I am interested in the CWTP because I’m interested in working with children. Especially younger children being adopted, because this is the age range that most affects who you\u2019re going to become. I want to be that person the child remembers when they\u2019re forty years old\u2026 \u201cI went through some hard times, but I had this one person that cared about me, advocated for my needs and what needed to happen.”<\/p>\n
I was always told to have a voice, and that my voice matters. These kids in foster care and treatment centers need to know that their voices matter too.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
One person\u00a0can<\/em>\u00a0change the world \u2013 it might not be the whole world, but it\u2019s someone\u2019s world. Working with DCS, you have the opportunity to make these children\u2019s worlds better. I was always told to have a voice, and that my voice matters. These kids in foster care and treatment centers need to know that their voices matter too.<\/p>\nWho was your advocate? Who encouraged your voice?<\/strong><\/p>\nMy legal guardians growing up, from the time I was two years old and said, \u201cno I don\u2019t want to stay with my biological mom\u201d. \u00a0They trusted me and what I said. Their response encouraged me to speak honestly, and allowed me to know that I was being heard, that my voice mattered.<\/p>\n
What age range do you work with?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\nPersonally, I work with young teenagers. Other interns work with children from a couple months old to seventeen. It\u2019s funny \u2013 I\u2019m only nineteen, and I was selected to work with the oldest kids. Great\u2026 we listen to the same music\u2026!<\/p>\n
How do you want to make a difference?<\/strong><\/p>\nIf you\u2019re put into foster care at five or older, it may impact you more.\u00a0 You\u2019ve built a relationship with your biological parents, while a younger child might find it easier to separate. Ultimately, I want to be a school social worker. Being a school social worker with them, you\u2019re going to be the person they see every day.<\/p>\n
How did you wind up in NAU\u2019s Social Work program?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\nThe summer before my senior year of high school, I went to South America on a mission retreat \u2013 built houses, helped get clean water, etc for impoverished areas. After I got back from that trip, I got really depressed being back home. We\u2019d spent over a month helping other people, and then you come back to a small town where nobody cares about anyone else (at my age, at least). That was the epiphany moment when I realized I needed to help people.<\/p>\n
Initially, I applied to NAU as a business major, hoping to work with nonprofits. Two weeks in, I changed to social work. I told my high school about my decision\u2026. All of my high school teachers said, \u201cDuh.\u201d Haha!<\/p>\n
Why CWTP?<\/strong><\/p>\nJulie Fritzler. She\u2019s the field director, and was also the first teacher I had in the SW program. She worked with children in Illinois. She brought a lot of her personal experiences into the classroom. I learned about the Project freshman year, applied my first semester of sophomore year\u2026 even now, I call my mom and say, \u201cJulie\u2019s not just a faculty member \u2013 she\u2019s my best friend. Everything she\u2019s done in her life, she\u2019s really inspirational.\u201d<\/p>\n
Social work is very\u2026. You can\u2019t learn about it from a book. You have to learn by doing, and talking about it. This program is actually preparing us for what we\u2019ll be doing as professionals. We\u2019re actually able to be in these kids\u2019 lives. We\u2019re now a part of their story.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What did you think you would get out of the Child Welfare Training Project?<\/strong><\/p>\nOf course I expected the tuition reimbursement, and the safety of knowing I\u2019d have a job on graduation was a big relief. I knew this project was going to prepare me to do what I will be doing when I actually work with DCS. I did\u00a0not\u00a0<\/em>expect I would actually be working with DCS now. I expected a study\/learning environment, but we\u2019re actually responsible for these people. That\u2019s kinda scary\u2026<\/p>\nYou talk about the level of responsibility you\u2019ve taken on as somewhat scary. What is it like to encounter that fear in this setting?<\/strong><\/p>\nWe have a lot of support from our case managers, as well as our teachers. We are able to talk about what we experience in our field seminars. It\u2019s really beneficial to do your field placement as you\u2019re taking classes, because you\u00a0do\u00a0<\/em>talk about it. It\u2019s good to look back on\u2026 to reflect.<\/p>\nSocial work… this department as a whole is so supportive, and so empathetic. [The professors] are\u00a0really there for you<\/em>. They have experience. They have stories they can tell you. They can support you, because they\u2019ve been through this. Social work is very\u2026. You can\u2019t learn about it from a book. You have to learn by doing, and talking about it. This program is actually preparing us for what we\u2019ll be doing as professionals. We\u2019re actually able to be in these kids\u2019 lives. We\u2019re now a part of their story.<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s next, and are you prepared?<\/strong><\/p>\nWell…\u00a0 I like to plan things out, and we\u2019re not going to know where we\u2019re placed until 3-4 weeks before we graduate. That\u2019s the worst thing I can think of. Having to wait, and to worry about where you\u2019re going to land\u2026 you might not get to go where you want, and that\u2019s the worst. You\u2019re going to help people wherever you go, but you definitely need to be ready to put away your expectations. I\u2019m really nervous about that, but, I think we\u2019re prepared as a whole.<\/p>\n
Today you had a big moment. Tell me about it.<\/strong><\/p>\nWe are just starting to do casework on our own, without as much supervision as before, so we are actually becoming the ones that are responsible to advocate for our clients\u2019 needs, and to be there for the children. That really came to light today, while my supervisor was offsite. There was no one else present to speak about the events in my child\u2019s life. My voice mattered, because I was the only one that could express the situation effectively.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a cool feeling, advocating for someone. Being trusted is huge \u2013 I went on my first unsupervised home visits with special-needs kids two weeks ago. I may have self-doubts, but my supervisors have trust in me to do this work.<\/p>\n
What are you most excited about right now?<\/strong><\/p>\nTwo of my kids [clients] are in Prescott, and Prescott has an in-n-out burger. Next Friday, I get to go to in-n-out! The travel\u2019s not bad, and the experience is important \u2013 there\u2019s always something new wherever you\u2019re going.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gradi Moore is the youngest student currently in field placement with NAU\u2019s Child Welfare Training Project \u2013 a federally-funded scholarship program, committed to recruiting and training bachelor\u2019s-level social workers to be competent Child Protective Services professionals. We interviewed her on the day of her first unsupported case call on behalf of a minor client. Gradi, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[11,7,8],"class_list":["post-129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","tag-bsw","tag-cwtp","tag-students"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/school-social-work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/school-social-work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/school-social-work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/school-social-work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/school-social-work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/school-social-work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/school-social-work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/school-social-work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/school-social-work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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