This week, I read “A Grow Your Own Approach in Social Work; Shaping Alaska Future.” The Authors were Laverne Demientieff, Carol Renfro, and Retchenda George-Bettiswerth. It is about the GYO (grow your own) Rural Cohort program at the UAF for future rural Behavioral Health and Social Workers. The principles are social justice, cultural responsiveness, sustainability, and social and human capital.
Throughout Alaska’s history, there has been a pattern of “outsiders” being brought into rural communities who lack cultural awareness and knowledge of the communities and people hired and sent into these rural areas due to their degrees. Still, the lack of cultural understanding and inability to connect have needed to be more effective. The BYO approach is to find and develop community members in these rural areas who are interested in behavioral health and social work to be trained and get the necessary education and skills required to work professionally in the behavioral health and social work field.
“In the classroom these elders can create a safe environment for learning and healing, and help ground the students in their culture and context.”-excerpt from A Grow Your Own Approach in Social Work
In 2005, the UAF added “Rural Cohort,” A program for Alaska Native and rural students. It was modeled after the Rural Human Services Certificate Program to provide training for behavioral health professionals and emphasizes cultural adaption.
It is impressive that the BYO approach can provide attainable education to distant learners in these communities where it wasn’t feasible. The social justice and community-building implications of this program are reflected in the retention rates of those who have been in the programs.
Another noteworthy thing Rural Cohort is doing is utilizing the wisdom and presence of elders in the beginning and end of semester intensives.
“In the classroom these elders can create a safe environment for learning and healing, and help ground the students in their culture and context.”-excerpt from A Grow Your Own Approach in Social Work
The power of being culturally responsive:
There is a tragic history within Alaska Native communities, from colonization, boarding schools, distrust of education and so called authority ect. There is historical trauma being seen as addiction, mental health, and suicide statistics. For an outsider or someone to come in from outside the community, it may not be furthering colonization honestly, rejected; by building up these homegrown behavioral health and social workers, BYO is being revolutionary; it reminds me of this Bible verse in Deuteronomy 18:15″ I will raise up prophets among your people, and you will listen to them.”
The only way to heal and make an impact is going to have to be from the inside, not from saviors coming from the outside and not knowing the people, the cultures, and the communities and histories they are employed at. Making education and certification attainable for the people already invested and living in these communities is exciting, and I’m following along.
Ian Miller
Hi Robi, this article was very interesting to read. I love that you captured the inclusion of the elders in your blog, “Another noteworthy thing Rural Cohort is doing is utilizing the wisdom and presence of elders in the beginning and end of semester intensives”. Though that was only a small part of the paper, I feel it is an incredibly important part of the program. I feel that the educational institution of UAF is taking a very trauma informed approach to trying to educate its rural members. There has been so much historical abuse in regards to AI/AN education by the colonizing majority, I see the inclusion of the elders and the rural cohort as being a huge step towards culturally re-empowering the wisdom of the Native People, and it also strengthens the foundation of it being a sustainable program.
Lastly, your final sentence is perfect! “Making education and certification attainable for the people already invested and living in these communities is exciting, and I’m following along”. I really hope that you continue to follow along and further the success of programs like this!
Robi Naranjo
Thanks for your feedback! I agree, the utilization of elders really sets the program apart and sets a sort of healing precedent. Trauma informed approach, what a great way to put that, it really is.
Trinity Podbicanin
Your blog was very informative. As shown in the source, “A handful of studies have been published highlighting the needs of the behavioral health care workforce specifically related to rural and indigenous populations in Alaska.” There is a need for the Grow Your Own program because it can help provide more accessibility. “According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), as of 2012, more than 3,500 counties in the United States were identified as having mental health professional shortages, affecting almost 91 million people. The SAMHSA report goes on to state, ‘This shortage of workers is not evenly distributed as 55% percent of U.S. counties, all rural, have no practicing psychiatrists, psychologists, or social workers.'” As you said, “The [GYO] approach can provide attainable education to distant learners in these communities where it wasn’t feasible.” Providing GYO programs allows for more accessibility to the social work program because it is online. My major is not social work, but I am in the online justice program, and I am from Florida. With this program being online, I can complete it with it being more accessible, and the same thing goes for social work. The GYO program helps with sustainability by “[The] graduates likely [incorporating] their cultural knowledge and practices into the organizations in which they work, causing a positive shift in the potential effectiveness of the organization and in the way the organization practices within the community.” By making social workers available in rural areas, social justice can be achieved by allowing social workers to promote social justice. From the source, 17.6% of the rural population had experienced mental illness, and there is also a need for a behavioral healthcare workforce. With that large percentage and the social work program being online, it will allow more people to complete the program and allow for more social workers in the rural areas, helping to bring that percentage down. That further shows the need for GYO programs and how they help with sustainability and social justice.
Robi Naranjo
Thanks for your feedback, you put that very well.
Annalee White
Robi!
Hey Robi, thank you for your words in regards to building your own social working network. I think it is so important to rely on those around you while being respectful of the cultures you will encounter through your work. I agree with trinitys comments on having more social workers available to the rural parts of Alaska, because communities such as these may need more help than we realize.
Robi Naranjo
Thanks for reading my blog
Maren Chaffee
Hi Robi, great work with your blog! Living in a rural community is an area of passion for me. I seek growth when hiring employees within our behavioral health department. A big part of the communities we serve are issues with trusting people who come from other areas and do not understand the culture of living in a rural area in Alaska or the culture of the indigenous people that is the primary population. I hope that companies that provide services for rural communities concentrate on educating providers continuously so they are educated to serve the population they practice in.
Robi Naranjo
Thanks for your insight and that’s exciting that you get to be part of the process of hiring the right people for the communities they serve. Right that would be great if they could continue to provide education for those working, and that would be great for so many public jobs in Alaska, anyone working with the public should be conscientious with the environment’s and people they work and live around.
Simone Smith
Hi Robi, I loved the article and your blog! I am so inspired by the GYO program, it is so important and will really help make needed change. Looking at people through an intersectional lens is so important if we want to truly help them. Someone from their community or who understands and is able to empathize is going to have a greater impact on their life. A program like this that will produce social workers like this is going to bring revolutionary change. I’m working at a alcohol and drug recovery center and we are reading and discussing the book The Red Road to Wellbriety which is a sobriety and wellness program written by Native Americans for Native Americans. It has a lot of similar aspects as AA, but has been so much more helpful for our Alaskan indigenous clients. The generational trauma they’ve experienced is on a whole other level and it needs to be considered.
Robi Naranjo
I love that Wellbriety movement and the red road! I actually just got out of the one Kenaitze tribe held a couple months ago , 8 weeks long, and it is so amazing, really hits on the addressing the generational trauma and healing, SOOO Good!!