We have reached the end of the 5th week in this 10-week internship and while I’m on track for some tasks, I have a long way to go for others. I have really immersed myself in my work for the best practices report. Interviewing partners and discussing these interviews with my supervisor afterward is always the highlight of my day. These interactions have taught me so much thus far. 

An interview I had last week, for example, consisted of 5 organizations located in the same city that all did very similar work. They were programs that received the majority of their referrals from schools. Caseworkers would then meet with the child and their family to see what support is needed. A question that came to mind after this interview was, “Is it better to have multiple organizations working on the same thing, or to combine them into one large organization?”. There is no yes or no answer to this question, nor did I expect one. To me, this question signifies a change in my mindset. Although there are still many terms and acronyms used during interviews that I do not completely understand, I finally have enough of a gauge on my work to think further than, “What is a Mckinney-Vento family? What does ERA mean?”. Each organization has its own strengths and while amalgamation may not be the answer, the goal of this best practices paper is to help programs learn from each other and expand their capacity to serve families. Some organizations work with a high undocumented population so the needs of that program are vastly different from an organization that operates with low-income families living in a high-income area. One focuses more on finding bilingual caseworkers and building trust, while the other is preoccupied with finding affordable housing in that area.