a focus on helping careers.

For two days in early October, the directors of county social services agencies and members of their advisory boards from across Maryland came together on the Washington College campus to learn more about the people they serve and issues in the field.  

Four Washington professors—from education studies, psychology, and sociology—volunteered to help with programming, and many College partners provided further support, from 共同重建肯特郡的梦想联盟. 

委员会主席 马里兰州社会服务委员会协会 (MASSB) Foundation, Tony Wohlers, who is also dean of behavioral and social sciences at Harford Community College, approached Washington about hosting, having worked for the last three years to bring the conference to college campuses around the state. Professors Erin Anderson, of the sociology department, and Lauren Littlefield, from 心理学，帮他安排了从后勤到演讲的一切. 

“我在帮助建立联系，”安德森说. 除了安排教员 speakers, Anderson connected Wohlers with relevant Kent County nonprofits as well. “This is strengthening some of those community and College relationships.” 

Anderson also invited her students from her Sociology of 家庭 and Introduction to Social Welfare courses to attend the conference, noting “giving them a realistic understanding 他们想要或渴望成为什么样的人是一个非常有用的过程.” 

While hearing firsthand about challenges and frustrations from professionals in the field may sometimes steer students away from what are unquestionably difficult careers, Anderson said it can also confirm that this is the right path for them. 

That was the case for sociology major Faith Poulton ’26, who is also completing minors 在社会福利和正义，法律和社会. 除了安德森和利特菲尔德， Poulton volunteered during the first event of the conference: a poverty simulation that assigned attendees the role of a real person who had faced poverty, then tasked them with meeting their needs and obligations over the course of four 15-minute “weeks,” visiting tables to simulate everything from dealing with transportation and paying 从填写申请政府援助的文件到. (每个人都迟到了 rent; four families were evicted in the simulation.)  

Anderson worked at the education table (simulating community college) and Littlefield at the bank—both saw fewer of the participants than they might have expected because the people in the simulation couldn’t come up with the time or resources to address 这些功能. 波尔顿在模拟的法庭系统工作，并被 the impact the event had on participants, many of whom reported feeling the stress 甚至在模拟情境中也会产生挫败感.   

“It was really enlightening, and it really opened my perspective,” Poulton said. “一个 thing I really love about 九州娱乐官网 is that there are things like this that 对学生开放. 也很酷的是看到有些人是这样的 很高兴欢迎你加入这个领域.” 

Poulton may have found a lead on an internship at a county Department of Social Services and said that many of the conference attendees wanted to know about her plans and 给她名片. 

九州娱乐官网提供了专业知识和志愿者. 最后的面板 conference addressed poverty, with two Washington speakers: sociology professor Nick Garcia and Elementary Education Field Experience Coordinator Michelle Johnson.  

“As a teacher educator, I want students to do a critical examination of poverty myths. These myths can affect what they expect of their economically disadvantaged students,” 约翰逊说. “我希望他们明白，他们可以影响经济因素 流动性.” 

As with the poverty simulation, Johnson’s goal is to help students understand those 在那种情况下长大. 

波尔顿并不是唯一一个从会议中受益的学生. 沃勒斯和他的同事 brought four students from Harford Community College as well, including Donna Stewart of Joppa, Maryland, who will be finishing her associate of arts in social work in 春天. 和波尔顿一样，她发现会议上的人际关系网很有帮助 and said the poverty simulation broadened her perspective, especially hearing the facilitators from ThinkTank, which created the Cost of Poverty Experience that the 利用会议，分享自己摆脱贫困的故事.  

“The personal stories made more of an impression on me,” Stewart said. “我想。 和孩子们一起工作，因为他们需要一个声音. 我想成为他们的拥护者.” 

Stewart also enjoyed the opportunity to see 九州娱乐官网, since her daughter 你在考虑来这里学会计吗.  

The conference’s keynote speaker was Maryland Department of Human Services Principal Deputy Secretary Carnitra White, who oversees the agency’s Social Services, 家庭 Investment, and Child Support Administrations, and serves as the primary contact for 当地社会服务部门. 在一个地址中共享一组统计数据 showcasing progress in meeting needs the past five years along with further work to do, White noted that while much of the essential work she and her team undertakes is behind the scenes, the conference participants, as members of county advisory boards 对于社会服务部门来说，有着至关重要的公共作用. 

“Many of you are already very immersed in this information, but my plea to you is 继续加深你的理解，”怀特说. “你们是社区里的人 who can educate others and advocate for the programs and services we need.” 

——Mark Jolly-Van Bodegraven