School of Social Work at UT Arlington
News and Accolades
Angelo McClain, UT Arlington MSSW 1981
Angelo McClain knows that the sprawling social service agency he just inherited probably can’t stop every single child from being hurt or killed, but he says that’s his goal.
“We can’t prevent bad things from happening, because they happen,” McClain, 50, said in his first sit-down interview since taking over as Commissioner of the Department of Social Services a month ago.
But he said he wants to make sure that if a child is hurt, it won’t be because of something he didn’t do. ``What makes the public upset is when something bad happens and it looks like we dropped the ball,’‘ McClain said.
McClain said he will encourage workers to rely more on their gut sense. Each week, he wants workers to red-flag a case that makes them uneasy. Each week, he wants every area office to give him a list of those cases.
“A lot of this work is instinctual. Your gut will tell you, you’ll have this uneasy feeling, you’ll be anxious,’‘ said McClain, who started out as a social worker in the 1970s and spent his teen years at Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch, a Texas school for troubled youth. “When they are feeing that anxiety we want them to talk to the supervisor.’‘
He later spent 15 years working with Massachusetts social service agencies.
McClain has taken over an agency with a $786 million budget, 3,457 workers in 29 offices, working with 40,000 families. The job of commissioner is considered one of the most thankless and difficult in Massachusetts government.
McClain is up to the task, said Richard Sheola, president of the public sector division of ValueOptions, where McClain held management posts in Massachusetts and New Jersey, administering social service contracts with state government.
“He’s used to managing big jobs,’‘ Sheola said.
Former colleagues say McClain brings empathy, front-line experience and an open, non-reactionary management style.
“His priorities are always in the right place. It’s always about the kids and family. He looks under every rock to make sure everything is done right,’‘ said Joan Mikula, an assistant commissioner at the Department of Mental Health who hired McClain in 1988 to oversee locked residential treatment programs for mentally ill kids.
He took the $135,000-a-year job, which was a pay cut, for reasons he described as “hokey.’‘
“Partly, it had something to do with being 50,’‘ he said. “It was like this is something I can do. I can help bring the leadership this organization needs and help bring good things to a lot of people.’‘
-jfargen@bostonherald.com
Phil Porter, UT Arlington MSSW 1990
Mr. Phil Porter received the 2007 UT Arlington School of Social Work Distinguished Alumni Award at the annual Alumni Gala banquet in October. Click on the link for an article that recently appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Joseph P. Bohanon, UT Arlington BSW 1996 and MSSW 1997
Joseph P. Bohanon received his PhD from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2007. He is a member of the Choctaw Indian Tribe of Oklahoma. He received his MSSW (1997) and BSW (1996) from the University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work. While a student here, he founded the THUNDER Alliance, Inc. (in 1995) and at UTA he founded the NASA (Native American Student Association). He served as the Coordinator of Field Education at the USM School of Social Work from 2004-2007. He accepted a teaching position beginning with the Fall, 2007 semester in the BSW Program at Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, OK. Two of his more recent publications include: Bohanon, Joseph P., ”The Talking Circle: A Culturally Appropriate Group Work Perspective with Indigenous Peoples”(pp. 92-97), and Watts, Thomas D. and Bohanon, Joseph P., “Social Welfare Policies and Native Americans: Future Challenges,”(pp.81-91) in Native Women in the Arts, Education, and Leadership: Proceedings of the Sixth Native American Symposium, ed. by Spencer, Mark B., and Tudor, Robert (Durant, OK: Native American Symposium, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, 2006).
Bill Betzen, UT Arlington MSSW 1979
After 28 years in child placement and adoption work, Bill Betzen retired. However, he did not stop working. He has spent the last 7 years as a Computer Applications teacher for 7th graders. Through this work he implemented the Middle School Archive Project; a drop-out prevention program. The Dallas Morning News described this project in a May 26, 2007 article entitled “Students getting safe place to store dreams”.
Ashley Owen, UT Arlington MSSW 2005
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
July 19, 2007
United Way official off to Dallas
By Traci Shurley
ARLINGTON—The head of the United Way of Tarrant County’s Arlington branch is leaving the agency for a job with United Way of Metropolitan Dallas County.
Ashley Owen, 28, has been project director at Arlington Human Services Planners since June 2005. She helped oversee task forces that dealt with issues like teen homelessness and child abuse and has worked with area leaders to start new programs.
Human Service Planners works with the City of Arlington and volunteers. Owen counts raising the profile of the agency as one of her biggest accomplishments.
“It’s important to let people know who we are and what we’re doing here,” she said. “It’s a way to let the people of Arlington know United Way is not just a Fort Worth entity, that we re here in Arlington and we are doing good work here.”
United Way officials are looking for a replacement for Owen, said Ann Rice, interim president and chief executive of United Way of Tarrant County. She said Owen had been a “breath of fresh air,” who excelled in the job.
In her new post as director of planning for United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, Owen will be responsible for community needs assessments, she said. The job will allow her to work closer to her Dallas home.
Owen started at the United Way’s Arlington office as an intern in 2004. She has a graduate degree in social work from the University of Texas at Arlington. Her last day in Arlington is August 3.
B.Scott Finnell, UT Arlington Ph.D. 1993
Dr. Scott Finnell and the work he is doing at Pressley Ridge was recently highlighted in a NASW News article entitled “Organizations Extend Services Globally”. Pressley Ridge was started 175 years ago to serve refuge orphans. It recently broadened its scope to assist children in Hungary and Portugal.
For the complete story go to http://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/news/2007/07/globally.asp.
Major Nathan Keller, UT Arlington Ph.D. 2004
We joyfully received the following note from Nate Keller on November 20, 2007. Welcome home Dr. Keller!
Hello Dr Rycraft, and UTA Family,
I hope everyone is doing well. I am very pleased to announce I have made it home safe and sound. 18 months is a long time to be away from home particularly in a war zone. My experience in Iraq is one I will never forget but unfortunately one I will likely have to repeat. Now
more than ever there is a need for mental health support to our troops, however we are critically short mental health providers thus the providers available are being asked to pull more weight. I tried to continue my research down range but was overwhelmed with clinical cases and did not have much time for data collection or publications. Now that I am back I would like to continue researching. My family is doing great, the kids got so big since I have been gone but are very happy to see me. I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and encourage ya’ll to take a
moment to think positive thoughts for our troops as they truly are amazing and being asked to make incredible sacrifices. It is great to be back and I thank everyone for their prayers and positive thoughts.
Nate
Molly Bogen, UT Arlington MSSW 1973
Molly Bogen and the work she has done for more than 30 years at The Senior Source in Dallas was highlighted in a Dallas Morning News article on August 6, 2007. The two page article was entitled “Ready for a boom: Nonprofit agency prepares to meet the higher expectations of the next generation of seniors”.
Penny Acrey, UT Arlington BSW 2002 and MSSW 2004
Penny Acrey, assistant director, in the UT Arlington Office for Students with Disabilities, presented “Skills for Identifying and Treating PTSD in Individuals with Disabilities” at the 2007 NASW/TX and SSWLHC-TX joint conference in San Antonio in October.
ALUMNI ON THE MOVE
Karen Daly, UT Arlington BSW 1984
Karen was hired, in June, as the Sugar Land, Texas Assistant Director.
Misty Wall, UT Arlington PhD. 2007 and MSSW 2000
Misty assumed a new position in September at Boise State University as a professor and coordinator for the master of social work program.
Emma L. Mendiola, UT Arlington MSSW 1992
Emma was appointed interim dean of Student Affairs at San Antonio College in October.
IN MEMORIAM
Jill Grigsby Edsall-Barnett, MSSW 1991, passed away on Saturday, September 15, 2007. Jill was born on September 23, 1946, in Florida. She grew up in Decatur, Ill., and graduated from Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa in 1968. She lived and traveled, as a missionary, in Central and South America and was ordained as a Community of Christ Church elder in 1990. Jill practiced psychotherapy with Catholic Charities for 15 years before retiring in 2006.
Patricia DeWane Webster, MSSW 1969, died November 19, 2007. Pat was born in Minot, N.D. and grew up in Wolf Point, Montana. She received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Marquette University in 1941. She and her husband, Dr. Charles Webster, moved to Dallas in 1954. Pat was a social worker for Camp Fire Girls, Parkland Memorial Hospital and Child Protective Services. She retired from CPS as an intake supervisor in 1987.
