Blog
ASCI Presents: A Lived Experience Story ft. Shataya Taylor
Each month, A Second Chance, Inc. shares the voices of our kinship families through Q&A-style discussions. We are an agency that strives to provide a safe, secure, and nurturing environment to children in the care of relatives or close family friends—formally called kinship care. Our goal is to truly understand our kinship families by listening to the irreplaceable insights that the lived experience of caseworkers, caregivers, birth parents, and children can offer to make the narrative authentic and programming more meaningful. This month we had the pleasure of speaking with Shataya Taylor who has recently obtained her master’s degree in social work.
What motivated you to pursue a career in the field of social work?
At first, I did not have a clear idea of exactly what I wanted to do. I just always knew that I wanted to help people. Initially, I applied for nursing, but I knew that wasn’t a field that I would thrive in. So, I decided to take general classes that would technically be acceptable until I absolutely had to choose a major.
During my junior year of undergrad, I did career testing which led me to social work. I wasn’t going to go through it at first, because you must have that heart and strength to be in the field. Being a social worker is difficult because you must deal with people that have trauma. You must deal with the stories that are shared on the news firsthand. As a social worker, it is very difficult. So, I had to have the heart and the mindset for it. My dad told me that I must prepare myself if I really want to be in this field.
Social work classes during the pandemic were very difficult. However, the more I started to work with youth and have youth tell me, “It’s easy to talk to you. You look like us,” I figured out that I probably have the gift of being a social worker. I love being an open ear for youth and helping them out when they really feel like they’re not being heard. So, the more I started working with youth, I knew this is exactly where I needed to be. Before I knew it, I was graduating with my bachelor’s in social work. I liked learning different things surrounding mental health, what people go through, the background of their lives, and being able to help them.
As a new social worker, what do you hope to accomplish? How do you plan on creating change in social work for the years to come?
I know a lot of people say things like “I want to make a change. I want to make a difference.” I love the idea of that, but we can’t change every mindset. We can’t change how someone is raised. You can just do what you can do. So, the change I would like to make is just being that open ear for youth.
We are losing youth like wildfire. The number of youth dying is heartbreaking. The number of youth who are crying and begging for help is tremendous. These kids need help. These kids need an open ear. The change I want to make is for them to know that I can be an open ear and that they’ll not feel like they’re about to be lectured after or if it was a lecture, that they really got something out of it and felt seen and heard.
We have to remember, youth aren’t always going to make the most sensible decisions. They’re still trying to figure out life. I just want to be that open ear and help them out. If I can change at least a couple of lives and help them down a greater path in life, I can say that I’ve done my job as a social worker and made the change that I want. Of course, everyone aspires to change the world, but you can do what you can, or what you’re capable of, which is, for me, helping the youth in my community.
In the next five years, where do you see yourself in the field of social work?
In five years, I’ll already have my Master’s, and then hopefully have my licensure as a licensed social worker. When I was in high school, I was able to volunteer more and stuff like that, but when the pandemic hit, and school, it was hard to put all that work in. I hope to be out there more in the social work community helping youth and working in a school as a guidance counselor.
I want to help kids out. I hope that by that time I have established myself in an agency or organization. I want people to be able to say, “Shataya can help you. You can see her for this. She has the resources for that.” I don’t want to say that I want to be a big name, but hopefully, in 5 years, I have my feet in the ground when it comes to youth not only in Pittsburgh but all over.
What do you think would be the most challenging experience in social work?
The most challenging experience is when someone doesn’t want help. You know when you really want to help someone, you see potential in them, especially youth. Like, they’re too young to say they don’t want help. They still have time to change. They still have time to switch things around.
A lot of people like to push others, but sometimes when you push too much, that breaks the person down. For people that don’t want help, I’ve found that it pays off to gradually speak into peoples’ lives.
Another thing is just hearing the stories of what youth go through. I’ve heard ten-year-olds go through way more than I have at 23. Hearing certain stories, you realize that it’s a blessing that they’re still standing here or fully able to understand why they are upset because they are 15 and going through four or five different traumatic life experiences at once. So just hearing the stories of maltreatment is sometimes very difficult. As a social worker, you know you have to learn how to hold that emotion in and not show it there. You can show empathy or sympathy right then and there, but you have to learn how to hold in those tears because this child really just needs someone to hold them. They need someone to wrap their arms around them because that’s all they’re really begging and asking for. They’re looking for that love and affection because they’ve never received it as a child.
Another thing that is challenging for a lot of social workers is taking care of themselves.
We must learn how to de-compress and practice self-care. It might sound repetitive but practicing self-care is essential in this field of work because burnout can happen quickly if you do not take care of yourself. You are the person that takes care of everybody else, please take care of yourself!
What do you think will be the most rewarding experience in social work?
I would say the most rewarding experiences would be families sharing how much I’ve helped them. If I can get at one or two people to say, “Hey Ms. Shataya, you really helped me out,” that would be my ultimate goal for me because that was me. That’s another reason why I got into the field. I’ve had help. I had that support when I went to the Neighborhood Academy. I was able to come back and realize if it wasn’t for my advisors, I wouldn’t have been able to get through school. I wouldn’t have been able to be the strong educated black woman I am today. I just want to give back to empower youth to do whatever their hearts desire.
In a fellowship that I was in, I had to do a project on the things that are happening in your agency. In the 2 years that I’ve been in the child welfare system, I’ve learned just that you can experience a lot within yourself. My project was on the perspective of caseworkers. I was very aware that people don’t really ask how caseworkers are doing. My issue is that as caseworkers, we go through a lot. What people see on the news, we deal with it firsthand. So, my project on the perspective of caseworkers and the mental well-being and health of caseworkers was essential to me because a lot of the work we do can take a toll on our mental health.
In what ways do you believe child welfare can improve?
I saw all the privileges I had by going to the Neighborhood Academy and having both my parents in my life. There were things I didn’t go through, and I know that other youth went through, which showed me how blessed really was. If I can get a couple of youth to say I’ve helped them succeed and grow into successful adults, that would be so fulfilling. Then I would know that what I’m doing or what I need to do as a social worker is paying off.
In a fellowship that I was in, I had to do a project on the things that are happening in your agency. In the 2 years that I’ve been in the child welfare system, I’ve learned just that you can experience a lot within yourself. My project was on the perspective of caseworkers. I was very aware that people don’t really ask how caseworkers are doing. My issue is that as caseworkers, we go through a lot. What people see on the news, we deal with it firsthand. So, my project on the perspective of caseworkers and the mental well-being and health of caseworkers was essential to me because a lot of the work we do can take a toll on our mental health.
An important question to ask is, “Who am I behind closed doors?” This is who people never meet, but who matters most.
We are dealing with a caseworker shortage across the nation which causes our caseworkers to have high caseloads that make it difficult to do proper assessments or handle cases efficiently to ensure the safety and wellness of children. I give kudos to caseworkers who can handle their caseloads perfectly. But, there’s always that percentage of caseworkers who struggle, asking themselves, “How am I able to efficiently do assessments thoroughly and figure out if this child really is in danger or safe at home if I am overloaded?”
I wholeheartedly believe that for child welfare to improve, we must look at our caseworkers differently. We must change the mindset of our employees because of the society that we live in and understand that there are so many of us that love our jobs, but burnout is a serious issue. We have to figure out something to show the importance of casework.
The system has to change its mindset and ability to contribute or to be accessible to caseworkers and their mental health. Mental health days should be mandatory for every caseworker in child welfare.
If you could give other new social workers tips, that could help them succeed, what would it be and why?
You have to build yourself up to network! You have to get out there and hit the ground running. You can’t be a social worker that doesn’t network or doesn’t communicate with people. Social workers have to get comfortable with communicating with people and making a name for themselves. Recently, I was asked to go to a conference, and I was so hesitant, then I had another voice in my head telling me to just do it.
You don’t know who you’re going to run into when you’re networking. You don’t know what people need. You don’t know what people are looking for. So, I find networking the number one thing. It’s very important, especially with social work, because you don’t know what doors can open for you. You don’t know every program that’s out there, so you can easily find a nonprofit that you love or find your dream job just through communication.
I also what to emphasize that social workers can’t be sensitive. You’re going to experience a lot of stuff and if you’re not ready to experience it, get ready. Anything can change and anything can happen. There are things that happen in child welfare that most people couldn’t even imagine hearing. You have to have a strong mind. You have to have the ability to take care of yourself. You have to have the ability to know when you need a break and be ready to advocate for yourself.
Social workers are needed. We also need a lot more black social workers. For youth to have that familiar face is important. I’m happy that there are people that do look at us as heroes with capes on because it kind of feels like that sometimes, if you weren’t there for some people they would be lost and some people are okay with admitting that.
So, to reiterate, having a strong mind and advocating for yourself and your clients, and also advocating for yourself, are what I think are some tips that I will also give to new social workers. Because, in this field, you don’t know what you’re going to experience. You can wake up thinking your day is going to go one way and it ends up another. But that’s also my favorite thing about working in child welfare. My every day isn’t the same. It’s always different and I’m always ready to learn and grow. I do love being in social work and I don’t think that I would have chosen any other profession to pursue.