Lauren Gerhard, Our Newest Intern: Is Passionate About Sustainable Social Change

September 12, 2024 – My name is Lauren and I am a senior Social Work Student at Michigan State University with a concentration in Law, Criminal Justice, and Public Policy. My lived experiences as an adoptee who has dealt with challenging diagnoses from a young age have informed my understanding of the immense time, energy, and resources required to create a socioeconomic environment for children and their families to thrive. My experiences have also provided me with a unique understanding of the interconnectedness of social issues as discussed within my social work classes. Specifically, the variety of factors that impact an individual’s social support system. Strengthening this support system is a necessary avenue of social change to create protective factors against social issues later on in people’s lives. Because I am passionate about the potential of social spending to be an investment in the lives of individuals, I hope to participate in research that examines the impact of social spending on the justice system. Most specifically, my concentration in Criminal Justice informs my interest in focusing on decreasing juvenile and adult incarceration rates. One way to go about this involves increasing literacy rates among youth. The ability to read can serve as a protective factor against incarceration later on in the lives of adults, demonstrating that an investment in youth has the potential to make a lifelong positive impact. Throughout my time at Michigan’s Children, I hope to build the important logistical skills necessary to drive social progress in macro social work. Skills such as event planning, public speaking, and fund development are key aspects in fostering the civic engagement necessary to bring about change.

While my social work classes have taught me that there are many avenues of social change, I have come to believe the most sustainable social changes have legislative backing. As an aspiring social worker, I hope to foster an understanding of the role that public policy plays in creating the conditions that social workers, their clients, and everyone else operate under. Children have a unique position in our society. They are the most vulnerable group while simultaneously the group who make up the next generations of our society. Their positionality demonstrates the importance of creating a socioeconomic environment that supports families and that is conducive to raising the next generation. Through my work at Michigan’s Children, I hope that I can be a part of systemic changes that allow children, parents, and individuals in the communities around them to receive the kind of social support they need to succeed. On a large scale, I believe this is best achieved through community engagement in advancing public policy that focuses on investing in the lives of kids and families.

Lauren Gerhard is an intern at Michigan’s Children.