Kathi Paige, ’04 M.S.W. / Certificate of Urban Leadership

Supervisor, Trainer, and Consultant, Brockton Area Child Witness to Violence Project, Department of Social Services, Brockton, Mass.

Invested in the safety of children: building alliances between law enforcement and social services

Kathi Paige comes from a family of police officers, including a dad who retired as a police chief, so it's not surprising she ended up working with a police department. What is surprising however, is the role she's created for herself. As supervisor, consultant, and trainer for the Brockton Area Child Witness to Violence Project, Paige is a social work pioneer. She works directly with Brockton, Mass., police officers to train them how to best respond to situations involving violence and trauma witnessed or experienced by children.

Paige developed the project as part of her clinical internship at the Simmons School of Social Work. The ultimate marriage of theory and practice, the clinical internship is the cornerstone of a SSW education. At her clinical, Paige teamed with police officers on patrol; provided crisis intervention and immediate assessment of children and families exposed to violence; supplied information and referral for families needing long-term services; collaborated with judicial systems; and created and established a network of community agencies to support the program and its clients.

"The Brockton Area Child Witness to Violence Project is a collaboration of various public agencies invested in the safety and well-being of our children," Paige said. "Issues such as substance abuse, domestic violence, mental health problems, child welfare, and sexual assault are complex and have implications on the larger community systems, like law enforcement and social services. When we work together, we can respond to the needs of children who have witnessed or been victims of violence as a result of those issues."

Paige was offered a scholarship to attend the SSW from her employer, Brockton's Department of Social Services. "This was an opportunity for me to enhance my intellectual and pragmatic skills in order to be not only an effective, reflective practitioner of social work, but also a leader within my agency and within the community," Paige said. "The program provided me with the critical thinking skills necessary for me to solve problems presented by contemporary life along with a commitment to the principles of service management. The urban leadership component taught me how to build strong alliances and that's exactly what I was able to do with the Child Witness to Violence Project – bring together coordinated efforts of the local police, mental health providers, child welfare workers, and school personnel to affect positive social change."