Hi there. I'm Amy.

I research, develop, and advocate for better health and human services.

When I was 12, I ran away to find safety and ended up in a circus instead.

Not the circus you’re thinking of. The circus that is the health and human services system in the US. It promised a social safety net for my family, but instead it had us contorting ourselves and walking tightropes to get the help we needed.

While some aspects of the system have improved, some issues have gotten worse.

I realized that humans are messy. And so are the services.

The gap between need and availability is growing. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Change is possible if more of us are willing to do some work.

How the gap is leaving people behind

MA residents eligible for SNAP benefits but not receiving them

Nutrition is the most basic need for building our capacity. But too many residents who are eligible for SNAP benefits aren’t receiving them, and 1 in 4 Massachusetts residents report experiencing food insecurity so severe that they skip meals.1, 2

Eligible MA residents on waitlist for housing assistance

Housing security is one of the foundations for safety and family stability. Yet the waitlists for housing assistance are untenably long. In Massachusetts, over 184,000 families are eligible but waiting for a stable place to live while only 2,300 units remain vacant.3

%

increase in number of children waiting for behavioral services

Mental health care is another pillar of community health. Yet only 59% of organizations reported that they were able to see new mental health patients within two weeks. There was a 41% increase in the number of children waiting for necessary behavioral health services between 2022 and 2023.4, 5

Workforce shortages are compounding every gap. More than 35% of human services and direct care positions remain vacant.

Waitlists are growing, funding is decreasing, and practitioners are getting overworked and burnt out. Human services practitioners are dealing with more barriers and seeing political deprofessionalization of their critical work.

  • Low wages and compensation
  • Burnout and stress
  • Secondary trauma
  • Removal of professional degree status
  • Lack of prestige and recognition
  • Physical and psychological safety issues
  • High turnover rates
  • Lack of organizational supports6,7,8,9

So, who would even want to work in human services?

Well, me. I’m a former marketing executive pivoting into human services, public health, and public policy. I also grew up in foster care and survived domestic violence, twice. I made a career without a formal college education out of my talents in creativity, diplomacy, and problem-solving. After two decades in communications and leadership, I realized that I care more about people than performance metrics.

Now I’m focused on building systems that help individuals and families safely build stability and long-term security. I could stand around staring at the mess and arguing about how it was made or who made it. But I just want to get to work picking stuff up and throwing out what we don’t need.

It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be done. And it’s work that I want to do.

My mission & Vision

How I'm getting to work and finding solutions

Education

I’m finishing an associate degree in Human Services at QCC, then moving on to complete my bachelor’s at Harvard Extension School. From there, I plan to pursue a joint master’s in social work and public health to bridge direct care and policy. Once completed, I hope to enter a doctoral program in psychology.

Research

As an undergraduate, I’m already pursuing rigorous original research as a Commonwealth Honors Scholar and Psi Beta member. I also serve as a student researcher with the Institute for Trauma, Adversity, and Resilience in Higher Education at MassBay Community College (MBCC). My current research explores stigma, trauma, and the ethical use of AI.

Experience

My undergraduate work requires a 250 hour practicum in human services, which I am also supplementing with volunteer and community service work. I’ve had experience as a recipient of services. Now I want to experience what direct care workers, administration, and leadership struggle with day-to-day.

Collaboration

I know I can’t figure out everything on my own. So I’ve committed to working with my psychology and human services peers, faculty, and community organizations to learn more about the issues that direct care workers and participants. Together, we’re creating various events and activities to raise awareness and fix the human services workforce crisis.

REFERENCES

  1. Greater Boston Food Bank. (2024, February 20). Nearly 2 million adults in Massachusetts are food insecure, including 45% of adults in four counties. The Greater Boston Food Bank. https://www.gbfb.org/news/press-releases/nearly-2-million-adults-massachusetts-food-insecure-including-45-adults-four-counties-according-greater-boston-food-banks-fourth-annual-statewide-study/ ↗
  2. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. (2023, August). Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) national participation rates, FY 2016–2020. U.S. Department of Agriculture. https://www.fns.usda.gov/research/snap/national-participation-rates/fy2016-2020 ↗
  3. WBUR & ProPublica. (2023, September 19). Mass. has a huge waitlist for state-funded housing. So why are 2,300 units vacant? WBUR News. https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/09/19/massachusetts-state-funded-public-housing-waitlist-vacant ↗
  4. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation. (2022, October). Behavioral health care in Massachusetts: Access and accountability survey findings. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation. https://www.bluecrossmafoundation.org/publication/behavioral-health-care-massachusetts-access-and-accountability-survey-findings ↗
  5. Children’s League of Massachusetts. (2023). Behavioral health services report: The state of children’s behavioral health in Massachusetts. Children’s League of Massachusetts. https://www.childrensleague.org/behavioral-health-services-report/ ↗
  6. Commonwealth of Massachusetts Center for Health Information and Analysis. (2024, June). Massachusetts health care and human services workforce survey. Center for Health Information and Analysis. https://www.chiamass.gov/massachusetts-healthcare-workforce-survey/ ↗
  7. Deloitte Insights. (2023, May 8). U.S. human services has a people problem: How agencies can better attract and retain talent. Deloitte Development LLC. https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/public-sector/human-services-talent-recruitment-and-retention.html ↗
  8. Hallett, A. M., Yanchus, N. J., & Osatuke, K. (2023). Predictors of turnover among behavioral health care professionals. Psychological Services, 20(1), 31–43. https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000612 ↗
  9. Shaw, J. M. (2022). Retention strategies for human service nonprofit employees (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University). Walden University ScholarWorks. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=14121&context=dissertations ↗