(Posted 2024 February)
Meet Soo Jin!
Position: Victim Advocate in the Domestic Violence Action Center (DVAC)
In this position, I provide holistic case management. That means I provide court accompaniment, assist the client with getting a protective order, make appointments, help if they need translation or interpretation, navigate and connect them to the right resources for their needs. I collaborate with counseling and the Victim Services Division of Fairfax County Police Department. Externally we have a lot of partner agencies to support clients. If they have housing or finance issues caused by domestic violence, I connect them to resources to relieve the emergency situation. Ultimately, advocates help victims and survivors to be independent. We empower them to leave safely, if they choose.
Because Korean is my native language, I also help Korean-speaking clients, especially because a language barrier makes it hard to navigate the system.
The DMV is my adopted home. I am from Korea. I started my studies in psychology. Social work was not familiar to me when I was younger. It is kind of a strange field. I thought, “Everybody can help people, so why do we need to study social work?” But in undergrad I met a very interesting professor from Chicago who made me switch to social work. I realized in social work they were trying to connect resources very systematically, and they focused on people, which was very attractive to me. The baseline between psychology and social work is very similar, but in social work, I could work with people more.
I focus on using my social work skills to help people impacted by interpersonal violence. As a college intern, I met victims’ kids at a domestic violence shelter. The kids were very young, but they remembered everything. They could not express it well, but they were anxious and fearful. It was a shock, and I had a lot of concern. I wanted to get more information and knowledge to support the kids, which led me to the domestic violence field. But the system was not set up well in Korea, so I helped create a program to understand the situation. It was very successful and very rewarding.
However, cultural differences limited me. In Korea, the challenge was I was young and single, and people kept asking, “Are you married?” I needed to change my status to work comfortably. To build up my knowledge and get the right qualifications, in 2003, I came to the U.S. to study social work more deeply. A year later, I moved to the D.C. area to work. Then I spent 14 years—from 2004-2019--working with the Korean Community Service Center. I joined the Department of Family Services in 2019.
Most days are hectic. We are onsite [at court], meeting clients, listening to what happened to them, connecting resources, following up. Every day we work with our partners. Without them, we could not do anything. At DVAC, we share snacks and chat about how we can find new resources and overcome challenges. We provide peer support. We spend all day working with the clients. That is very important for me because it is a gesture to express that we are here and we care.
Caring is my love language. If I can impact one thing in the life of a victim or client positively, then I am happy. Also, Fairfax County is very diverse. I like that I am learning a lot of the culture. I was not familiar with the LGBTQ+ community or other ethnic groups when I got here. Through my journey, I am learning about these other cultures and understanding their challenges—and helping to improve their life. That is an ongoing practice. And it is the most interesting part of my job and I love experiencing that.
I am stretching my wings in other ways, too. Because my first language is Korean, and I came to the U.S. in my 20s, I am sometimes kind of challenged by the language. But the people in the Department of Family Services are really good and really friendly, even though my English is not perfect.
I also like the leadership of Domestic and Sexual Violence Services. They are always trying to support the employees. They know how they have to work to deliver the mission. That process is helpful for me. And my supervisors--I have two--are amazing.
Work feels like family. That is one of the many reasons I am very satisfied with my position here. I am busy, but I can experience diverse people with a lot of unique experiences—and good, friendly, supportive leadership. I feel like it is a family. They listen and try to support me based on my situation. I came to Fairfax County because I wanted a work-life balance because I had young children. DFS is very supportive of work-life balance. Balancing everything helps me last in this job.
Off the clock, I like writing. Not journaling, but I try to write something every night. My family enjoys winter sports. My husband and I, especially, enjoy snowboarding. I also mingle with good friends and neighbors. They make me refresh and get more energy to come back to work, which I need because I do not get to go home [to Korea] often; flights are expensive!
Join our team to discover why I enjoy working with DFS so much.
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