Director's Award recipient makes it a priority to involve the community in providing social services
Kelly Huey’s service to the social work profession has taken her from bedsides to boardrooms.
Social workers are often known to serve the economically disadvantaged, and many of them can be found visiting low-income neighborhoods, giving families tools to cope, to survive and even thrive.
Throughout a more than 30-year career, Huey, who received the 2020 Director’s Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession from ASU’s School of Social Work (SSW) in March, has demonstrated the impact social workers also can have in hospitals and hospice care.
You’ll find them, as you would have found her, assisting frightened people who may have just attempted suicide, calming an intoxicated person, and once in a while, delivering tragic news to family members about a loved one who now needed help they didn’t expect to need.
You’ll also find social workers, as you would find Huey, networking with foundation board members, or with providers of major resources such as transportation, hospice care and palliative care.
Huey’s career in social work placed her in these situations and more, excelling in each, according to her nomination for the Director’s Award honor, one of the Social Work Month Awards the SSW presents each spring.
Built a 'robust integrative program'
Today Huey, who graduated from the SSW with bachelor’s (1986) and master’s (1990) degrees in social work, has spent eight years as director of integrated services and social work at Ironwood Cancer & Research Centers. She interacts with key individuals at many levels as part of her efforts to provide the best care for patients possible.
“When hired I was asked to build an integrative program at Ironwood,” Huey said. “They had only a community dietitian volunteering four hours a month to see all of our patients. Now it has evolved into a robust integrative program including social workers, dietitians, genetic counselors, and an integrative physician. We also offer a comprehensive monthly calendar that includes tai chi, yoga, meditation, acupuncture, art classes and much more.”
Huey said she concentrated on involving the community as much as possible when developing the program at Ironwood, which treats cancer and hematology patients in 12 locations throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area.
“Most classes here are taught by volunteers in the community. We utilize our ASU students to facilitate groups and run classes as well,” she said,
“Of all the cancer centers in Arizona, we offer the most comprehensive integrative oncology program that is all evidence-based,” Huey said. “All of our classes and groups are open to everyone in the community and are free of charge. You do not have to be a cancer patient with us to participate. Ironwood believes strongly in giving back to our communities “
Before Ironwood, she was an emergency room and oncology social worker at Chandler Regional Hospital, where she tended to the needs of the sick and their families. Then she served for 12 years at Hospice of the Valley, tending to the terminally ill and their loved ones.
“Much can be learned in textbooks in training social workers but the most valuable knowledge comes from hands-on interactions with those in our community in need. As a practicing social worker, I think all social workers should be supervising students, as a way to give back to our profession.”
-- Kelly Huey
Today the ASU connection remains strong for Huey. In addition to student interns, both of the social workers Huey employees are SSW graduates.
“All three of us started our careers in child welfare. That was my field placement in my BSW (bachelor of social work) program, at Child Protective Services (now the Department of Child Safety),” she said. “They hired me after I got my bachelor’s and assisted me with obtaining my MSW at ASU while working full time for them. The skills I learned at CPS I continue to use daily in my social work practice and they have laid the foundation for my 30 + years of social work”
Huey’s nominator is Ciara Endicott, an ASU junior pursuing a bachelor’s degree in social work with an emphasis on community advocacy and social policy. Endicott wrote that Huey has “a contagious laugh and a warm hug (that) follow her wherever she goes. She has witnessed some of the deepest heartaches and bizarre circumstances, all of which she has used to shape the genuine and empathetic character she is today. Her experiences have carved out a strong, bold social worker who can advocate for her clients when they are lost and feeling weak, but they have also made her a humble human who can speak the soft words that need to soothe the soul in a crisis or grief-stricken moment.
'Made a tremendous impact on my life as a current social work student'
“Kelly Huey has made a tremendous impact on my life as a current social work student at Arizona State University, as a member of her Integrative Services Team, and a mentor, while I watch her train the future Social Work Masters graduates of Arizona State University during their field placements.”
Huey emphasized how important it is to have students work with her.
“Much can be learned in textbooks in training social workers but the most valuable knowledge comes from hands-on interactions with those in our community in need. As a practicing social worker, I think all social workers should be supervising students, as a way to give back to our profession,” she said. “Many say being a field instructor yields few positive returns for your time and effort. However, with each of my students, I have had the opportunity to share my knowledge and I hope that they use their skills learned to be effective, influential and caring social workers.”
Mark J. Scarp is media relations officer for ASU's Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions.