Montgomery County recognizes social workers
NORRISTOWN >> Social workers are essential.
That’s this year’s theme for National Social Work Month, which is designated each March, according to the National Social Workers Association.
For Tara Gaudin, director of the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, it’s something she said really resonated with her.
“That is so, so true, and even outside of the pandemic they are so essential and we need them and we really appreciate them,” she told MediaNews Group.
In addition to the caseworkers, Gaudin said Montgomery County’s social workers are “educators,” “helpers” and “policy” aficionados.
Earlier this month, Gaudin virtually accepted a proclamation from the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners recognizing the service social workers provide to area residents.
“This group of people is truly an unsung group of heroes in our community,” said Montgomery County Commissioners’ Chairwoman Val Arkoosh during a March 18 meeting.
Montgomery County Commissioners’ Vice Chairman Ken Lawrence Jr. agreed.
“You deserve more than a month; you deserve a year,” he said.
“I’m very proud of the hard work the county employees are doing to deliver social work to the residents of Montgomery County,” said Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Gale.
While the document was signed by Democrats Arkoosh and Lawrence, Republican Gale’s name was omitted.
Gaudin has received the proclamation each year since she began working for Montgomery County back in 2018, and she said she appreciates how local leaders “take time to recognize hard work.”
Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Gaudin credited the continued efforts of the 550 employees in her department, which includes a number of agencies assisting children, veterans and seniors.
“That’s really what we’re proud of. If people need help or they just need information they can come to us and get some type of help,” she said. “We always want to make sure the help is the right help at the right time delivered in the right way. So we’ve really kept working to make sure that happens.”
There are also divisions catering to different aspects of health, housing and child care services. Some departments offer “direct services,” while others outsource to “community providers,” according to Gaudin.
“All of the offices under here — they all have some type of social work aspect, absolutely,” she said.
She noted her department strives to ensure “Montgomery County residents live a health, safe, connected life.” It’s a mantra that rang true in the early days of the public health crisis.
“So the whole system was really, really stretched,” she said. “So that’s where we had to continue to be resilient, continue to provide the highest quality services in light of the challenges that were so unprecedented.”
While some aspects of the job had to be done in person, Gaudin said personal protective equipment was provided to caseworkers, clients and family members during home visits.
However, other tasks could be done working remotely, and Gaudin emphasized the importance of checking in and providing additional support.
For Gaudin, the health and safety of her employees was paramount.
With many people going to work each day as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, Gaudin stressed that it’s been difficult because “outside of being in the helping profession, that we’re just people, experiencing this too.”
“But I say, ‘you cannot be the best helper unless you are healthy yourself.’ So we always put that number one,” she said. “You’ve got to make sure you’re safe and healthy so we can give the best to the community.”
Other programming resources including community forums, information sessions and even the recent series of Black History Month panels moved online. Despite the switch to digital, Gaudin found instances of increased participation.
“What we learned is there really should be a combination anyway because we want to make sure we’re accessible,” she said.
It’s also something that Lawrence noticed.
“We know that this last year has been tough, but our social workers have risen to the challenge, risen to the occasion and continue to service people in new and different ways as our chair[woman] mentioned,” Lawrence said.