Today, Cateria Ward finished her internship with Families as Allies, and we wish her the very best in her future! Cateria is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in social work from Jackson State University. She spent much of her internship supporting callers on our parent concern line and learning the system barriers families encounter.
As we have shared before, we learn just as much, if not more, from interns as they do from us. Cateria’s quick understanding of barriers that families face and the system issues that lead to them inspired us to stay focused on advocating with families, not just for their individual children, but also to make the systems that serve our children more responsive to ALL children.
Cateria shared these thoughts about her internship and gave us permission to share them with you:
My experience with Families as Allies has been extremely meaningful, as I have grown both personally and professionally. I gained valuable knowledge about policies, IEPs, and 504 plans, and learned how to motivate and empower parents to understand that they are their child’s strongest advocates. I also became more confident in communicating with parents, even without having personal parenting experience.
Throughout my placement, I spent most of my day-to-day time speaking with parents who had concerns about school systems. From these experiences, I learned that many parents feel unheard and overwhelmed, often believing that school systems focus more on maintaining their image than addressing the real impact of their decisions on students. Parents expressed a strong desire to be heard, understood, and supported so their children can succeed, but ongoing challenges within the system can take a toll on them.
At Families as Allies, I learned that the goal is to advocate with parents, not for them. The organization emphasizes actively listening to families and educating them about their rights so they can become confident, informed advocates for their children while still feeling supported. Additionally, I was fortunate to have an amazing supervisor, Henry Moore, who was supportive, informative, and encouraged hands-on learning while reassuring me that making mistakes is part of the process. Overall, this experience has provided me with lasting knowledge and skills that I will carry forward in my social work career.
Families as Allies is always open to talking to students seeking internship and practicum placements. Over the years, we have hosted social work interns, Ph.D psychology students, and medical trainees on practicum placements. Please keep us in mind as a placement site for any trainees working in the children’s system of care or on policy issues.
