Kylee

Leatherbury
Mentor Interview

1.November 3,2015, 1:30PM Interviewed by phone

2.Kimberly Bartley, Employed for Cottages of Hope, Resource Specialist
Phone:((801) 234-9021 Email: kbartley@cottagesofhope.org
3.Kimberly ha been working for Cottages of Hope for about 2
years and has been working in her current position as a resource
specialist for 1 year. The path she took to reach her current position
was accomplished by earning her Bachelors Degree in Social Work at
Weber State University. During the time she was attending college at
Weber State University, Kimberly worked for a couple of non-profit
organizations the first being an after school program called WYCA
followed by working for an organization called Safe Harbor Crisis
Center; where they provided emergency shelter for abused and
battered women and children. There after she started working for
Cottages of Hope.
4.Some of the major duties as a resource specialist, Kimberly is
responsible for is meeting with ex-offenders and/or felons that are
ordered by a judge or PO Officer, to provide them with resources and
support into transitioning out of prison and into the outside world. They
focus on helping them find jobs, a place to live, and further education
in hopes their clients will be able to be stable and self-sufficient in
rebuilding a life for success themselves, and in turn being able to unify
them with their families. She meets with these ex felons for one hour
on a weekly basis, as well as uses correspondence via phone or email,
in between their weekly appointments in efforts to stay up with the
status of her clients success throughout the week. She works with the
department of child and family services to help them regain custody of
there children if in state custody. She communicates daily with judges,
parole/probation officers, and various non-profit agencies reporting
completion of client requirements.
5. Describing a typical workday for Kimberly goes as such; when
she gets into the office she checks her calendar for appointments, pulls
and reviews client file, meets with client for an hour in her office
discussing client situation and expectations, following their meeting
provides client with homework they are to report back to her for court
purposes by the next week.
6. Aspects of this job Kimberly enjoys the most are being able
advocate for her clients. She is the voice of reason that speaks on
behalf of her clients and speaks with judges, PO officers and board of

pardon to see the good of the client to make a difference in their lives,
as a source to become better people.
7.Aspects of the job she doesnt enjoy is having navigate through
the politics to gain funds by putting a number amount on clients of
what they are worth to other non-profits and legislation in order to
maintain the funds necessary to function successfully.
8.Kimberly works anywhere between 40-50 hours weekly
9. Traveling in this position is a key component of the job.
Kimberly has to travel to different courthouses in various counties
depending on the jurisdiction the client received their original charges,
visiting DCFS for various reasons, and teaching classes on
employment, housing, and education to local jails.
10.Percentages of working alone is about 15%-20% while
working with others is about 75%-80%
11.Describing the working relationships within the company
means having mutually respect and open communication with other
employees and directors to be able to utilize and ask guidance of their
knowledge in the various fields they specialize in.
12. Describing the working relationships outside of the company
is equally important to those within a company if not more important.
Kimberly has to a maintain a certain harmony and professional
relationship with major benefactors of her company such as judges,
DCFS agents, and Parole officers in order to satisfy the needs of her
clients and the needs of the company. Because they rely so heavily on
outside sources to keep the company going, often it feels like she has
to constantly navigate through politics and jump through hoops to
receive the support required to be successful for her clients.
13. Kimberlys most successful project was her very first client of
2 years. This client recently was granted to have her entire record
exsponged. She had 3 felonies and over 15 misdemeanors. Together
they went through the process of speaking to the board of pardons,
who in turn spoke with the governor. After hearing about this clients
success with the program and how she turned her life around for the
better the governor made the decision to pardon all of her charges.
Kimberly had been working with her on maintaining a place to live,
holding down a good job and exploring education options. This client
now owns her home, works for a good company making 15$ an hour,
and even enrolled in a college program at Weber State University.
While attending college she was advised because of her criminal
record she wouldnt be able to attend graduate school. Together
Kimberly and her client worked toward getting rid of her record all
together and were successful. She was one of eight other people who
got their record completely pardoned within the last 5 years.
14. One memorable project that didnt end as successful as she
hoped was working with a male client over the age of 50. He had been
in prison for 25 years, this environment was something he came

accustomed to living in and living outside the prison walls was

something he no longer remembered how to do. Because of the type of
crime this man committed, after 4 short months it became apparent to
him that no one was going to help him move forward from his past. No
one would give him the opportunity a job, nor rent to him any type of
housing. He fell into a sense of hopelessness and completely gave up
on society as well as himself. He decided to hold up and rob a 7/11 gas
station, purposely got caught so he would be sent back to prison. What
she learned from this mans short-lived freedom, was that the system is
flawed. Meaning, there arent enough resources for ex-offenders who
have committed violent crimes in their past. Societys view of exoffenders is very unforgiving, despite the fact they did their time and
was punished for acts that they did in the eyes of the law, in some
cases you cant always help. Going into a career field where you
experience extreme and unpleasant situations you need to remember
to not get too emotionally attached to the people you try to help. There
is a certain self-protection you need to be aware of when working with
these type of clients. Some will fail and wont get better and thats
something you have to learn to accept and move forward from or it can
make you bitter toward the job itself.
15.There are very specific characteristic traits that you need in order to
be successful in working in a career field such as social work, in
Kimberlys opinion it takes having a lot of empathy, understanding of
marginalized populations, diversity; having some sort of background to
understand what the clients have been through, emotional and mental
strength; being in this type of environment you see and deal with
extreme and sometimes uncomfortable situations that you have to
leave at the office once your done for the day.
** Describing the work environment of Cottages of Hope, when you
walk into the building there is a reception desk often a line of 6 to 8
people waiting to be seen by a professional. There are 14 employees
that work; all have their own office. The doors remain open unless a
client is in the office with them. There are often large families with 5 to
8 kids running around screaming while their parents wait to be seen.
Some customers get angry with the wait time based on the frequency
of clients in and out and may stop one of the employees demanding to
be seen. There is no security but all employees know procedure to
handle extreme and even dangerous situations. Working in this type of
environment where the majority clients are dealing with poverty and
criminal backgrounds its been explained to me that theres not very
many quiet moments but something exciting always happens keeping
the job very alive and very interesting.