People tend to do best when they can build on thing that they are good at, use the resources at hand, and focus on what matters to them. In many communities of color, individual strengths and resiliencies can be overlooked by professionals who are less familiar with the community a person comes from. An often unacknowledged piece of this is assuming people have equal access to resources. Another is the idea that people understand and appreciate systems of care in the same way the professional does. Another issue is assuming people need help rather than support. This puts the professional in a superior position to the person receiving services. Professionals have a certain set of skills. They are gatekeepers of resources. That can be useful to people, families, and communities. However, people, families and communities need to solve their own problems. When professionals try to solve problems for others, it often back-fires. When this happens, resources are wasted. Trust is broken on both sides.

It’s important to remember, people do not start from the same place. Services are not equally available and accessible. Equity issues abound. Services generally assume certain resources and attitudes that may or may not make sense or be realistic of some individuals.

People from African-American and American Indian communities face real inequities today. They also have experienced long-term generational trauma that continues to impact all aspects of their cultures. New immigrants have many barriers to seeking and finding care. This will include immigration status and past experiences with authorities. Language and cultural differences will influence their access. Professional mental health care is not necessarily valued in these communities. People from all these communities may experience a need for primary needs such as food and shelter. They tend to have less access to care. Issues like these will affect how they interact with systems and whether recommendations work for them.

If people are not growing and eventually thriving with your support, it’s important to look at your approach. People generally want to succeed by their own definition. When people who receive services and are not making progress, professionals should consider their approaches to see if they are truly supportive. It’s important they match their efforts with what makes sense to people. It must work within the context of the person’s real life and resources.

Professionals also need to work to become aware of inequities in communities. They need to get experience in understanding and defining a person’s strengths in the context of these inequities.

Tisha was raised in a single parent home with a mother who was only 15 when she was born. She was sexually assaulted more than once by the time she was 12. One time the perpetrator was her mother’s boyfriend. Another time is was a neighbor. She was responsible for taking care of her two younger brothers. Tisha often did poorly in school growing up due to being unable to balance her home responsibilities with school work. She had her own first child at the age of 16 and a second by 18. Her second child has autism. When she was 25 she had her first manic episode. She lost her apartment shortly afterward and she and her children lived mostly in her car and floated from house to house or shelter to shelter. Despite all this, Tisha worked hard to keep her kids fed, in school, and safe. She attended most of the meetings and classes required by social workers and treatment specialist, even though the schedule and made it hard for her to find steady work. Her children ended up in foster care and she told her primary case manager she was going to find a job so she could bring them home. The case manager replied: “They are so much better off now where they have stability. You are too. Now you can focus on yourself and getting your act together.”

What implications do you see for this as far as person and family-centered practice? How does it affect the interaction today? How does it affect each person’s ability to work with professionals in the future or to receive quality person and family-centered services? What could be done differently from your view that might work better, if anything?