hello and welcome to the "agency stress conference" blog site of joey palermo, MA. I note my "letters" because they serve as the precursor to the dialogue, discourse....that we will share on this site.
A little over twenty years ago, I graduated with a degree in "applied sociology." For my research assignment, I conducted an evaluation of a job-training program designed to assist "homeless" adults transition into employment. This was my introduction to "not-for profit" and community based agencies. Since then i have participated on a number of projects and programs designed to assist the "disenfranchised.''
Sixteen years later, about Four years ago, I created a self-imposed sabbatical to write a book about not-for profit community based agencies and their role in the lives of the clients they serve.
The text remains unpublished but the information, written with conviction and experience, has spearheaded a freelance consulting position. To date, I visit agencies and work with clients and workers alike in the areas of stress management and performance. Workshop themes have varied from burnout prevention to communication and conflict resolution.
It is now time to develop my working text into a formal manuscript. I invite you and colleagues, concerned parties (clients and workers alike) to chime in and share experience to the issue of "agency stress". I will post related topics to stimulate discussion and yes some of my points are "stressful" as we seek to "empower" in a capitalistic environment. For example, this new idea of social entrepreneurism.
The subject is agency-stress and like "stress" the roots, symptoms, and outcomes are defined subjectively.
For example, can we address agency stress as a positive force for change???
Early on in my field experience, i was taken aback by the apathy and stress related dis-ease projected by workers on to clients and reverse. Today I know that the STRESS is the outgrowth of the agency experience. How does an "organization" established to remediate social stressors come to be so stressed and how can we work to bring health to the situation?
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the project seems a worthy one. the issue of prisoner re-entry has come home for me. Let's look at re-entry" prisoners and workers who have come together to re-enter into the larger community from a more structured institutional setting. From a hindu or buddhist perspective "re-entry" is karma from the point of conception. but that's to out there.
ReplyDeletewe are discussing re-entry into a community that is receptive from many vantage points. there is a view from the legal, the moral, the worker/agency, and the formerly incarcerated. The text will begin with pre-release observations and experiences. I worked as a pre-release counselor at arthur kill correctional from 82-84.
What is that experience like????
can a community based agency become a central hub for empowerment??
ReplyDeletemy book is coming along.
ReplyDeletewanting to create a democratic workplace in communtiy agencies and engagaing community in the process.
My book tell how to do this.
Is it feasible or even realistic????
i am combinig community building with workplace democracy. The agency that can build an in house community can be more receptive and engaging to the surrounding community.
ReplyDeleteThe how to make this happen is inclusiveness and transparency.
not the newest ideabut still needs to be said
can we "perform" compassionately??? why does a labor of love which social work implies turn to burnout???
ReplyDeletebecause the work of service is continuous dialogue and "the buck stops here" is not an option. performance measures that do not account for noncompliance limit the chance for dialogue.
grassueaucracy=grassroots bureaucracy.
ReplyDeleteI have found a way to engage and measure client participation informally that will satisfy contractual demands. Interested. let's start talking.
ReplyDeleteCASE managers need support too.
ReplyDeleteSocial workers can shop and eat in their agency community.
Clients can be the best outreach workers.
Social workers and clients can learn from each other in a group setting.
What do you think???
I have made contact with my peers at mercy college; they've agreed to look at my works in progress. well , nothing like peer pressure to motivate. My "book" is advocating workplace democracy, a learning center environment and more..interested???
ReplyDeletewell i can't give the solution away on a blog without dialogue.
ReplyDeletewow its' been june since i postd last and nothing has really changed..dependency is a lifetime issue and the agnecies are dependent as well. maybe it's compassion and the way of the world.
ReplyDeleteaugust back in new york..the agency business is booming with the outgrowth of economic strife. where r u??what is your role??? i ask me and i ask you.
ReplyDeleteLet us begin with the fact that an impoverished community has a base philosophy, identity and way of living that can be discovered and facilitated by agency staff when they can “see” and empathize with the experience.
ReplyDeleteThere is a way of seeing a community that is not ‘treated” as an infection or diseased impediment of the larger society.
There is no empathy in treating clients with a medical or legal model imposed upon communities that function on survival and limited resources; the way out of their poverty comes from within the values, struggles and prayer of the people themselves. Again, workers can work more harmoniously with clients by making the effort to learn the language (verbal and non-verbal), respecting the sacrifices and coping styles of their clients. To respect that the life experience of the poor is valuable and important to the community being served is essential to productive worker client relations.
i now have chance to practice some of this agency business in a small residential setting and the dept. of corrections. i'll b posting the experience. feel free to follow and discuss.
ReplyDeleteworkplace stress in a community agency can best be resolved with empowerment and shared democratic principles. upper management,line staff and the members of the community being served can engage in a shared work experience that channels the level of stress to constructive and re-creational output.
ReplyDeletecommunity based agencies and workplace democracy.
ReplyDeletecan we mix?
to have a model for community engagement and empowerment. it is so simple and practical.
ReplyDeletea library resource...mutual exchange between worker and client in a common language defined by the agency service protocol. read my text at joeypalermo6@gmail.com
well i am back in the agency game while everyone is sleeping. a 'sentinel" at the abraham House, alternative to incarceration residence (6 guys, 5 nuns)
ReplyDeletejoin me as i comment on "agencies" while people sleep.
there are so many approaches to trying to minimize worker burnout and client recidivism but for today i have to consider the issue of "language." I am reminded of the English Only Movement and the stripping of the native american's language an pride, forced to assimilate or die to no avail. Community agencies established to remedy the larger issues of crime and drug abuse are speaking against the grain. great work and great strides are being accomplished but it still reeks of social control and compliance and it doesn't have to be. Both workers and clients can learn from each other to better understand and end crime and drug abuse. a common language, a common solution. How? like every other harmonious relationship. COMMUNICATION!
ReplyDeletewell my eldest daughter is reviewing the WIP text and this friday at a conference, "el centro (hunter college" )is hosting a lecture/ conference on culture and social work. guess where i'll be?
ReplyDeletenice
ReplyDeleteThank you, I am constantly looking at new tips on ways to manage Stress. If you can't manage it, it's going to destroy a person!
ReplyDeleteDealing with Anxiety
hi ct...u r the first comment i have received since beginning this blog. thanks!
ReplyDeleteHow r u addressing stress?