Fall 2022 Issue
Department of
Social Work Welcome We are so excited to share with you our first formal newsletter. With our transition to the College of Allied Health & Nursing, we have many opportunities to engage in scholarship, research, workshops, and collaborations. This newsletter highlights some of these new beginnings as faculty, staff, and students return to campus. As we come out of pandemic mode and as we enter our second year in the College of Allied Health & Nursing, we are planning a future that will increase
Welcome to Abby Malterer The Department of Social Work is thrilled to welcome Abby Malterer, LICSW as the new Director of MSW Field Education. Abby joined the Department of Social Work and MSW Program in June 2022. Abby is well known to the Department of Social Work, as she earned her MSW degree from Minnesota State Mankato in 2014. Since 2014, Abby has worked as a social worker with Horizon Homes, first as a Mental Health Practitioner, then as the ARMHS Treatment Director, and most recently as a Mental
Welcome. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Welcome to Abby Malterer. . . . . . . . . . Faculty News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Health Commons at Pond. . . . . . . . . . . The Department of Social Work is going Virtual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Child Welfare Update. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Southern Minnesota Behavioral Health Initiative. . . . . . . . . . Field Education Experiences Growth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Friend of the Court. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seeing the Entire Battle. . . . . . . . . . . . . Celebrating our Graduates. . . . . . . . . .
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our capacity to serve our communities. This exciting future includes developing virtual reality simulations, adding social work students and faculty to University supported clinics, and offering workforce training and support. On behalf of the Department of Social Work students, alumni, faculty, staff, and community partners, we are so grateful to all of you who stayed the course, a long and winding one, with us for the past 2+ years as we adjusted to remote teaching, learning, and working and as we transitioned to a new college. We have all been challenged throughout the pandemic, and while these challenges pushed many of us to our limits at times, they also gave us new avenues for being in community with each other. Let’s continue to build a strong, vibrant, connected community together. Debra Gohagan, PhD Chair, Department of Social Work
Health Professional for the ARMHS Program, the Crisis Center, and the Mobile Crisis Unit. Abby was also responsible for staff training and outreach to service providers, all of which have prepared her well for her new role with the MSW Program. Outside of work, Abby serves on the Waseca County Farm Bureau board and the MSSA Region IX Conference Committee. Abby loves to travel (recently to Spain and Portugal), spend time with her two dogs, and with her family. In her role as Director of MSW Field Education, Abby will oversee and lead the MSW Field Program, place students in practicum settings, expand field sites, and recruit field instructors. If you want to connect with Abby about serving as a field site for the MSW Program, you can reach her at abigail.malterer.2@mnsu.edu.
Fall 2022
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Faculty News Nancy Fitzsimons Congratulations to Dr. Nancy Fitzsimons for being named a 2022 Distinguished Faculty Scholar in April 2022. Distinguished Faculty Scholars are chosen among tenured professors at Minnesota State Mankato whose body of scholarship and current level of scholarly achievement warrant distinction within the university community. Dr. Fitzsimons received the award from Dr. Teri Wallace, Associate Vice President for Research and Dean of Extended Campus. The honor includes a budget for research and reassigned time to focus on scholarship. Jennifer Andrashko Social Work professor Jennifer Andrashko (right) and Sabrina Ehmke, Nursing professor, traveled to the Netherlands in May 2022 to present their research at the International Education Week at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences in Zwolle, Netherlands. Their presentation, “Maternal mortality in the United States and the Netherlands: A case study and cross-national comparative conversation,” was completed in partnership with The Center for Global Engagement at Minnesota State Mankato. The theme of the week was “A Connecting World: Local, Global and Intercultural Challenges within Health Care and Social Work.” Professor Andrashko’s current research aims to explore the experiences of prenatal, birthing, and postpartum women in Minnesota with hopes of using survey data to shape the pilot of a Maternal Medical Home in south-central Minnesota. In November 2021, Professor Andrashko was appointed to serve a three-year term on the Minnesota Maternal Mortality Review Committee by Jan Malcolm, MN Commissioner of Health. The first ever report on maternal mortality in the state of Minnesota was published on August 4, 2022 and was based on the committee’s collective findings. In addition, Professor Andrashko was an invited speaker at the 2022 National Conference of the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (SIDM) held in Minneapolis in October. Working with a team of nurses, physicians, payors, policymakers, patient advocates, and administrators, Professor Andrashko presented a case-based approach to examining diagnostic error for pregnant, birthing, and postpartum women and for the improvement of maternal health outcomes. Omotola Akinsola BSSW Professor Omotola Akinsola received one of this year’s two Hope Faculty Research Fellowships. The Fellowship, open to faculty in the College of Allied Health and Nursing, provides $2,500 per year to expand the understanding of hope across individuals, families, communities, or cultures. Dr. Akinsola’s project is an evaluation of a vocational and entrepreneurship training pilot program for youth located in Nigeria. The eight-week program seeks to build hope among youth by developing vocational skillsets and practical business education that empowers the youth. Paul Mackie BSSW Program Director and Professor Paul Mackie was recently appointed to the Council of Social Work Education (CSWE) Nominating Committee as the Undergraduate Faculty Representative. Dr. Mackie will serve in this position until June 2023. Dr. Mackie has also been appointed Assistant Director of the Center for Rural Behavioral Health, a new interdisciplinary research and training center at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
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Fall 2022
Health Commons at Pond During the 2021-2022 academic year, the MSW Program joined other programs in the College of Allied Health and Nursing (CAHN) in providing health and wellness care to students and their families in the Bloomington school district. This initiative, called Health Commons at Pond, is a free medical clinic operated by CAHN students, faculty, and staff. The clinic provides an array of physical and behavioral health services, including physicals, immunizations, screenings, sexual health education, and mental health support. The MSW Program has taken a lead role in providing mental health support. Dr. Ross Aalgaard (left) began providing therapy sessions two days a week in Fall 2021, and Matthew Frank (right), an MSW student completing his specialization year practicum, joined Dr. Aalgaard in Spring 2022. For Dr. Aalgaard, the Pond clinic provides a return to his roots of providing integrated behavioral health care to clients in a primary care setting. Dr. Aalgaard sees the clinic as an excellent learning environment, as it provides real-world situations where actual client needs are being addressed in a rapid fashion. Referrals come from School Social Workers in the district as well as Nurse Practitioners at the clinic. Dr. Aalgaard noted that grief and loss was one area where students needed support, whether dealing with the death of a family member or parents’ divorce. An advantage of the clinic structure is the ability to collaborate with Nursing colleagues and ‘hand-off’ clients in a way where rapport and trust are developed. Matthew Frank reported his practicum “was a great hands-on experience” that allowed him to work directly with students of all ages that attend school in Bloomington. “I was honored to be a small part of the clinic, and extremely happy for the learning experiences. I believe that the mental health services helped the students by providing extra support to explore thoughts, feelings, and concerns they may be experiencing at that time,” Matthew stated. In the future, Dr. Aalgaard hopes to expand the role of the Department of Social Work at the Pond clinic by having a BSSW student who could provide case management services to families utilizing clinic services. For Matthew Frank, his connection with the Bloomington Public Schools will continue in his new role as an in-school therapist at one of their high schools.
Southern Minnesota Behavioral Health Initiative In June 2021, the MSW Program was awarded their third Behavioral Health Workforce Employment and Training grant through the Health Resources and Services Administration. This four-year, $531,000 grant is focused on expanding and enhancing the behavioral health workforce in southern Minnesota by increasing the number of MSW graduates with training in integrated behavioral health that plan to reside and work in the southern Minnesota region. The Initiative provides financial support to eight MSW students each year while they are completing their practicum in an integrated behavioral healthcare setting. Partner agencies include Mayo Clinic Health System – Southwest Minnesota region, Counseling Services of Southern Minnesota, and Fernbrook Family Center. The Initiative supports training for MSW students in telemental health, integrated behavioral health, and a budget to enhance training in clinical areas. The Initiative also provides support for Field Instructors and practicum settings. Ally Malueg, one of the 2021-2022 Initiative participants, completed her practicum in the Mayo Clinic Health System- Emergency Department (ED) in Mankato. Ally shared that the support and flexibility of the financial stipend helped alleviate extra stress and allowed her to determine how training funds would benefit her the most. “It was an easy way to complete additional trainings and [the Initiative] provided additional funds for trainings outside of the stipend. This gave me the opportunities to complete the clinical content that I need for my license.” Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato is one of the key partners in the Initiative. “The ED social work department was truly an amazing group of individuals with strong clinical skills, and I am grateful to have gotten the chance to learn from them and grow as an individual,” Ally Malueg said. David Beimers is the Principal Investigator for the grant and Jennifer Andrashko (Social Work faculty) is currently serving as the project coordinator. Abby Malterer (Director of MSW Field Education) is also be a key member of the Initiative. This is the third BHWET grant that the MSW Program has received since 2014. Fall 2022
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Child Welfare Update The Department has been home to the Title IV-E Child Welfare Scholars Program since Spring 2005. Title IV-E funds are used to support programs that train professionals to work with children who are at imminent risk of being removed from their homes. Initially, Social Work programs, in conjunction with state departments of Human Services, paid a stipend or salary to graduate social work students who made a commitment to work in county, state, or tribal child welfare programs upon graduation. The goal was to decrease child welfare workforce turnover with better prepared social work child welfare practitioners. In Spring 2005, undergraduate social work programs were added to the Title IV-E eligible programs in Minnesota. In 2010, we added the MSW program to our Child Welfare Program at Minnesota State University, Mankato. To date, we have graduated 300+ undergraduate and graduate child welfare scholars and we have given more than $1million in stipends to students. We are quite proud of our child welfare program’s contributions to the wellbeing of children and families not only in Minnesota but our region. In June 2020, Michelle Forliti joined Kim Zammitt, MSW CWP Faculty Coordinator, and Debra Gohagan, BSSW Faculty Coordinator, as our CWP Student Support Coordinator. With her help, the CWP is now able to support collaborations with our partner child welfare organizations and agencies. This includes supporting a faculty member at Health Commons at Pond and a faculty member who is designing a virtual reality experience for child welfare mandated reporter training. Kim, Michelle, and Debra look forward to engaging in more collaborations and research activities with our partner organizations and agencies in the future. Let us know how we can help you.
The Department of Social Work is Going Virtual! Professor Laura Strunk recognizes that many mandated reporters are ill-equipped to carry out that responsibility, but she has an innovative solution to meeting that need. While working in child welfare and children’s mental health, Dr. Strunk saw the importance of training students and community members to be mandated reporters. Over the years, Dr. Strunk has provided that training in both academic and community settings, but all that time, she had a vision to incorporate an experiential component. Through financial support from the CAHN and the Department of Social Work’s Title IV-E child welfare training program, Dr. Strunk is turning that vision into a reality. Dr. Strunk is developing a mandated reporter training that will integrate the use of Virtual Reality (VR) technology so that training participants can experience a simulated environment and develop observation skills that can then be used in a real-world setting. CAHN has purchased six sets of Oculus VR head gear and computer stations for the Department of Social Work to use. Dr. Strunk is currently working with Paul Cusick, CAHN Technology Director, and the software developers to build out the application for the VR units. The initial phase will have trainees approach an isolated farm house. Wearing the VR head gear, the trainees will be able to observe the yard, vehicles, animals, and other items. Then, trainees will be able to enter the house through the kitchen and observe the condition, safety, and cleanliness of the room. The training will offer an opportunity for trainees to discuss what they see and how that might relate to a safety concern that would lead to a mandated report. Dr. Strunk is also working with Tom Rother, an investigator with the Mankato Department of Public Safety in designing the environment. Dr. Strunk notes that many first responders in rural areas receive minimal training or preparation to be a mandated reporter and may not know what to look for when they are dispatched to a site. Dr. Strunk sees potential for the VR technology to be used in other fields as well, such as home health care. Later in Fall 2022, Dr. Strunk plans to start using the VR technology with BSSW students in SOWK 443 - Social Work Counseling with Individuals, Groups, and Families, as well as both BSSW and MSW students in the Title IV-E Child Welfare program. Once the technology is working well, Dr. Strunk hopes to begin using it with law enforcement, first responders, and other community partners as part of the mandated reporter training. Dr. Strunk welcomes inquiries about the mandated reporter training and VR technology and can be reached at laura.strunk@mnsu.edu. 4
Fall 2022
Field Education Experiences Growth Our Department’s Field Education team continued to expand over the 2021-2022 academic year, adding 35 new field partners and more than 70 individual field instructors. Laura Benesch, Director of BSSW Field Education, noted that among the new Field Sites, five are outside of Minnesota. Out of state Field Sites include Illinois, Georgia, South Dakota, Texas, and Canada. While out of region sites require additional planning and vetting on the part of the field education staff, it provides students with greater opportunities to complete their practicums. Mariah Gardner, BSSW ’22 (pictured at graduation), provided the following reflection on completing her practicum experience in Canada. Mariah’s story “Once I found out we were required to complete a senior practicum, I knew I wanted to do my placement in Canada. I spoke with Professor Debra Gohagan to see if it was possible. I don’t remember her exact words, but I was told something along these lines, “I don’t see why not.” As an Indigenous woman, I hoped to complete my placement at an organization that focused on the healing and wellbeing of Indigenous youths and families. That being said, I was fortunate enough to be a studentintern at Dilico Anishinabek Family Care in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The Social Work Department at Minnesota State Mankato worked diligently to make this hope a reality. Working with an International Placement was a great experience that challenged my abilities as a Social Work Student. I had been pushed out of my comfort zone on numerous occasions to ensure all requirements were met. As challenges arose, I had to accept feedback and criticism on my performance, and then learn how to successfully apply it to new tasks to grow as a student, and individual. To achieve success through a first-time international placement, it was important to utilize clear and concise communication. I had continual guidance from my placement supervisor, Josee Ferarri and Minnesota State Mankato academic supervisor, Christine Black-Hughes. Social Work Professor Black-Hughes played a significant role in my success as her endless support was motivation to strive for the most in every setting, whether that be through academics or life goals. Not only did I have her support, but support from other social work faculty from Minnesota State Mankato. I will always be grateful for the amount of support I received from the Social Work Department throughout my time at Minnesota State Mankato.”
Recent trends During the 2021-2022 academic year, 130 BSSW and MSW students completed a field practicum. Between the two programs, MSW and BSSW students completed 58,765 practicum hours last year! Laura Benesch shared that due to the pandemic, more than half of current students are completing their practicum outside of the Mankato – St Peter region. While BSSW students always represent a broad range of interests for practicum sites, Laura Benesch is noticing a recent uptick in interest in school social work, medical social work, and behavioral health care settings. For the 2022-2023 academic year, Department Field Directors Benesch and Malterer will be integrating newly published 2022 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards from the Council of Social Work Education (CSWE) across the multiple field education forms, syllabi, and documents. Additionally, there are plans to reengage with community partners and return to pre-pandemic events and activities. If you are interested in becoming involved with the field program, please reach out to either Laura Benesch laura.benesch@mnsu.edu, and/or Abby Malterer - abigail. malterer.2@mnsu.edu.
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FRIEND OF THE COURT JAMIE RIGLING HELPS RELEASED PRISONERS LAUNCH NEW LIVES By ROBB MURRAY ‘95 When Jamie Rigling helps formerly incarcerated people register to vote, or obtain a state ID, or use the internet and put a resume together, she does so from a unique place of empathy. “I know a little bit what it’s like because my father was incarcerated before I was born,” she said. “So he had the real struggles of being a felon. We struggled with housing. We struggled with employment. And I was the child that people would tell their children to stay away from because my family was bad business.” In her latest role advocating for people she feels deserve a second chance, this graduate of Minnesota State Mankato’s social work program is a Community Intervention Administrator for the state of Minnesota. That job follows a nine-year stint at the federal prison in Waseca as its Reentry Affairs Coordinator. She’s also an integral part of a relatively new program called Re-entry Court. Re-entry Court brings together a variety of professionals from both inside and outside the criminal justice system—the U.S. Attorneys Office, federal judges, public defenders, probation officers, social workers, mentors, substance abuse and mental health specialists. That team works together to help those released from prison transition back into society. “That’s the platform I use to figure out what my clients need,” she said. “I’m the person who dissects things, and I do it individually to be able to look at it from a macro level. When I keep seeing the same identification issues, I know we have a systems problem. When I keep seeing the same driver’s license issues, I know we have a systems problem.” Rigling took her current job with the U.S. Probation and Pretrial Service in 2019. Since transferring from the Bureau of Prisons, her work areas and accomplishments have been impressive. Among them: • Helping with state-issued identification. Upon leaving prison, many inmates have no legal, current form of ID. Thanks in part to Rigling’s (and many others) advocating, Gov. Tim Walz signed into a law a set of new rules governing IDs to use prison identification as a secondary form.
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Voters and other advocates, U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services successfully registered hundreds of former inmates to vote. • Workforce development. Rigling recently spent two years working with the chief U.S. probation officer and colleagues to create a workforce development room that will open this year. Nancy Fitzsimons, a professor of social work at Minnesota State Mankato, said Rigling’s desire to help people and the degree with which she’s dug into changing systems makes her unique. “The work that she’s doing and how driven she is—I don’t think is typical,” Fitzsimons said. “She’s a clinical social worker who has enormous knowledge of and an interest in transforming systems. For somebody who has that clinical background and that clinical licensure to also be doing system work, and to be part of a more innovative approach to supporting people coming out of the prison system, I think is a little extra. I think that’s a little special.” Rigling’s reason for doing the work she does is simple: She wants to be part of the solution. “It’s like, ‘OK, there are 20 people coming out of prison this month,” she said. “How long have they been down? What is their need? How can we embed them into our communities at the least risk to the public as possible?” she said. “You’re either part of the solution or part of the problem. I’m not saying ‘Let’s have a welcome home party for people coming out of prison.’ But let’s be part of the solution and hire people with criminal backgrounds. Welcome them into your neighborhood and into your church or into your world.” Rigling, with her firsthand experience, is a firm believer in second chances. It’s that empathy that makes her a standout in what she does. “The work that she does today certainly is coming out of her own personal and family experience and sort of this commitment to supporting people in creating a better life and giving people a second chance,” Fitzsimons said. Rigling said living that life gave her a unique perspective, understanding what incarceration can do to a family. She also knows the power of giving people a second chance. “I just hope that by being a voice in our communities and going back into prisons talking to the inmates on the inside and telling them how to prepare will help influence one little area,” she said. “Maybe it will encourage others to part of solution to systematic barriers people are unnecessarily facing.” Reprinted from Today magazine, March 3, 2021 edition.
• Voter registration. Once released inmates have completed their probation terms, they’re eligible to have voting rights restored. After working with the Minnesota League of Women Fall 2022
‘Seeing the Entire Battle’ in Specialized Social Work
“Doing psychotherapy there was one of the best steps I could have taken,” she said. “And then, transferring that into the position I have now.”
BY JOE TOUGAS If Stephanie Schramm Little had not been attending Minnesota State Mankato, she wouldn’t have had the precious final days with her sisterin-law. Organ transplant social worker Stephanie Schramm Little
Nor would she have pursued a track of social work that she today calls nothing less than “my entire world.”
The two events converged several months after Little enrolled in 2014 to pursue a master’s degree in social work, thinking she’d wind up as a counselor. Instead, Little became a social worker in Bismarck, N.D., who tends exclusively to kidney transplant patients. It’s a rare job, one of only two in the state. So it’s busy and multi-faceted as she works with patients from the time they go on the waiting list to after they’ve had the transplant. During her first year of graduate school a couple of things happened. One was professor Nancy Fitzsimons, for whom Little worked a research student. Fitzsimons inspired the grad student to focus and advocate community-wide. “She encouraged me to go to board meetings. She encouraged me to go to local community meetings. She pushed for me to advocate for people,” Little explained. “She helped me co-write things so I was able to present at these organization meetings. She was so influential on my life.” While that change in focus was occurring, Little’s sister-inlaw stayed with her while being treated at the University of Minnesota for cancer. Long before the two became family members, the sister-in-law received a heart transplant at age 5. She lived with the transplant until age 24, at which point she died from cancer. Little was able to be with her during those final months. After graduating in 2015, she worked as a psychotherapist for the state prison system and the United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck.
By that point she had become a member of the Patient Affairs Committee with the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS.) The perspective that provided by way of first-hand accounts of struggles getting insurance and medication cemented her calling. “The entire cycle is just—it’s not in support of transplant patients, I’ll put it that way. Seeing all that really pushed me to want to make changes in the community. And to make sure people knew more about transplant in general.” Her workload on the day she’s asked consists of 90 people on the transplant list, and 175 more on the post-transplant list. She works with them all, at all stages pre- and post-transplant. “One of the biggest things I work with people on is feelings of resentment,” she said. “They may have family members who are healthy and capable of giving a kidney. Everyone has their reasons and it’s their decision if they want to do a living donation or not. That’s completely individual for each person. But as someone who’s chronically ill and possibly on dialysis, seeing healthy members flourish when they have two working kidneys can cause a lot of internal conflict with people. So that’s a big thing I work with.” Little is also pursuing a Ph.D. in health sciences in a dual degree plan with a master’s of public health. She’s in the running to be on the board of directors for the UNOS and is working with Bismarck’s mayor and state legislators to create an organ donor license plate. “Transplant is more than my job,” Little said. “It’s my entire world.” “I am not surprised that Stephanie is furthering her education beyond a Master of Social Work degree,” said Nancy Fitzsimons (left). “It is immensely gratifying to know that our learning and working together contributed to setting Stephanie on her path to earning a Ph.D. “All that she has been able to achieve and contribute in service to her community, the social work profession and beyond is quite impressive and exemplifies a social worker upholding the dual mission of social work: Individual well-being in a social context and the well-being of society. “ Reprinted from Today Magazine. March 4, 2021.
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DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WORK Trafton North 358 Mankato, MN 56001
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CELEBRATING OUR GRADUATES MSW Program celebrates 2022 cohort On July 15th, 2022, the MSW Program held their annual Recognition Ceremony for the MSW students completing the program during the Summer 2022 semester. Thirty-four graduating students were recognized. The 2022 cohort is the 14th cohort to complete the program, which began in 2008. Congratulations to our new graduate-level social workers!
Forty students graduate from BSSW Program The Department of Social Work was well represented at the Spring 2022 commencement ceremony for Minnesota State University, Mankato. Among those being recognized were forty new BSSW graduates! Congratulations to all our new social work colleagues.
A member of the Minnesota State system and an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity University. This document is available in alternative format to individuals with disabilities by calling Department of Social Work at 507-389-6504 (V), 800-627-3529 or 711 (MRS/TTY). SOCW03NE 10-22
