It Starts with Building Trust

This issue’s theme, “Counselors in the Community,” is undoubtedly important for school counselors to consider. Equally significant is considering and cultivating the state and national community connections important to the school counseling profession. Sometimes unfamiliar to our members is the emphasis CASC places on fostering the educational and political community and the benefits this effort have for you and the work you do. As one of CASC’s strategic goal areas, advocacy and networking are essential in bettering working conditions for school counselors in California schools. In fact, without the strength of community connections, the substantial progress CASC has made over the past 17 years would not have been fully realized.

California Teachers Association (CTA), Association for California School Administrators (ACSA), Western Association of College Admission Counselors (WACAC), College Boards, H.B. McDaniel Foundation, University of California (UC), American School Counselor Association (ASCA), California Department of Education (CDE) and California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC) are just a few organizations within CASC’s working community network. CASC has formed informal and formal connections with these organizations. A few key examples of past and present efforts at state-level community building are outlined below.

Example One: The Pupil Services Coalition is a group of individuals who meet monthly to discuss political issues pertaining to the non-administrative service credential professionals, including Pupil Personnel Services (PPS). At the table are CDE, CTA, all PPS organizational leads, school nursing and WACAC representatives. The PSC was created a number of years ago in the wake of legislation sponsored by CASC and unexpectedly opposed by the California Association of School Psychologists (CASP). In retrospect, this opposition could have been anticipated given the lack of preliminary relationship work that had yet to be established. Therefore, PSC was created not only to share information and prevent opposition, but it has also served as a mechanism to build individual and organizational trust. I am happy to report that this effort has been 100% successful our prospective professions stand united toward common objectives.

The byproduct of this alliance is a strong and trusting professional community. The work has evolved and we now have a powerful committee representing many voices at the table. The committee takes positions on legislation and is proactive with key decision makers. Steven Covey, renowned business guru, said it best, “Trust is the glue of life. It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It's the foundational principle that holds all relationships.”

Example Two: AB1802, passed as a $250million budget line item, provided for the hiring of 2,500 school counselors in 2006. This would never have happened if it weren’t for a decade of building Sacramento connections. A government employee, who will remain nameless, contacted me in spring 2006, suggesting I contact the Governor’s office (Schwarzenegger) to capitalize on political ads by Phil Angelides, who was advertising the need to “double the number of school counselors” during the gubernatorial primaries that year. I am certain this fateful phone call was the tip needed to launch the successful campaign to employ additional school counselors.

Example Three: There has been plenty of consternation in the past few months pertaining to a governor-appointed commission focused on the possibilities of licensed mental health service providers providing services on school campus. The concern for CASC and the Pupil Service Coalition is to ensure PPS credential providers are fully funded prior to districts augmenting their workforce with licensed mental health service providers. Last month, in the spirit of building trust and finding areas of commonality, I met with David Gordan, the chair of that Commission and superintendent of Sacramento County Office of Education. While we are at the beginning of building trust, I believe we found common ground and Mr. Gordan now knows CASC is an ally and a resource.

Example Four: In the last year, WACAC and CASC collaborated on building professional development curriculum to match the goal areas established through Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher Campaign. With team effort, we created a series of presentations. However, another beneficial aspect of this effort was that, as often happens, the WACAC relationship cascaded into developing other relationships, including strengthening CASC connections with UC leadership and the College Board.

In conclusion, Lewis Howes states, “Effective networking isn’t a result of luck – it requires hard work and persistence.” Success often comes from the differences between one another as well as our common interests. Truly, as Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor asserts, “To succeed in this world you have to be known to people.”
 
Dr. Whitson is executive director of CASC. Contact her at ExecutiveDirector@schoolcounselor-ca.org.