Hanna Perkins Consultation with City Year

Hanna Perkins has been providing consultation services for Cleveland City Year for the past three years.  For those who are unfamiliar, City Year is a nonprofit organization that employs young people (aged 18-24) of all backgrounds for a year of full-time service.  The educational focus is on keeping local students in school and on track to graduate.  Last year, City Year provided tutors to ninth graders at four Cleveland high schools and fourth graders at one middle school.  These age groups were selected because of the tremendous stress involved in:  (a) moving from middle to senior high school and (b) being pre-pubertal in a low income, public school.  Each group of tutors was assigned a Hanna Perkins consultant, whom they met with biweekly for 1 ½ hours at the downtown office.  The schools involved and their tutors were:Carl Tuss at East TechAnita Eddie at Kennedy High SchoolAlex Marylis at Thomas Jefferson High SchoolVickie Todd at Glenville High School and FDR Middle SchoolThere were three areas of focus during consultation:  first, to help the tutors think about behavior as a communication.  What were the students saying through their troublesome behaviors?  Often the tutors became very frustrated with students whom they viewed as lazy and intentionally uncooperative.  But, as a result of the consultation, they began to be more thoughtful and less judgmental.  When they could understand that they were being treated by the students as the students had been treated by someone important in their life, for example, the tutors were able to think of more empathic ways to respond to them.  “This girl looks right through me like I don’t even exist.  You mean someone is treating her like that?  That’s really sad.”The second focus was to help the young tutors develop into paraprofessionals.  This was difficult for the younger ones, who were not much older than the students they tutored.  Also, when faced with big feelings (especially anger), it was difficult for some to maintain their adulthood.  Many brought examples of engaging in excited quarrels with students rather than modeling appropriate conflict resolution behavior.  One tutor was fired after she physically retaliated when a student hit her.  This led to a very heated debate as to what to do in this situation with most tutors able to be reasonable while a few insisted they would act in like manner.The third focus was to help the tutors verbalize their feelings about fellow team members and the organization itself without using words as weapons.  In this area, the consultants walked a fine line.  What was helpful in regard to team building and what was just repetitive griping that served no constructive purpose?At the end of the year, Hanna Perkins consultants obtained written evaluations of their services from 36 of 45 total tutors.  According to the evaluations:100% felt comfortable bringing their concerns to the consultant with many commenting on the atmosphere which promoted openness.  One individual did indicate difficulty having his/her concerns heard as so many issues were brought to consultation.95% felt that the consultant understood their concerns.When asked about the consultant’s skills and advice, 100% responded favorably.  “The consultant was very challenging.  He made me think.”  “She helped me empathize with others and I learned a lot from her.”  Others commented on the consultants’ professional demeanor and how they encouraged independent thinking.  “It felt safe to disclose and the consultant was such a good listener.  She gave us good words to describe our feelings, like overwhelmed.”  Another tutor commented on the helpful advice.  “He made me think about the situation from the other person’s shoes.  He was so insightful and helped me do things I didn’t think was possible.”When asked in what ways the consultation was helpful, one tutor responded, “It helped to open up our team and it relieved stressful situations.”  Other comments included:  it helped me understand difficult and unpleasant things that come up at school; allowed us to understand situations from others’ point of view; it was very therapeutic; he was a good sounding board; she offered practical advice to face challenging situations; he gave answers to the many frustrations I felt; she offered an opportunity to vent in a safe environment; she provided insight into how students actions conveyed their emotions on a deeper level; his questions spurred thinking and invigorating conversations; he helped me improve communication with kids; she always backed us up and helped us think of ways to respond positively to negative behavior; she showed such respect for our feelings.  Another poignant comment was:  “She helped me understand my students and myself.  In fact, she helped me realize I could benefit from counseling in my own life (with a referral made for therapy).When asked in what ways the consultation was not helpful, a few indicated that 3pm on Friday was a bad time.  Others commented that there was not enough time to process everything.  One tutor mentioned that “not all concerns could be aired in the group setting” wishing for an opportunity to meet with the consultant individually.  One person felt that consultation did not help with group dynamics, but did not offer any additional information.78% believed that the climate of their team improved as a result of the consultation; “We grew closer.”  22% responded “no,” but offered no additional information.Lastly, when asked how the consultations could be improved, tutors mentioned meeting at a different time of day and for a longer period of time.  One tutor complained that “Sometimes consultation was monopolized by two people without group-wide interest,” but he/she declined to offer a solution.  Many suggested meeting weekly versus biweekly, but that is not fiscally possible.  One tutor suggested that “Instead of focusing on corps members issues with students, spend an equal amount of time dealing with corps members issues with City Year staff.”  This individual also suggested that we provide a chance for private conversations.  Several tutors suggested we meet in the schools so the consultant could better understand what goes on at each location.  Although this was done in the past and was fraught with all kinds of interferences and distractions, this will be done during the 2011/2012 school season when the same consultants will again provide services to the tutors at their schools.