by Frank Mejia, CalWORKs Division Chief, WRC
Please see the email below from Debbi (RST), providing you with much praise! WOW!!! Margaret Martinez and Rosalia (Rosie) Ballesteros as our Family Advocates and Housing Support Program Case Managers, along Ericka Murillo, the case carrying WTW CES, make a wonderful team along with Debbi Ashby in truly making a difference with this CWS/CalWORKs Linkages case, and apparently scores of other cases.
I would like to add my own KUDOS and commend you for your professionalism, hard work and dedication to the families we serve. It is employees like you who remind me everyday how much I truly LOVE what we do to strengthen the many families we serve and how fortunate we are to have the high caliber of staff that I have the joy to work with! It is awesome when your hard work is recognized and I know you get your own satisfaction when you see the positive outcomes with families like this one and the many others you work collaboratively with. Keep up the excellence and continue serving with the huge hearts you each have! THANK YOU! I am very proud of each of you!
Below is the text of the original email from Debbi Ashby, Mental Health Practitioner II of the SB County Dept. of Behavioral Wellness - RST/CalWORKs. It's a long letter, but very informative and inspiring.
Good afternoon all.
I have been meaning to send this email for some time now but since we have all just come from a TDM with CWS this morning, I thought this would be a good opportunity to express my appreciation for and admiration of the Dept. of Social Services staff who regularly meet with partner departments/ agencies for Linkages cases. As I have been to all 4 of the Linkages trainings late 2016 (thank you Boss J), I am familiar with what the collaboration between dept’s/agencies on behalf of our Linkages clients should look like.
I have had the pleasure of working with Rosie Ballesteros, Margaret Martinez, and Ericka Murillo on several mutual cases, but we have all been particularly involved with one Linkages case in support of the client, the accompanying CWS case plan, and the general plan for client’s self-sufficiency. I believe this case embodies the ideals/protocol of the Linkages program in an exemplary manner. Ms Martinez, Ms Murillo, Ms Ballesteros, and I have attended monthly meetings with the client and her CWS social worker to advocate for the client and to support her in meeting her CWS case plan objectives as well as to guide her in effective communication techniques that will advance her objectives with regard to the case with CWS. Some of these meetings have taken place at the client’s new home in Lompoc (thanks to Ms Martinez and Ms Ballesteros), some in our local CWS office and a couple in WRC office. I have kept up regular communication with the client’s therapist who has been/is providing individual and family therapy (funded by RST/CalWorks) – this has also been of tremendous benefit to the client’s case as her contract therapist provider cannot be at our monthly meetings. She has, however, been very collaborative with our staff in helping client to problem-solve.
These three ladies have spent much time organizing agendas for the monthly meetings, in direct support of the client and the CWS case plan, and providing the client with necessary elements that would help her meet case plan objectives. Ms Martinez and Ms Ballesteros worked hard to help client locate, secure, and maintain safe, appropriate, comfortable housing in the community (NOT an easy task these days!). The client now has a stable residence for her children. Ms Murillo has for years assisted and supported the client’s efforts to obtain and maintain employment that makes her self-sufficient as well as allowing her to provide for her children. We are close to the ultimate goal of reunifying the client with her children, and the client has expressed deep appreciation of the support she has received from our office. In every meeting and communication with partner agencies/dept’s, Ms Martinez, Ms Murillo, and Ms Ballesteros have presented themselves with the utmost professionalism, respect for all present at the meetings, and cheerful, persistent advocacy for the client. I am constantly amazed at how Ms Martinez and Ms Ballesteros in particular can advance their agenda in a very determined, but supremely respectful manner, even in the most tense of situations. It is a talent I greatly appreciate, admire, and covet.
Our most recent TDM for this case was long and at times intense, yet all three of these ladies advocated for the client with much poise and clarity, making very valuable contributions to the discussion. I have worked these ladies on other mutual cases and am so appreciative of their willing attitudes, availability, and dedication to our clients. In over 21 years with the county in the Dept of Behavioral Wellness, I have rarely witnessed this level of collaboration and just plain mutual respect and friendliness which makes it such a pleasure to work together to advance our clients’ objectives. This is a caring, friendly office with all the staff willing to help out when one of us in RST are trying to figure out how to help a client resolve a question or issue.