Intensive Foster Care Program Manager Colleen McGowan Earns Her LCSW

Colleen McGowan joined our Intensive Foster Care program last May, right after she graduated from Boston University with her Master of Social Work. Colleen came to CFCS in the midst of the pandemic, and had to learn her job and connect with her team entirely remotely. Despite these challenges, Colleen has stepped into her role as IFC program manager quite smoothly. All the while, she has also been studying hard to pass her LCSW exam and earn her social work licensure. We’re pleased to announce that this week, Colleen achieved her goal!  

Below, Colleen shares about her job as it is so far, and her hope for the future. 

What’s your favorite thing to do at your job? 
To collaborate with colleagues, and to put the ideas we form in collaboration into direct practice with the youth and families I work with. I also love advocating for youth, and/or helping them advocate for themselves. Many times, youth in foster care are made to feel as though their voice will not be heard or that their feelings do not matter. When I can encourage them to voice their wants and needs, whether to myself or other providers, my hope is for them to see that they too have a voice that should and will be heard.  

Do you have a philosophy/motto with which you approach your work? 
“A single thread of hope is stronger than all the chains that bind you.” I first saw this quote while on a service learning trip to Northern Ireland. It was imprinted on a poster of a photo one of the youths involved in the program had taken. On my last day, one of the agency managers took the poster off the wall and gifted it to me. Not only does it serve as a reminder of my trip to Northern Ireland and all that I learned, it has become an important piece of the work I do for not only myself, but the youth as well. My past doesn’t define me, nor does it define the youth I work with.  

Do you have a goal you want to achieve at CFCS? 
To always be a positive influence in the lives of those I work with (both youth and colleagues). I want those I work with to always know that I will support them and their endeavors, and I will always advocate for them.