Staff Spotlight: Jessica Tenzer, Division Director of Families, Communities, and Workforce Development

[Interview from 2/21/2023]

How did you get started at BCS? And as a social worker, what appealed to you about BCS?

I originally worked at BCS starting in about 2005 to 2007 as a supervisor for Preventive Services. Then I left to have my kids and returned as Preventive Services director around 2018. Then in 2021, I became the Division Director over the Division for Families, Communities and Workforce Development. I guess what brought me back to BCS was the opportunity to lead a really big team of social workers, mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists. It was a really big team of supervisors, social workers, I had assistant directors, case aids. I was really excited about the idea of coming back to lead this team. I also was really drawn to the model of work that we use at BCS, which is a family systems oriented way of working so we work with families, really looking at the family, as a whole system and the family in their environment.

What does it mean for you to be a leader for social workers and other mental health providers?

I think I really enjoy mentoring new social workers and new mental health providers. We have interns that we take on and also new graduates. I really like helping them find their professional identity and watching them grow as professionals. I also enjoy leading training and workshops.

Is there specific advice you have for social workers who are just starting out?

I focus a lot on self care and continued education. Part of that is developing healthy boundaries– work boundaries, boundaries with clients, boundaries with peers and co workers. I think a lot of new social workers come in and they want to do really great work and they want to put their whole selves out there. But learning how to put boundaries around that from the start is key. Also helping them focus on safety is really important because, again, they are really enthusiastic and like to go the extra mile and feel like, in order to be a good social worker, they have to really compromise their safety. So personal safety, personal boundaries, ongoing learning. I think helping folks learn to look for peer support is really important.I try to do as many peer groups as possible and I have monthly directors meetings so they have each other to support.

Do you think it’s important for social workers to be members of the communities they’re serving?

I definitely think there’s pros and cons to both. I mean, I think it’s great, and as much as possible, we love to hire social workers that come from the communities that we serve. I think if you’re not from a particular community, you have to learn it. You have to learn a lot about it, as opposed to someone who’s just from there. That’s learning lots of different cultural beliefs and norms, you know, the people, the cultures, languages, the institutions. I think it’s a lot to learn if you’re not from the neighborhood that you serve. But it’s definitely doable.

What would you say is one of the most challenging parts of your job overseeing so many different social workers in different areas?

My division is so varied and has many different funders from the Department of Health to the DYCD to the Department of Probation and more. It’s not like I have one or two funders, I have many, many different vendors, many, many different contracts, many different contractual requirements that we need to make sure that we’re meeting. It can be a challenge to meet the needs of all of those different programs, program directors, clients, and communities. It’s also gotten more and more difficult to hire really qualified staff, so staffing up the programs can be difficult.

What’s one of your favorite parts of your job?

I think it’s seeing the collaboration between my programs so that clients can get served by different programs at the same time. I do these monthly directors meetings that have helped my directors form a strong team of directors. For example, I have a Healthy Families Program, which is a case management program in Brownsville. They go to Seth Lowe, which is a DYCD Cornerstone program, to outreach for any community members that might need case management if it’s for housing or benefits or employment or education. Or I have Prospect Plaza Community Center where we’re really made a lot of progress on getting folks to come in. They can come into the community center with one need, but really have many different needs met. At Prospect Plaza, we have the Fatherhood Program, the Healthy Families program, Youth Stand United, and an economic development program. So really, to have people, families, clients come in and be able to get more than one service at a time to get help with something that they didn’t even know existed.