CPH alum

George Mason alumna and her furry coworker fight for Fairfax County kids

Colleen Rich — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 14:27:02 +0000

George Mason alumna and her furry coworker fight for Fairfax County kids Colleen Rich Fri, 08/16/2024 - 10:27

When Samantha Carrico, MSW ’15, enters a room, eyes usually lock onto her charismatic coworker Rylynn, a five-year-old Labrador golden retriever mix. But while Fairfax County’s facility dog gets all the attention, Carrico is the key to making it all happen.

George Mason alum Samantha Carrico and her coworker Rylynn. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of �鶹�� Branding

As the supervisor of Volunteer and Partner Services within the county’s Department of Family Services (DFS), this George Mason �鶹�� alumna plays a leading role in providing critical services to children and their families through programs that are powered entirely by volunteers.

“I like to call Volunteer and Partner Services the best-kept secret in DFS,” she said. “We’re providing so many resources to families and communities.”

Those resources include their popular holiday assistance program, Adopt-a-Family; the Befriend-a-Child mentoring program; and body safety classes for children offered in the public schools. Last year, the Body Safety Program alone served 15,000 children.

“It’s been really nice to see the impact that we’re making,” Carrico said. “Prevention is definitely where we’re going to move the needle for child welfare.”

When not managing four full-time staff members, almost 100 volunteers, and leading the county’s child welfare mandated reporter training for agencies ranging from county police departments to the CIA, Carrico is also the official handler for county facility dog Rylynn.

Rylynn is certified to accompany children to the witness stand when they must testify in court. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of �鶹�� Branding

Carrico was working with Manassas City when she heard of a colleague who worked with a certified service dog and broached the idea with her supervisor. When she learned they could have one only if the dog were free, Carrico didn’t give up. After much research, her perseverance paid off. She found Canine Companions, an organization that offers trained service dogs to organizations and individuals free of charge, and Rylynn entered her life.

“Rylynn is actually the only facility dog at a family services or social services agency in the whole country,” Carrico said. Rylynn attends events and is certified to accompany children to the witness stand when they must testify in court. “She doesn’t have a vest, a badge, a gun. She’s not intimidating, and it’s very rewarding for a family or for a child to know that Rylynn is here for them, with no other agenda.”

Carrico hopes her experience with Rylynn—and her determination to find a way to make it happen—will help pave the way for more agencies nationwide to acquire their own facility dogs.

“Children will disclose when they’re ready, but also when they’re comfortable. And sometimes it’s on us as the professionals to help make sure the environment is comfortable for them.”

A licensed social worker, Carrico has been with Fairfax County in a full-time role since 2020, but her entry into the world of child welfare started long before that—and included a pivotal stop at George Mason �鶹��.

Born and raised in Northern Virginia, Carrico’s first memories of the university came at an early age, when she attended Camp Mason at the Fairfax Campus. When it came time to think about getting her master’s in social work, the choice was easy.

“Mason felt like a second home,” she says. Encouraged by the Department of Social Work faculty in the College of Public Health, Carrico decided to additionally pursue her licensure.

Carrico cites Valerie Cuffee, a former long-time social work faculty member who also had child welfare experience, as a particular influence. “Having a professor who was sharing her real cases and what she learned from them, and the mistakes she made—that was invaluable.”

Equally invaluable were the many internship opportunities the university offered her, including at a homeless shelter and with Loudoun County’s Department of Family Services. “What really resonated with me from being a student into being a professional is…how enriching my internships were.” She’s since paid the opportunities forward by frequently hiring George Mason students as interns.

It all comes back to her desire to make a difference, whether she’s offering in-person training or sitting quietly while Rylynn comforts a child in distress. “My heart really lies in wanting to do more.”

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At the barbershop, it’s OK not to be OK

mthomp7 — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 17:14:29 +0000

At the barbershop, it’s OK not to be OK mthomp7 Fri, 03/22/2024 - 13:14

Destigmatizing mental health support and normalizing therapy in the Black community, one barbershop at a time

George Mason �鶹�� alumnus Gary T. Taylor, MSW '15, is destigmatizing mental health support and normalizing therapy in the Black community one barbershop at a time. “Barbershops are this safe space for Black men,” says Taylor who has been working with local barbershops in the Rappahannock region of Virginia since 2022 to foster healthy discussions about mental health by educating barbers on “mental health first aid” for their patrons.

“This is where men may go to talk through things, have big debates, talk about sports. Barbershops are an important part of culture for us as Black men—just like salons are for Black women,” says Taylor. Given the trusted role that barbers often play in Black men’s lives—it seemed like a natural place to Taylor for reaching men about mental health.

Taylor has found that barbershop talks play an important role in normalizing talking about issues and going to therapy. The talks can help point participants in the right direction to get therapy resources or find substance abuse resources.

Working in partnership with the Rappahannock Area Community Service Board, Taylor realized he could bring his crisis therapy experience into the community through “barbershop talks”—informal group discussions with the barber, the shop patrons, and a trained social worker.

“Most of the time when you talk to barbers, they'll tell you they're almost de facto therapists and social workers,” says Taylor, “They're listening to their clients’ problems and maybe don’t know about resources available to help. So we wanted to equip the barbers to know what the necessary resources are just in case somebody comes in and it's a crisis or they're really struggling and they don't know where to go.”

It helps reduce stigma by normalizing that it's OK to not be OK. Therapy doesn’t mean I'm crazy or something's wrong with me,” he says.

Taylor relays to participants that seeking mental health support is just like taking your car in for an oil change to make sure it keeps running properly.

“With the rise of substance abuse and overdoses, the barbers or the folks that are coming to these barbershop talks now are getting Narcan training too. And I think that's the strengths-based approach to meet the community where they're at,” said Taylor.

To date, Taylor has completed more than five barbershop talks in the Rappahannock region and is working with female colleagues to begin salon talks this spring.

“It’s important that people who share lived experiences are leading these sessions, so the participants can relate and see themselves in the facilitator,” says Taylor. "I can speak to that direct cultural experiences of Black men and then also bring in my skill set, my knowledge, my experience, my education to help provide that education and awareness

An assistant professor at Virginia State �鶹��, Taylor is also passionate about “passing the baton” to the next generation by getting more Black people—particularly Black men—into the social work profession to meet the growing demand.

“The suicide rate for young Black men has been increasing over the past 5 to 10 years, starting from ages 9 and 10 up to the mid-20s. We’re seeing similar challenges for Black girls too. So, there is a growing need for diversity in the social work profession. That cultural awareness piece for the Black community and having more Black social workers, Black practitioners, Black Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW), it's very, very, very important as we progress in the field.”