SHIELDS for Families, an organization providing a range of social services for families in South Los Angeles, has been named Field Agency of the Year by the USC School of Social Work for its outstanding contributions to the quality of the school and helping to shape the professional careers of students who have interned there.

As a designated “teaching institution,” one of five agencies the school is working with to shift field placement toward in-depth field education, SHIELDS provides its Master of Social Work students with a well-rounded, structured, hands-on training experience in line with the vision of co-founder and CEO Kathy Icenhower, MSW ’81, PhD ’97, for training a future generation of social workers who are equipped to address the unique challenges confronting their communities.

“I was truly honored that we were selected for this prestigious award, especially since I know there are so many great agencies to choose from, and to be recognized by my alma mater,” said Icenhower, who studied mental health and later organizational and management theory at USC. “I think as a student you always want to be able to give back to the school that gave you your education, so in some way this allowed me to feel like I was doing that.”

Icenhower co-founded SHIELDS in 1991 with two friends because of the crack cocaine epidemic in South Los Angeles. In the Watts and Compton areas especially, children were being removed from their families too frequently without any services to assist them once they had left. Icenhower helped provide substance abuse treatment for women and their children in a program that served as a community needs-based model for all of SHIELDS’ programs moving forward.

For the internship experience at SHIELDS, Icenhower credited training and intern administrator Kimberly Medvin, MSW ’99, with putting together a program designed to not only give students work experience in the field but also provide seminars to teach them additional skills that will assist them in their careers and enhance their field experience.

“Our field instructors have a passion for teaching fueled by Kathy’s vision and amazing leadership,” said Medvin. “I think we achieve an exemplary level of team cohesion because the agency as a whole follows the great example that Kathy and her executive management team have set. Receiving this award felt like a culmination of all the hard work put into the collaboration between the university and the agency to develop and successfully establish the first teaching institution.”

With visions aligned, and preparing students to help change lives the priority, the internship program tries to find students that are already willing to become genuinely involved in the communities they are sent to work in.

“One of our most fundamental objectives involves fostering cross-cultural sensitivity in our students,” Medvin said. “When we look for incoming students, we simply ask that they have a genuine openness to learning and share our sincere commitment to helping improve the quality of life for our clients.”

As a USC alumna, Medvin said her field experiences while in school helped inspire her while developing SHIELDS’ training program. With 26 students—many from USC—in the program this year, SHIELDS was able to provide a more structured learning and training environment for better understanding among students, including Diane Yaris, Lorena Jackson and Michelle Roberts.

Yaris, who is studying in the Social Work and Business in a Global Society concentration, went into SHIELDS expecting an amazing experience and was not disappointed when Medvin became one of her mentors.

“The in-service trainings were well beyond my expectations, and we were given so much valuable information,” said Yaris, who worked with both women and children at various program sites. “In my classes, it was evident that I was receiving a substantial amount of trainings, clinical experience and supervision. And the population and environment that I worked in provided me with experience that will enhance my future in the field of social work. I am forever grateful for the experience.”

Jackson was able to take her experiences at SHIELDS to help land a job right after graduating in May. She was also grateful for the support from field instructor Stephanie Moss and on-site preceptor Audrey Tousant throughout her internship. They offered advice and guidance, led by example as successful macro social workers, and overall made sure that she gained as many skills as possible to ensure employment as a macro social worker.

“Interning at SHIELDS’ Jordan Downs Family First program site was a great learning experience,” Jackson said. “My weekly supervision and assigned macro tasks have already equipped me in my new mezzo/macro position. I’ve started using many skills obtained through my field experience, such as advice given during supervision, implementation, ability to be flexible and thinking outside the traditional framework of the social work profession, as a macro social worker.”

Roberts spent her foundation year at SHIELDS, but despite being a first-year student, she felt accepted and trusted immediately by Medvin and her other mentors at the agency.

“The strength and resolve of the women I had the opportunity to work with amazed me each day, and I felt so privileged to work in an environment where the staff clearly expected and believed that the clients would succeed in reaching their personal goals through recovery,” said Roberts, whose concentration is Mental Health. “I am not the least bit surprised that SHIELDS was awarded agency of the year, and I am honored to have been part of this incredible training program.”

Always thinking about the community, Icenhower’s vision continues to expand SHIELDS’ programs and services. This summer, in partnership with Los Angeles Education Corps, the agency is opening the College Bridge Academy, a grades 9-12 charter school, which will target SHIELDS youth who have dropped out or are having difficulty in the traditional school system. Students will be provided with wrap-around services through other programs, and families will be an integral part of the service delivery.

“Since the beginning, all of our programs have been built around needs our families and our community have specifically identified,” said Icenhower. “With each new program, SHIELDS student interns have the ability to truly experience what social work is all about—meeting families where they are and building on their strengths.”