Defining My Purpose:
A Reflective Journey
in Social Work
A comprehensive portfolio exploring competency reflections, core values, and the ethical philosophy that defines my professional trajectory in social work.
Professional Biography
Emily Soto is currently a senior at Grand Valley State University, slated to graduate with her Bachelors in Social Work in May of 2026. While Emily will be starting her professional career on paper, she has worked alongside clients in the Social Work field since 2019, she has worked in the following positions:
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Residential Technician in Adult Foster Care (1 year)
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Youth Peer Support Specialist in the Families Forward unit at CMHA-CEI (2.5 years)
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Residential Support Specialist at Sanford Behavioral Health (7 months)
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Peer Support Specialist at the Network 180 Behavioral Health Crisis Center (1 year)
Resulting from her experience, Emily has developed skills that support her to work from a trauma-informed lens. Emily is especially skilled in de-escalation techniques, supporting clients to feel seen and heard, using motivational interviewing techniques to support clients to identify their needs and stay accountable to themselves, and client advocacy at a systems level.
The amalgamation of the experiences Emily continues to have working in the social work field has given her the opportunity to develop a unique lens. Emily values advocating for youth and families in the foster care system, working and impacting systemic change, and a desire to work in areas where policy change and systemic change can be pursued to better support workers to meet the needs of the clients they support in their communities.
Internship: Foster Care at MDHHS
need to update- struggling here lol bear with mee:)
Certified Peer Support Specialist
Specialized training obtained to utilize lived mental health experience to support youth and adults struggling with Serious Mental Illness and Severe and Persistent Mental Illness. Support is provided by using lived experience to decrease feelings of isolation, support individuals to navigate complex systems, and share perspectives through a trauma informed lens to increase hope for the future.
Populations Served
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Families involved in the foster care system
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Youth and Young Adults ages 10-18 experiencing serious mental illness
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Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
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Adults experiencing crisis due to housing, mental health, or life circumstances
Trainings and Certifications
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Child Welfare Certificate
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Human Trafficking Training Certification
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Certified Youth Peer Support Specialist (ACMH)
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Indian Child Welfare Act Training
Skill Set
Motivational Interviewing
Grant Writing
Group Facilitation
Trauma-Informed De-escalation
Initially when beginning work in the field, Emily grew hopeless and was uneasy about continuing work in the social work field, as the pervasive injustices she witnessed clients face at the hands of our systems felt insurmountable. However, with the support of an incredible supervisor, persistent passion for justice and desire to serve the needs of her community, and growing resilience as she learned to navigate the heartache that can come with working in the social work field, her perspective shifted.
My Social Work Identity & Practice Philosophy
Motivating Change in Clients: Values and Practice
Emily values creating spaces for clients to be seen and heard by meeting them where they are. She is passionate about supporting individuals during critical stages of change—helping them build self-advocacy skills, set healthy boundaries, communicate effectively with their support systems, and to find acceptance for where they are at in each stage of their journey.
Emily believes that every individual is capable of building resilience and creating change in their lives, but may need someone to walk alongside them as they build their confidence and find the tools that help them achieve dreams of theirs that they may have come to believe were not possible.
Advocating for Change in the Community
Since working as a Youth Peer Support Specialist, Emily has been incredibly passionate about supporting foster youth, specifically transition age foster youth. While working as a Youth Peer Support Specialist, Emily had the opportunity to learn from foster youth what their experiences were growing up in and aging out of the foster care system. When these youth turned 18, they had a lack of food, housing, and little to no support system. While there are supports for youth over the age of 18 in the foster care system that would provide for their basic needs, it is not uncommon for youth to have a desire to cut ties with a system that disregarded their needs for a majority of their lives. While this is not the case for all foster youth and the system is improving with reforms, there is still significant work to be done to fully meet the needs of youth who don't have a support system outside of the system itself.
Emily is currently working on a grant project with Kids Belong in Muskegon that supports families in the foster care system and would support Kids Belong to prevent the outset of family separation by providing housing and would support family reunification for children already removed from their homes. This program, if funded, would keep families together when housing is the main barrier and would teach parents vital financial management and tenancy skills to support the family's stability after exiting the program.
Macro Ambitions
Emily’s ultimate vision is to impact macro systems through policy change. By platforming the voices of those most affected by systemic structures, she seeks to bridge the gap between community needs and policymakers. Her interest and skill set in grant writing further supports her goal of enhancing the effectiveness of the child welfare system and supports associated community organizations to better meet the needs of the community.
Measuring and Documenting Change
It is a combination of engaging, assessing, providing interventions, and most of all, evaluation of client interventions over time that helps us to assess where change is occurring and where interventions need to be tweaked to better meet the clients needs. The client in this description may be defined as an individual, organization, group, community, or entire system.
When working with clients, change is evident when:
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clients regain hope for their future.
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clients can focus their energy to areas of their lives that are within their control
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clients can realize change they want to make in their lives.
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For example: A client struggling with depression has become incapacitated to the point that they cannot brush their teeth, shower, get out of bed, or socialize with others. Change can be seen when this client is putting in effort to brush their teeth OR shower. The client likely will not do EVERY thing they would like to, but is making meaningful steps to engage in recovery.
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clients recognize a need for external support, can identify supports based on need, and can mobilize their supports.
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clients learn healthy coping behaviors and mobilize them when in crisis.
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clients learn how to communicate with others.
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clients learn to set and reinforce boundaries for their own well-being and/or to preserve their relationships.
Community and Systems change is evident when:
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Organizations form coalitions to educate their communities on problems existing within the community.
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Conversations are occurring where disagreements may arise, but the voices of the most oppressed individuals in the room are heard and change is made as a result.
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Clients affected by systems have input in board meetings to produce effective change in system processes and client-worker relationships.
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Policy changes occur that reduce barriers to meeting client needs.
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Grants and Government funding are being used to meet unmet community needs.
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Community members can document, through surveys and polling that systemic changes that are occurring have produced positive change in their lives.
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Organization, project, and grant evaluations show that they have achieved their objectives.
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Research shows forward progress in community needs being met.
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There are active efforts that produce increased equity across communities.
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For example: The current tax system focuses on providing services to each community based on the income and property taxes within that community. Organizations may work towards creating equity by using tax dollars equally across communities to support school systems to equally meet the needs of children (rather than children in lower income areas having a lower quality education because of the school district not having enough funds to meet the needs of the youth in the district), to support roadwork needed to repair streets in all communities rather than just those where middle to higher income individuals live, etc.
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Polling locations are accessible to individuals in ALL communities.
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Get in Touch
I am eager to engage with colleagues, potential employers, and mentors in the social work community. Feel free to reach out to discuss my assessment portfolio, shared values, or career trajectory.
contact@emilysoto.socialwork
Professional Links
LinkedIn / Portfolio Reflection