Alumni in the Field
Traci Savoy, MSW'00
Traci Savoy, MSW'00
Traci Savoy, MSW’00 recently summarized her work at Casey Family Programs by saying, “I don’t think it gets any better than this.” She was referring to the role she plays in helping children and families on a national level through her position as a Systems Improvement Specialist at Casey Family Programs. Traci is also quick to recognize the importance of her social work training, pointing out that we can’t underestimate the value of professionals with “this background doing this type of work.”
And since her days as a Penn MSW student, Traci knew that policy work was the type of work she wanted to do. Her second year field placement was in the Office of Congressman Robert C. Scott, U.S. House of Representatives. After graduation, she worked for the Center for the Study of Social Policy in Washington, D.C. Here, she was exposed to a variety of policy experiences, such as providing support to the Deputy Director in her role as Court-appointed Monitor of the District of Columbia Child and Family Services Agency. This work included conducting case record reviews, qualitative reviews of case practice, and participating on advisory panels. This training prepared Traci for the position she holds today at Casey Family Programs, where her three main responsibilities are to 1) support the Breakthrough Series Collaborative (more about this below); 2) facilitate Peer Technical Assistance matches; and 3) serve as a liaison to the District of Columbia Child and Family Services Agency to identify areas in which they need support and technical assistance.
When asked about the most challenging aspect of her job, Traci pointed to the fact that “systems improvement is hard work in child welfare.” However, her agency produces reports of “promising practices” which outline the most successful ideas assessed in their Breakthrough Series Collaboratives. These “promising practices” hold the potential for positive change on a system-wide level.
Exactly what is a Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC)? Simply stated, it is a small-scale way of assessing whether a new idea or practice works. The Collaboratives at Casey target one issue at a time (i.e., kinship care or the recruitment and retention of foster parents) and usually last about twelve months. A Collaborative begins with an expert panel consisting of researchers, faculty, policy experts, and others. This panel “teases out strategies as elements of change” and compiles them into a “change package.”
Participating jurisdictions then use the change package to develop and test strategies that they believe may hold promise. The strategies are tested first with one or two families and are eventually implemented agency-wide if they are successful. Throughout the course of a twelve-month Collaborative, the participating jurisdictions come together three times to discuss the BSC methodology, share lessons learned and successes, and the challenges they face in implementing these practices. At the end of the BSC, the observations and outcomes are compiled into a report.
The BSC is only one way in which Casey is changing child welfare at the systems level. Another way, Peer Technical Assistance, creates a venue through which jurisdictions can share “lessons learned.” If a jurisdiction is interested in learning about a practice that is already being used in another jurisdiction, Casey facilitates a meeting of peers between the two. The jurisdiction requesting the match works with their counterparts at the other agency (i.e., a Director works with a Director, a case manager is paired with a case manager, etc.) to develop a plan of action. While it is not always possible to find an exact match between desired program and existing program, Casey has always been able to find something similar in order to facilitate peer-to-peer learning.
Through her work at Casey Family Programs – specifically as it relates to the Breakthrough Series Collaborative and Peer Technical Assistance – Traci is doing the “hard work” necessary to bring about systems improvement in child welfare. For more information on Casey Family Programs and the Breakthrough Series Collaborative, contact Traci Savoy, MSW at tsavoy@casey.org or visit www.casey.org.