“For my Master of Social Work practicum, I am working for the Utah Department of Public Safety as a case manager. I ride along with agents from the State Bureau of Investigation and the Utah Highway Patrol and help homeless individuals.

During these rides, when the officers or agents encounter homeless individuals, they start by assessing the situation to make sure it’s safe. If the person has arrest warrants for things like sexual assault or domestic violence, they are typically taken to jail. However, if the warrants are for less serious things like camping, that’s where I step in.

I start by just talking to them—asking about what caused them to be homeless and what resources they may need. And then I provide them with what I can. Recently, the community engagement team I work on received a first-responder group award from the NAACP.

This practicum is new, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I am really interested in macro social work and looking at systems overall to see how we can better support people. I have seen that many people face a lot of systemic barriers, especially vulnerable populations. Macro social work thinks about how issues can be improved through things such as public policy.  

This practicum exposes me to perspectives that are completely different from mine. Students in the master’s of Social Work program tend to lean liberal, me included. It can become an echo chamber. While there are issues with law enforcement or the court system, many of these individuals are great people who want to help. I am grateful I can bring my perspective to this work and that I can learn from their experience too.

Before starting my practicum, I had always thought that maybe individuals who are homeless shouldn’t be arrested for things like camping. However, there are a lot of people who go to jail and that’s how they get ‘clean,’ because they are forced to detox. And while forcing someone to get treatment is a whole other conversation, it’s been interesting to see that there are lots of clients who get out of jail and are ready to turn their life around. It’s complicated and it’s shown me the value of integrating people with a lot of different backgrounds onto a team.”

— Sarah Ostler, master’s of social work student