DEI: Are You Listening?

I am not a DEI expert. I identify as a cisgender, gay, Latino man. In addition to having a bachelor’s and master’s degree in social work, I am a certified diversity professional. These do not make me an expert in DEI. I work in the area of health equity; I provide leadership and resources for behavioral health authorities to address health disparities in their communities. I firmly believe that DEI is a part of and a strategy to effectively address health inequities. 

While I am not an expert, I do actively learn and participate in the DEI space. Something I have noticed in the discourse on DEI, is the emphasis on hiring a more diverse workforce. Yes, we should be doing this. Absolutely. No arguments here. Yet, we don’t talk about an important area of diversity because the people leading the conversation do not readily identify with this segment of the population.

Who are these people who are often excluded from certain positions? It’s the quite people. The introverts. The people who are not loud and boisterous, but soft spoken and contemplative.  The people who may not have the charisma but are still able to lead from a place of authenticity.

There are many talks on introverts in leadership:

Angela Hucles – Why We Need Introverted Leaders

Simon Sinek – How to Leverage Being an Introvert

Carol Stewart – Introverts Make Great Leaders Too

While we are breaking away from the dichotomy of introvert vs. extrovert, a lot of our knowledge still centers around it. Barry Smith has said that ambiverts, those who fall in the middle of introverts and extroverts, make up about 68% of the population. Popular beliefs seems to still hold that if you are not an extrovert than you are an introvert.

So, what does this have to do with DEI?

I’ve heard from interviews that they were looking for someone to “take charge” of a room. That is not my style. I want to observe the room, learn who is there, and listen to what people are saying. “Taking charge” sounds like white supremacy culture and that’s what I want to actively dismantle.

Far too often those traits we are looking for in potential candidates, those traits outside the job description, hinder the potential pool of applicants. Not redefining your beliefs about leadership can curtail view of who can be a leader; it can hinder possibilities. I am not saying that charismatic leaders should be overlooked. Reverse engineering leadership to focus on traits more related to introverts is not the answer. To be clear, if we do not interrogate our beliefs about leadership and expand our views of leadership than we are overlooking quality candidates. 

Soft spoken does not mean weak

A continual critique I receive is that I am quite/soft spoken. It is an odd critique because some people are just naturally boisterous, and others are soft spoken. Concerns have been verbalized about my ability to lead because I am soft spoken and will be perceived as not confident, unknowledgeable, or incompetent. I am also not very talkative; I am an internal processor. So this comes across to some as disinterested or aloof. It amazes me that people would rather have an unknowledgeable, confident person who speaks loud and often than a knowledgeable person who is soft spoken but displays restraint and confidence. I’ve actively worked to reframe my perceived weaknesses as opportunities to quite the room and listen. I choose fewer words because what I say is meaningful and matters. I do not need to be loud or over speak because I am confident in what I am saying.  

I encourage those in the DEI space to become allies to those potential leaders who are introverts and soft spoken. Don’t just listen to the loudest ones in the room. Actively listen to and support those who are overlooked. It’s time to quite the voices of the loudest in the field to make room for those who are not as loud or charismatic – so their voices and perspectives can be heard. DEI, are you listening?

Thoughts on Social Work Licensure

I will preface this with I do have some bias. I am a licensed independent social worker in Ohio with supervisory designation. I have past the BSW and advanced clinical ASWB exam on the first time without studying. I have provided training supervision for several social workers getting their independent licensure exam and have had success in supporting them to pass the ASWB exam. 

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On Monday I listened to a panel on social work licensure that was sponsored by ACOSA. I had a number of issues with the panel. The majority of participants presented as White. One participant identified as bi-racial (Black and White). The panel also really didn’t give a strong voice of why social work licensure is beneficial with the focus of it being “bad”. Another issue is a sort of picking and choosing what is gatekeeping and what is not. There was an emphasis on how licensing is gatekeeping – which I agree – But there was not recognition that getting a college degree and having to be accepted into a major along with a certain GPA is also gatekeeping. I am not saying that the panelist do not believe that, but fundamentally gatekeeping starts at getting the right degree. From experience, I would add as a social work professional gatekeeping also involves going to the “right school”. I didn’t attend a prestigious social work program. I received by undergrad and graduate degree in social work form the University of Toledo where I was trained in an advanced generalist model. I have the highest social work licensure in my state and regularly give back to the profession. Often, I am not recognized or do not get a platform because I did not graduate from somewhere like Case Western or The Ohio State University. That’s a different topic of a different day, but it seems inauthentic when the “elite” social workers discuss professional gatekeeping when while practicing it themselves.

As I consider licensure, I reflect on the questions “what social work activities need to be licensed”? Obviously, not all of the things social workers do require a license. If social workers did not provide psychotherapy would a license be necessary at all? A point during the panel that was touched on several times was that social work is about relationship building. If social work can be distilled to relationship building, then we do we need a license or even a degree. There are a number of things that social workers are trained in, but if it just comes down to relationship building there are many other professions that can do that.

Maybe it is our social justice orientation that makes us a distinct profession? I choose social work because I wanted to see systems that were just. However, a lens of social justice or even a focus of social justice does not necessarily require a license. Training through an organized curriculum, probably – but a license to practice, I don’t think so.

So, what are the benefits to social work licensure?

• It creates a scope of practice that distinguishes us from other disciplines.  Losing the license would also likely mean losing that scope of practice which may be similar to other professions.
• There is a body to contact (licensure board) when a social worker practices outside of that scope or unethically.
• It creates a requirement for continuing education. While professionals should constantly be learning, I have met more social workers than I care to count that have forgotten to engage in continuing education to complete their continuing education requirement. 
• Finally, it adds legitimacy. Now we can argue about the extent of the legitimacy, but a license at least creates a framework for legitimacy.

The panel discussion seemed to argue two things simultaneously which seemed to weaken both arguments. First there are significant and valid issues with the ASWB licensure test so some are calling for the abolition of that test and some alternative route to licensure. Arguing the invalidity of the test (and it may very well not be a good measure) and establishing an alternative licensure route at the same time seems a bit contradictory. An alternative pathway to licensure may be beneficial, but it brings us back to asking what is the point of licensure and what are we trying to establish with it.

I am willing to engage in more conversation on the issue and I am very open to hearing from other perspectives. These are just my thoughts upon reflecting on Monday's panel discussion. 

Quick Fix to the Opioid Epidemic?

USC Researchers Suggest a Quick Fix for America's Opioid Epidemic

There is no single solution to the opioid epidemic and the solutions are not easy. However, this article shares research suggests a solution: notifying a doctor (medical doctor) when their patient died from an opioid overdose. They found that doctors who received a letter had a quicker rate of reduction in prescribing opioids. They argue it is a simple, quick solution to that can have a long term impact in the fight against the opioid epidemic. The full article is linked above. 

Prepping for 2023

We are getting real close to 2023. I've been reflecting on what I want to do in the new year. I don't like resolutions, maybe that's cliché. I prefer to think in the terms of goals, what do I want to accomplish by when. This is a social work blog so of course the goals should be SMART.

I seem to always have the notion that I want to save money in the new year. While I do have a very small savings started, it seems that I can always find a reason not to save. I've tried those 52 week challenges before and they start off well, but quickly seem unmanageable. One week you put save $15 dollars and the next week you're expected to save $150. I've been searching for a more manageable challenge and I think I found one. Unfortunately I can't give credit to whoever developed it because I don't remember where I saw it. 

This is not the exact version of what I saw because I made this on Word, but it will be my guide to trying to save $1378.00 in 2023. 

Another intention I have had for some time now is to drink more water. While I can say on average I do drink more water than I have had in my younger years, I am not drinking enough water consistently. I purchased this bottle which one of my colleagues refers to as an "accountability bottle".

I have noticed I am able to drink this more consistently by following the guide (which is kind of hard to see in this pic). I have also noticed that when I do not use the bottle I do not drink as much water. So next year I will be more intentional about using the bottle every day to help improve by hydration. I should probably see exactly how much water I should be getting in a day, because this may not be enough, but baby steps for now. 

I will have more goals next year, but I am feeling confident and comfortable with these two areas going into next year. 

Continued Reflections

 It's been a few months since I have posted here. Actually, it has been a lot longer than I thought. In recent months I have found writing and posting content more of a challenge. I have thoughts, but they seem all over the place and I struggle to form something substantial and coherent. As a commitment to myself to keep this blog going I am sharing a few of the Health Equity Reflections that I provided on a weekly basis. 

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“While individual-level interventions are beneficial, characterizing them as efforts to address social determinants of health conveys a false sense of progress” (Castrucci and Auerbach, 2019). As behavioral health leaders, we have a solid understanding of the multiple factors that contribute to an individual’s overall health. We understand how the social determinants of health affect an individual’s mental health and wellbeing. Things like poverty, violence, and homelessness have a direct impact on an individual's total health. While there has been a trend to try to address the social determinants of health, we must be careful to avoid thinking that addressing an individual’s needs is impacting the social determinants of health. While we need programs like shelters, food pantries, and clothing drives, we also need policies that address the social conditions that create environments that support inequities. Recall the groundwater approach. To address health inequities and the social determinants of health- we need to focus on the environment (policies and structures) and not just programs that focus on addressing individual need. 

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Change is the only constant in life – Heraclitus. One of the harder aspects of this change is the continual evolution of language. Back in July, we reflected on the term BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color). Another term that some are embracing is ‘people of the global majority’. As with other terms – minority and people of color – understanding the aspect of racial identity becomes dependent on comparing it to another group. These terms are also Americanized and are centered on the American experience. People of the global majority is an inclusive term for all non-white people around the world, but also makes racial identity independent of whiteness. Lim states in his article about the term, “it speaks to an identity that is free from being in lesser-than relation to whiteness”. While it may take some time for people to integrate this term into common use, if it is a term that even becomes widely adopted, we begin to see how we even speak about things changes how we think about things. People of the global majority has a much different connotation than referring to someone as a minority or as a person of color.

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November 1^st marks the beginning of National Native American Heritage Month. It is interesting that so many people claim Native American ancestry without fully understanding their ancestry. Families across the United States have lore about being descended from an Indian Princess, most often Cherokee. These families’ stories become ingrained, so much so that few people question their authenticity. In this article the author states, “By claiming a royal Cherokee ancestor, white Southerners were legitimating the antiquity of their native-born status as sons or daughters of the South, as well as establishing their determination to defend their rights against an aggressive federal government, as they imagined the Cherokees had done. These may have been self-serving historical delusions, but they have proven to be enduring”. During Native American Heritage Month, we would do better to recognize the land we call Ohio that was once occupied by many different nations, than to assert some false native identity. Wondering what a land acknowledgement is – check here.

International Non-Binary People's Day

 

Greetings folks!

For work I still have the opportunity to write weekly reflections related to health equity. Here is today's reflection. 

July 14 is International Non-Binary People’s Day. This day is intended to raise awareness and celebrate individuals who identify as non-binary. The term “non-binary” is an umbrella term that includes individuals whose gender identify and/or expression does not conform to the socially constructed gender binary. These individuals may identify as being both a man and a woman or their identify may fall outside of these categories. While many transgender people may identify as non-binary, they are not the same. American culture has reinforced that two-gender binary, creating stress and tension for those who may identify as non-binary but choose to not to live as their authentic selves for fear of judgement and repercussion. As we consider ways to create inclusive environments, we must consider how to make them inclusive for all- including non-binary people. This can look like introducing yourself with your pronouns and addressing groups as ‘folks’, ‘pals’, or ‘everyone’ instead of the traditional ‘ladies and gentlemen. Move towards using gender inclusive language in your polices and documents (i.e. use ‘they’ instead of ‘he/she’). These small ways can help you become an ally for non-binary people and help you bring about more inclusivity.

A Late Wrap Up for Pride Month

It’s July and Pride Month is over. I intended to write a few posts about Pride Mont, but the month quickly got away from me....and now July seems to be getting away from me. 

An article that came up during June was the Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy Linked to Better MH in Trans Youth. For me, it was exciting to see some research in this area because it has been a concern of mine for some time. I don’t like giving my unfounded opinion on things and from time to time I would find myself in some conversations regarding hormone therapy for youth.  Experts are calling for youth to receive gender-affirming care including gender-affirming hormone therapy if it is the desire of the youth. This is really important information for social workers working with you. Social workers should be advocating for laws and policies that increase access to gender-affirming care. While there is a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, research like this provides evidence for effectiveness rather than leaving things up to opinion.

Back in July of 2021, I shared some writing I had done awhile ago about cyberbullying. This piece really focused on educating social workers on cyberbullying and educating parents on internet safety. Online safety is a major concern for everyone these days- not just youth. Someone found this blog and shared an online guide to for LGBTQ to protect themselves online. Here is the link to the guide: https://www.vpnmentor.com/blog/lgbtq-guide-online-safety/. There is actually a lot of good information in the safety guide that can help a lot of people.

For work, I was able to develop a short learning challenge to encourage behavioral health leaders and providers to learn more about the LGBTQ+ community and the challenges the community faces and how to build inclusivity. The challenge can be found here. You don’t have to wait for June again to learn about LGBTQ+ issues so feel free to use the resource anytime.