S1E4 - Interning at COAAA
Shaumane Paulk, Supervisor in PASSPORT, and Camille Peterson, Supervisor in Senior Options both started as social work interns at COAAA. While their stories, experiences, and paths to their current leadership roles differ, they both agree: COAAA is a great place to learn how to be a compassionate, competent, and confident social worker.
Let me know what you think of this podcast, as well as any ideas you have for an episode. Email me at kwhite@coaaa.org!
Copyright 2024 Central Ohio Area Agency On Aging
Transcript
Welcome to Pretend I Know Nothing About. I'm Katie White, your host, administrator of COAAA. Today's episode is all about internships. We will hear two stories from Chamaine and Camille who were interns. Then case managers and now supervisors here at COAAA. Let's get into it. Well, welcome. Good morning.
Camille [:Good morning. Good morning.
Katie White [:I've got 2 special guest here with me today, and we are gonna be talking about internships at CO triple a. So let's, start with introductions. You wanna go first?
Camille [:Sure. I am Camille Peterson, and I am in the sent, senior options department here at CO triple a. I have been in the senior options department, almost 20 years. Wow.
Katie White [:That's awesome.
Camille [:Yes. Yes. And, I am a super in the department and actually just started that role in April. Congratulations.
Shaumane [:Congrats.
Katie White [:And how about our other guests?
Shaumane [:I am Charlene Paul. And I am in the Passport waiver program. I am also a supervisor there, and it's been going on in a supervisor role on 2 years. Okay. I've started in Passport as a sweet young intern and, have been with the agency coming up on 6 years now.
Katie White [:Wow. Yeah. That's great. The longevity here is just amazing. It blows me away.
Shaumane [:It's encouraging, actually.
Katie White [:Yeah. It is. It is. Yeah. A little overwhelming because you wanna be like, I've been here 6 years, which is a lot. And people are like, that's not there. Yeah. It is. It's something.
Shaumane [:Yeah. 20 something years. I
Camille [:mean, yes. Yeah. Yeah.
Katie White [:So today, it's all about internships, what it's like to be an intern here, you know, what types of things you did, what you liked, what was difficult. So let's jump in. So, Camille, tell us about when you were here, what your internship was like.
Camille [: my bachelor's internship, in: Katie White [:That's so awesome. Yes. And you did your master's placement here too.
Camille [:And then my master's placement. So my 1st year of grad school I did, my placement and the passport department in the choices area. And that was where it was kinda fresh and new, and it was just starting up at the time. So that would have been
Katie White [:2003.
Camille [:And, it was when they were allowing, caregivers to be paid. Or I should say, caregivers to be the paid worker. And the clients had the choice. So Some of it may be where the choices program was where if a client wanted to assign a family member to be, they paid caregiver, they could, But if they also wanted the option of saying, no, I would like to refer that as to a provider or an agency to handle it and not a family member, they could do that as well. But that was when I started learning about paid caregivers and the roles and how do how do that take effect that started with passport.
Shaumane [:Cool.
Katie White [:Okay. So, Charmaine, how about
Shaumane [:yours? So I came to the agency also through the College of Social Work like Camille, I had not heard about CO Triple A, because mainly it was brand new to Ohio. So, I wasn't familiar with a lot of the community, agencies or anything, but, similar my counselor said, Hey, this is a great community network here. There's a lot of, you know, opportunities there. There's a lot housed in that building. Check it out. So I did. And, when Linda reached out to me about coming in for the interview, for the field placement, There was an instant connection to my field supervisor who was, shout out to Kyra, your boy.
Camille [:She's
Katie White [:still here?
Shaumane [:Yeah. She is. She's still here as well. And, it was an instant connection, and I loved it from day 1. I also completed my master's internship, but I did that in the SRS program. Okay. And that was, another again, way for me to learn about everything that we offer. My internship, Durham and Bachelor's was phenomenal, Kyra Me sure that she linked me with every department in the agency. So I got a chance to learn what senior options did. I was able to sit down with screeners. I sat down with assessments, someone in assessment. I even sat down with miss Jacqueline Williams in fiscal. So I gotta
Katie White [:--
Camille [:Shut
Shaumane [:up, Jackie.
Katie White [:--
Shaumane [:shout out to Jackie. I was able to really see what -- all, you know, the ins and outs of the entire agency was, which I thought was phenomenal. And I made sure that I was able to implement that with any student that came on to passport after because I just felt that was just, like, the best way to learn about the program and the agency overall.
Katie White [:Yeah.
Camille [:So that agency has grown.
Katie White [:Oh my gosh. It's huge.
Camille [:Yeah. When I started, it was only senior. I was transported the building. Yeah.
Shaumane [:Oh my gosh.
Camille [:Yes. And we were at one step for downtown. Right.
Katie White [:So that
Camille [:was What was the AT and T or SBC? Don't they?
Katie White [:And that was probably, what, less than a hundred people at
Shaumane [:that point?
Camille [:I
Shaumane [:think so. Yeah. Every now and then, I'll hear, you know, stories of old Remember. I remember down on Longstreet we had. I heard the funny stories about the bats flying around and Sue housing's office.
Katie White [:That's you.
Shaumane [:Brenna, who was my supervisor as the as a student and became my supervisor when I started as a case manager, Her her memory is rock solid, so she's always sharing stories about what happened in that building.
Katie White [:A lot of wild fun stuff. And we have our fiftieth anniversary coming up. And so we're collecting all those stories. So if you think of some or if you know people -- Yep. Okay. Alright. Yes. You gotta get Brennan and Tamara too.
Shaumane [:Yeah.
Katie White [:So it sounds like, you both have hosted students as well. So tell me a little bit about your take on that and what you do to ensure that the internships are success all?
Camille [:Yes. Just like, we were sharing. Our experience was so great. It's the same thing. You you're just gravitated too. Yes. I'll take an intern. So I would volunteer, pretty frequently, because I wanted to ensure and make them know that this agent see in this placement or especially if you're interested in getting the older adult population or individuals with disabilities And now serving populations, under 60 since our agency has grown -- Right.
Katie White [:--
Camille [:that it is, a wonderful, wonderful place to start out. COAAA does a great job of teaching you grassroots of social work.
Shaumane [:I agree.
Camille [:That's what gravitating like, I wanna know how to dive in, how to connect. Yeah. Resources. Amazing. Yeah. It is really gonna set you up. Of course, we would hope for them to carry on here. Of course. But rather a person, starts here or go outside of COAAA. We've had interns who have come and started in our department and maybe stayed, but maybe it was a couple years and they journeyed out and they'd say the things that they learned from, their time with us they were like, I use it so much in other areas or other entities that I work for.
Katie White [:That's great.
Camille [:I learned excellent documentation skills. And so I really wanted to help interns that came in. Now take what they learn in the books and see how it applies.
Shaumane [:And apply it.
Camille [:Yep. Yeah. And then maybe sometimes it's I know the books say this, but in reality, it's this. And so then showing them how, okay, now you can't apply something from the book, but let's make sure you're applying it ethically or by the right social work standard. Got it. Because sometimes everything's not black and white.
Katie White [:That's right. That's right. Sue Housing was on a podcast recently, and she said The rules are black and white, but life is gray. And I thought that was so that's awesome.
Shaumane [:Yes. I would say that, one of the great things is that coming here to do your field placement, we're hands on.
Camille [:Mhmm.
Shaumane [:It's not about just sitting in a corner filing or sorting through paperwork, we pair you with someone. You're out doing visits. You're shadowing with folks, you're using our programs as much as we can. Okay. You know, again, with HIPAA rules or whatever. But, again, I always made sure that they're getting a snapshot of everything.
Camille [:Yep. It's almost like -- In
Shaumane [:this building.
Camille [:Yeah.
Katie White [:--
Camille [:raining them. Like, they're an employee.
Shaumane [:Exactly. Because we in Passport, we have them go through the new hire training. So -- Oh, good. Yeah. So they're learning about PIMs. They're learning about documentation. They're learning about state hearing rights. They're getting the full picture as if because our ultimate goal is that they do stay with us. So If we put them through that training, by the time they're done, they're like, yeah, this is a pretty cool place. I wanna stay. Mhmm.
Katie White [:I keep talking about how we have this culture of clinical excellence here in the most incredible way. And what I'm hearing from you both is it's If somebody stays amazing, right, of course, we want that. Any interns listening, we want that.
Shaumane [:We want that.
Katie White [:But also, we wanna make sure that anyone going out and working in the community older adults or people with disabilities or anywhere in the social work world have grounded in clinical excellence training and ethics and that We're we're sort of paying it forward for, you know, the workforce in general. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah.
Camille [:And as an intern and we the way we train It's almost like they have a leg up.
Shaumane [:They have
Camille [:a leg up, which is a good thing because on average, if you're a new employee here, It probably takes you a full year to really grasp everything and feel kinda confident and comfortable in your assessment and your task and your ability. But when you're intern, you're coming in and learning and doing it. So, oftentimes, when you transition -- Yeah.
Katie White [:--
Camille [:you're already ahead of the game because you already hit those things that you were trying to find comfort and ability and things like that in. Yeah.
Shaumane [:I can definitely attest to that because when I completed filled placement, there was a gap for me to take the license their exam, wait for opening and passport because I really wanted to be in passport. So during that time, I stayed working where I was within a few months when that opening came up and I restarted here, as a
Katie White [:--
Shaumane [:Mhmm. -- employee COAAA Camille said. I felt like, you know, I was kind of ahead of the game and so much so. I think when I started, I covered cases for a case manager who was coming out. So I was like, okay. Wait. Let me re
Katie White [:--
Shaumane [:Yeah. -- reframe everything and kinda remember what all the trainings I went through, even though I went through the trainings again, some of it was just a refresher. So I was able, like you said, to hit the ground running and really start out.
Katie White [:So it's a lot about confidence. That's a lot about confidence in all of those, pieces where if you have questions, we also have that culture of port here.
Shaumane [:Yeah. I was gonna state that too. We have that culture of shared responsibility. So, you know, I could ask anyone on the floor another case manager to another supervisor, everyone is always helpful. And I think our interns could fill that too.
Camille [:Yeah.
Katie White [:And we had Linda and Sarah on. There's an so about safe and how that all works too. So in the most extreme, difficult, very hard to navigate cases, we still bring people together to make sure that it's shared responsibility.
Shaumane [:Absolutely. Absolutely.
Katie White [:So when I think about the different social replacements, people say, oh, well, I wanna work in a hospital or I wanna do behavioral health or I wanna work with kids. And I'm always like, no. No. No. You can get that here too. Absolutely. So, you know, talk about if you're if there are potential interns listening, what all can you experience here through the lens of aging and disability, but those different experiences?
Shaumane [:I would say, actually, you you probably will get experience on all the above that you list it because I think one of the fastest things I learned starting out as the new social workers that your consumer or your client is not the only person you're working with. You're working with the daughter. You're working with the sons, other family members. And even though your focus may be on that client, you're dealing with maybe the mental illness of the daughter who may be the primary caregiver or, you know, the son who is, you know, kind of burnt out in, you know, needing support as well. Or, you know, we have a large refugee population within our client and, you know, you're dealing with different, excuse me, ethnic and, you know, different backgrounds. And I think all of that you're gonna hit on. You may, you know, encounter your consumer who's also caring for it, young grandchildren. And, you know, so now you're dealing with maybe potential housing issues and dealing with difficulties with the grandson adjusting, moving in with grandma. And so you're gonna I think we'll we hit everything. So -- Uh-huh.
Katie White [:--
Shaumane [:I COAAA, again, one stop shop here at COO A.
Camille [: my last year of placement, in: Shaumane [:Okay.
Camille [:Because I want I said, well, I wanna see some medical social work. Right? Wanna see hospital aspect. COAAA that was definitely eye opening, and love the experience. I had a chance to shadow each floor. I thought, okay, this will help me learn, about medical terminology, medical diagnosis, different things of that nature, because I only to glimpse of it with the passport department, when I was in there and kind of interact with some of the doctors when faxing paperwork and approvals for authorizations, but it was in a different light. So, after that placement, though, opening came up in the senior options, department and I got hired on. I will say I am glad I did do it in the opposite direction. I do have a goal. I've always call it in my retirement life, to do some hospital social work and be like that contingent social worker that's like, yes, I'll come in when the person's on vacation, and I'll help. 1 Sunday a month. For sure. 1 Sunday a month. But I am glad I did it the opposite way. I started here and learned the grass roots of the social work and everything in the documentation and then wanted to a hospital placement, to learn it because then it kinda, like, Charmaine was saying, you kinda pull it all together. So I didn't have to go the medical route and then go into grassroots social work. Got it. Because now I know the dynamic COAAA family and how to interact with family versus the hospital. Everything's quick. Because most times, those patients are in there for an admission. And your interaction with them is gonna be, maybe a couple days before they're discharged, you're you're you're quick on your toes to help plan their their their next steps and what's gonna happen. Now that COAAA has expand, you can still grasp and learn medical pieces. You don't have to be in a hospital setting here. Mhmm. You have now multi facets of waiver and pass poor area. Right? You have your Molina. You have your Aetna. You have your SRS. Mhmm. So having those other, departments come to c COAAA now, has opened the ball game. Absolutely. That you do not have to just only get it in the hospital setting. This agency is gonna help give you the medical piece now. Too.
Katie White [:Yeah. And we have nurses on staff. Right? And that medical social work sort of begins and ends in the home anyway. Right? Those diagnoses looking at the descriptions, checking in on that sort of stuff. Yep. Some of the home visits I've been on, you know, I'm like, wow. Look at, you know, all of these, like, no sees that people know. And, yeah, it's it's definitely medical social records.
Camille [:Yes. It
Katie White [:definitely -- In the home. --
Camille [:expanded. Yes. So,
Katie White [:when I think about COAAA and how you both hadn't heard of it at the time. That is still something even though, you know, we get literally thousands of calls a month between 45,000 just coming in our front desk, not to mention the 14,000 people were case managing. Right. Right. But there's something that's I keep kinda rolling around my head around people saying, well, you know, you're not in the community as much. And I'm No. No. We are. We're in the homes. We're behind the scenes. We're we're pulling and holding together the fabric of the community. And so It's this interesting, like, people don't see COAAA unquote, I'm doing quotes, see us as much in the community, but we're out there there. Yeah. More potentially than many other agencies, if not all other agencies, we're just in the home doing what needs to be done. Yeah. Yeah.
Shaumane [:I found that, like, whenever we do, like, events and we, you know, have our information tables. Now, like, also, what are you? Like, if we mention senior options or we mentioned passport. Like, oh, yeah. My grandmother was on passport. Oh, yeah. My uncle's on senior options. I think it's just the the branding name of CO triple a that they're not familiar with, but I agree.
Camille [:Mhmm.
Shaumane [:They know that we're out there. It's just I don't know.
Katie White [:Like tying it all together. Yeah. I mean, pirates. Of events. And, you know, you see, you know, you can push and push and push information out there and whether or not people are receiving it. But -- Yeah. There's this quote that was Tom Gregoire the dean when you guys were at the college of social media.
Shaumane [:I was. Yeah.
Katie White [:He said something to the effect of you can get a lot more done when you don't care who gets credit for it. And I think about that all the time and what I'm doing. Like, How do we get this work done in a way? Like, do we love credit? For sure. Everybody loves to hear you're doing a great job, but maybe there's something to that. Like, we're in all these homes. And you might not know, but that's okay because we're getting done what needs to be done. Yeah.
Camille [:Yeah.
Katie White [:So I think there's I don't know. There's some sort of learning around that that I'm still noodling, especially with students. Like, this is hard COAAA, and there is a ton of recognition -- Right. -- that we're working on it. But I don't know. Any thoughts on that?
Camille [:And it's also where, COAAA a little bit. I feel like before now, it still was pretty pretty prevalent, but you know how it's like aging, but no one wants to accept their aging. Yes. Even us. Don't wanna accept that. Another year has passed. You know? And so It's all it reminds me of when I would do speaking events, for CO triple a. So on the speakers' bureau, we would speak at different entities. Might be Chase Bank, Huntington Bank, and we speak at their employee health fairs -- Okay.
Katie White [:--
Camille [:or have a resource table. Right? And people would come past the table when they see the table cloth, see no AAA's low. I
Katie White [:don't need
Shaumane [:that right now.
Katie White [:I don't
Camille [:need that right now. There you go. That doesn't apply to me right now. How to get that so much? And they were like, oh, I'm glad you're here, but I'm not there yet. And -- Exactly.
Katie White [:--
Camille [:say, okay. Well, we are here. Right. Or you do get the person who isn't that employee for those entities taking care of someone. Right? And then they are like, COAAA, okay. I didn't realize you were out there. But the key I always take away is everyone's, like, shying away from the table because of aging. Mhmm. You know? And it's -- Ages and
Katie White [:at its finest. Right? Exactly. If we're all afraid to grow old, then none of us are gonna be you know, preparing to grow older because we're distancing our ourselves from it.
Camille [:So it's almost like how do we get the, I say, the world, but also Columbus, Ohio, too, and students to know that Everybody's aging. Doesn't matter if you're 20 today, next year, you're
Katie White [:21. That's right. That's right.
Camille [:I was just 42 and a week ago, I'm
Katie White [:43.
Camille [:So so everyone is going to turn another age h is there. Right. And so the process of starting to accept that and say, that's okay. Yeah. Let me prepare for the next phases of life, or if we still have family members, parents, we are gonna be caregivers of those individuals. Learning the information as early as possible is never too late or too early to do.
Katie White [:Right. Right.
Shaumane [:And I found that a lot of people come to us either when they're in crisis, right, when they oh my gosh. We need this. I need this. And probably
Katie White [:2
Shaumane [:or 4 of those folks were at the events. And like you said, just kinda walk by. I don't need that right now, but I found that also how we reach those people, like you said, Camille, here, you may not need it now, but someone in your family take it. Yeah. I'm sure you have someone in your family that might can use it. That's kinda how we Push our literature and our information and resource books out there. Let's just take it. I'm sure someone in your family might need it. Yep.
Katie White [:Well, and with population aging, right, I mean, we're gonna have more and more older people, which I think is great. And I think probably everyone in the agency, we all really love that idea. So, hopefully, it becomes more normalized and socialized that you it's okay to be aging. It's okay to be old. Mhmm. There are supports out there, and there are people that know how to navigate these really complex systems.
Camille [:Right.
Katie White [:So when you think about, new interns coming to COP COAAA. What are your hopes for them? Like, what do you think would make this an even better place to be an intern.
Shaumane [:Let me go first. I would say one because we are like that grassroot kind of atmosphere, I would love for them to really see, one, the flexibility of being able to complete your internship here. We really work with our students, with their schedules. Again, that shared responsibility, you know, getting your hands dirty. I'm using quotes too. Getting your hands dirty and really being hands on with everything with every aspect again. Mhmm. We don't leave you sitting in a corner someplace, hoping you figure it out, or hoping you catch something on the fly. We really put you, you know, inside and really give you that hands on, you know, kind of frontline experience. I think that is, like, the biggest take Like, you would truly apply what you're learning in the classroom. You'll have the opportunity to learn more because, again, you're paired with a seasoned social worker, you get an opportunity to attend, you know, CE session. So you're learning from other, you know, real life experience and other social workers. So I think that would be the, the biggest takeaway. It's great.
Camille [:My biggest takeaway I would hope for them is that, the love for the older adult population or individuals, with disabilities or mental health that is
Katie White [:60
Camille [:and younger since we also serve that population that they would grow to love it like we do. Because you might start off like, I don't know if this is my area or how long can I do it but we have a lot of longevity here? I feel like because, of the support, and so every day, Probably all of us. I won't even say majority wake up and say, I love this population. Right? You gotta love what you do and you gotta love to wake up every day. And come in to do it. So, I would hope that they get that feeling that we get when we talk about it and speak about CO COAAA that they get that love for it. Yeah. And, take that, with them here or anywhere else, and and grow upon it. Yeah. I think that's great.
Katie White [:I think there's a lot of, people that get into this sort of by accident, which we've talked about. And then there's a lot of people that are like, you know, I was really close with my grandparents growing up.
Camille [:Yes.
Katie White [:I was caregiver, I worked in dietary at the assisted living in my hometown. And so I do think there's something to that, like, exposure to working with older adults and people with disabilities that once you have any kind of experience like that, It can really change and motivate you to say, oh my gosh. This is an amazing population to work with. Yeah.
Camille [:Yes. Yeah. Yes. And what's interesting is is recently with our new hires, and the senior senior options department. A good portion of them came from children and family background.
Katie White [:That's super interesting.
Camille [:There is several. And then, they were like, I wanted to try something different. Or like you were saying, Katie, grandparents and different things. And so they came to our agency and our department And now they are, like, loving older adults. And I was like, yes, dear. Hidden jam. We got them. We got them. It's a hidden gem. But, yeah, a lot of them have come from children and family background.
Katie White [:Yeah. So even if people aren't, sure that they wanna work with older, alter people with disabilities. If they want sort of a well rounded, generalist, if experience as an intern, this is a place that people should consider coming because you're gonna just see and learn so much. And even if you wanna stay, we're still gonna make sure that you leave here.
Camille [:That's right.
Katie White [:A great experienced social worker.
Shaumane [:I'll be great with that.
Camille [:Another great thing with Lynn Dob that she does.
Shaumane [:Shout out to Lynn.
Camille [:Man, Lynn Dov's been around. What, she does. If a person is unsure, And I encourage this a lot, as well. You are more than welcome to reach out to the agency and take and do a shadow day.
Katie White [:Oh, that's So
Camille [:you don't even have to commit. Yeah. You could, do a shadow day and she sends out her communication amongst the departments. And pair you with someone for today. And then that individual will take and share information about the agency, the particular department they're specifically in and then the afternoon take them out on home visits. Okay. So, you have a opportunity to shadow what we do before you even commit. And a lot of entities don't allow that. You know, it's kinda like, no, we just take out the ones that were directly assigned. Right. But Theo COAAA will take you out and let you take a day. Suspend it with us.
Shaumane [:And and that speaks again to our flexibility and accommodation
Katie White [:--
Camille [:Yep. -- to students.
Katie White [:Informed consent. It's -- Yeah. -- needed all over the place. Right?
Shaumane [:Exactly. Yeah.
Katie White [:So, my last question is, If people reach out, are either of you taking interns right now?
Shaumane [:I think I can. I know I have, you know, some still new case managers that I'm kinda busy with, but we're always open within our department, with other case managers who are available. Yeah.
Katie White [:Yes. At senior options? Good. Yeah. I'm I'm hoping we get a big cohort that comes, you know, every August or in January because it's fun to be an intern with other interns too.
Shaumane [:Yeah. And Lynn always jokes I'm the poster child for internally because I did my bachelor's masters and then moved into the supervisor's role similar to Camille's path too. She said So career ladders and all? It's good. That's it.
Katie White [:I wonder how many people started here as interns. I should do a little, survey
Camille [:and put this in the podcast right up. There you go. Several. And they're just hiding because they're like, oh, no. She's gonna give me on that. Like, right? They know we're always up to something. And so they're like, I'm gotta say, though.
Shaumane [:I'm looking
Camille [:for you. But I bet if you said the survey I
Shaumane [:bet it's it's it's It's
Katie White [:probably a lot. Right? Well, thank you to our guests for being here today. Now I hope you know something about being an intern at COAAA.
