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Personal Story
Kari Simpson, LMSW
Director of Juvenile Intervention Services
TLC for Children and Families
I knew from the time I received my bachelor's degree in social work that I
wanted to obtain my masters degree, but my work at SRS strengthened my desire
to do so. Being a part of Andrina's life was one of the reasons I knew that
I had to continue my social work education. I wanted to be able to do
more. Since there is only so far you can go in social work with a bachelor's
degree, I wanted to obtain my Masters so that I could provide even better services
to youth and families.
My main concern was that I made too much to qualify for Pell Grants, but not
enough to qualify for a school loan. I fell in the cracks because
I had above average grades, but not good enough to get a major scholarship. I
am a Caucasian female, so I found little available in the form of
grants, except for Title IV-E. I needed to continue working while I went
to school and the Title IV-E program was my one chance to do this. At
that time, they paid for 75% of my SRS salary and my tuition for school. It
was an incredible opportunity and one that allowed me to meet my basic needs
while attending school. This also allowed me to continue working with
SRS during the time I was not in school and enabled me to maintain a continuity
of services for Andrina and her adoptive family, as well as many others.
I had two reasons for leaving SRS after I completed my contractual obligation
through the Title IV-E program. One was the fact that I had a two year
old and a 6 month old at home and felt I needed to spend more time
with my family. The other was that shortly after I returned to work after
receiving my degree, the state privatized its adoption services. I felt
that adoption was where I belonged, but with privatization, I was required
to conduct Abuse/Neglect investigations, etc. I had done this before and
was not interested in doing it again so I made the decision to leave. Even
though I did not stay with SRS, I have continued to have contact with SRS in
many ways and have used my experience there to educate others about a part
of the system they may not normally have the opportunity to see. I have
utilized my understanding of SRS to educate Masters Level KU students who I
have supervised during their practicum work, other service providers and employees. I
am currently fortunate enough to work for TLC for Children and Families,
Inc., which works with SRS and many other community service organizations
to provide better services to children and families in Kansas . My Masters
in Social Work provided me with training in regard to administrative duties
as well as direct client contact and was an important catalyst in
preparing me for my position as Director of Juvenile Intervention Services
for TLC. I serve three separate organizations that include SRS
as members and continue to enjoy connections with social workers whom
I met while I worked for SRS.
When I was contacted by Andrina several years later and she told me about
her reasons to pursue a social work career I was amazed and over-whelmed! The
fact that she looked to me as such a constant in her life and had decided to
become a social worker partly due to her contact with me really opened
my eyes to the important impact that social workers have, without even realizing
it. The fact that she had been accepted into the Title IV-E program was
awesome! I knew that she would have never been able to afford a college education
otherwise. The Social Work profession and the State of Kansas have so
much to gain by Andrina's unique experience as a child in the state foster
care/adoption system! Andrina is a very strong and resilient young
woman with a fantastic future ahead of her. She and I and the youth and
families of Kansas are very fortunate that the Title IV-E program provides support
for social work for education!
It is a well known fact that social workers are not paid nearly enough for
what they do, and they do it anyway because they have a compassion and respect
for human life. It seems to me that this kind of commitment to serving
others should be supported by the State of Kansas by providing financial assistance
to students who strive to provide social work services. What better way
for the State to ensure that it's children and families will receive the highest
quality assistance, no matter if that assistance comes directly from a state
agency or one the states many private agencies who utilize state grants and
other state monies to provide services.
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