FrontLiner Profiles: Susan Weaver

Susan Weaver, Children Who Witness Violence Program Manager

"[My favorite part of my job is ] working with children and families following trauma. While you are exposed to a lot of secondary traumatic experiences you also get to see and work with families who are resilient, courageous, and help them reestablish their personal power and equilibrium. It is a privilege to walk with them on their journey."

- Susan Weaver is the Children Who Witness Violence Program Manager and has been working with FrontLine since 2008.  

How did you first learn about FrontLine Service?    

I graduated from CSU with my master’s degree while working at Super Kmart, passed my licensure exam and had time to look for a place to start my second career. I interviewed at a few places when the position for Mobile Crisis was advertised. I came in for an interview when I was actually waiting to start at another agency. I was intensely interested in working for Mobile Crisis at what was then Mental Health Services, so at my second interview with Rick Oliver and Tammy Widdows, I told them I wanted the position but had to know that day if they wanted to hire me, as I needed to let the other agency know I was rescinding their offer. The rest is history, and I have been here ever since.  

What is your current role? What are your basic job responsibilities?  

I am the Program Manager for the Children Who Witness Violence Program in the Trauma Department.  I participate in the development, implementation, and evaluation of a 24-hour, 7-day a week program to provide mental health assessment, crisis intervention and urgent mental health care services to children and families referred to the CWWV program. I supervise other licensed staff (who are often working on their own independent licensure), manage department records, ensure clinical records are maintained, ensure adherence to service plans and Ohio Department of Mental Health administrative rules, federal, state, and local laws and professional standards of conduct. I collaborate with Police departments of communities served within the program, the Family Justice Center, and other agencies involved with service delivery to our program clients and participate in a variety of committee groups. I am also the community liaison for the Camp Hope America- Cuyahoga County program that is administered by the Cuyahoga County Department of Public Safety and Justice Services. So, throughout the year, but especially from April through August, I am also performing a large variety of job duties related to this as well.  

What is a typical day like for you?  

My day changes all the time due to the nature of the services we provide in the Children Who Witness Violence Program. In general, I start the day by going over any crisis calls that came into the call center the night before, and then update medical records, verify addresses, and sometimes follow-up with the referent before assigning staff or myself to outreach the family. We then outreach to the home (and other places within the community) any referral within 24 hours, though generally it is within just a few hours, to offer services. We provide almost 99.9% of our services in the community. Our referrals are for children and families who have been impacted by violence or a traumatic event. We receive referrals for domestic violence, community violence, sexual assault, and any type of violence or trauma that has not resulted in the death of another person (those go to TLRT).  The majority of our referrals are placed by police departments throughout Cuyahoga County. However, we also receive referrals from hospitals, schools, other community agencies, family members, and concerned citizens within the County. Some days we go out on immediate response requests and provide group interventions in response to traumatic events that have occurred to a large group of individuals, often times we will coordinate this with other Trauma Department programs as we work together well as a collaborative team during these events. These are often due to mass violence or death. 

Why do you work here? Why do you care about this work?  

I work here because I believe in the mission of FrontLine Service - reaching out to adults and children in Northeast Ohio to end homelessness, prevent suicide, resolve behavioral health crisis and overcome trauma. I was raised to believe in and embrace community service. I was born in Cleveland and still live here within the city proper and truly take to heart that this is my community. I have a responsibility to support it and help in any way possible to make it safer, better, and ultimately help to make it a healthier community. I believe that children are our future, and we need to nurture them and all of us are obligated to make their world a better place. 

What do people often misunderstand about your work or the people you work with?    

Unfortunately, we live in a society where people often still blame victims for trauma that they experience. This is something I hear from people as I explain what I do for a living. Interestingly I have found (as have some of my colleagues) that if we express aggravation, pain, or at times frustration about our work to people who do not do this type of work with children and families, you hear things like “You should just quit,” “You don’t have to do that kind of work,” “Why would you take that on?” and comments of that nature. The misunderstanding is that I/we don’t actually want to quit, we would just like a little support and validation like everyone else. My colleagues in the Trauma department are AMAZING! They are compassionate, passionate, hardworking, and just all-around good humans. They are funny, quirky, and fantastic. I would not want to work with any other group.  

What is your favorite part of your job?    

Working with children and families following trauma. While you are exposed to a lot of secondary traumatic experiences you also get to see and work with families who are resilient, courageous, and help them reestablish their personal power and equilibrium. It is a privilege to walk with them on their journey.   

What is the hardest part of your job?  

The fact that the violence never stops. Sometimes I think I have heard the very worst thing that a human could do to a child and then a new referral comes in and it’s something worse.  

What do you do to practice resiliency?  

I use humor often; it is my go-to for equalizing my emotions. I talk with my staff and other teammates within the Trauma Department when needed. I will still consult with others on cases and always know I have the support of the whole Trauma Department.  

What is a hobby, interest, or routine you have that is not related to work?  

I am an avid hiker and spend a lot of time outdoors in all the seasons. Nature relaxes me. I also love to adventure to new places whenever possible. I am also a voracious reader of all things fiction.  

What is one thing you would want the community to understand about the work you do?    

We need to love one another more; violence is not normal or ok. It is important to be humane, and kindness is free (USE IT MORE!). 

Is there anything else you want to share about yourself or the work you do?  

I did want to acknowledge that all of you here at Frontline Service are seen and that I appreciate the work that all of you do. You are important to not just FLS but to our community as a whole.  

What would you say to someone who is interested in working at FrontLine. 

While the work we do here at FrontLine Service is hard, it is also interesting and important. Give us a chance, you might not know it right now, but it could change your life for the better. 

FrontLiner Profiles reflect the views of the person interviewed.  
They do not necessarily reflect the view of FrontLine Service.