Social Work in Action
Huntington University wishes to celebrate the continued success of one of our graduates from 2023, Madalyn Robrock, as a social worker in the Fort Wayne Police Department.
In April 2023, Content Developer Nicole Manges sat down with Robrock for an interview about her (at the time) recent internship with HART (Hope and Recovery Team). Robrock was introduced to the HART program on a class field trip to a career fair when she met Darcy Robins, the lead social worker of HART. Robrock felt she connected really well with Robins and was intrigued by an opening position in the program.
After some research on HART and getting to know the people involved, Robrock applied for an internship with them. There was a decent amount of Master of Social Work (MSW) candidates, while Robrock was one of the few Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) candidates. Despite the competition, she placed for the internship, commenting, “I was so fortunate that I was able to get this position [...] everyone wanted it because they went to that career fair.”
The HART program was created by Captain Kevin Hunter from the Fort Wayne Police Department.
“People are going to jail for drug offenses, coming back out, and going right back in, and he was trying to figure out why or what do we need to do to combat that,” Robrock explained.
Captain Hunter wrote a grant for a team to combat recidivism. They would be comprised of a captain, two plainclothes detectives, and two social workers. Robrock described their main job as, “to work with the comorbidity of substance use and mental health.”
HART is made to be client-based, intending not to get clients in trouble but rather to help them, a quality that stood out to Robrock. Other activities include providing resources for the unhoused population, mental health and addiction treatment training, and information on where to find sober living houses and treatment centers.
Robrock grew up in Huntington County, so working close to home allowed her to collaborate with organizations she worked with prior and to see different sides of them. She stated, “I got to see the kid side of [Youth Services Bureau and DCS,] the incarceration side of [Place of Grace] [...] it’s been really cool to full circle it and see how much everything is connected.” Robrock said she always felt drawn to service, but after this internship, she remarked, “this population of people that I’ve gotten to work with and some of the people at HART, I feel like I could have a God calling there.”
Robrock continues to work with HART. On March 11, 2024, Fort Wayne’s late mayor Tom Henry sent out a communication for National Social Worker Month. In his statement, Robrock received recognition for her outstanding service with a section dedicated to the ongoing success of HART. Henry wrote, “The team in 2023 followed up with 1,341 addicted individuals to help with treatment and recovery services [and] reached 2,996 unhoused individuals with Handing Out Hope and Street Outreach events.”
As Manges and Robrock began to wrap up their interview, Robrock discussed some of her takeaways from this experience. One message she emphasized was to encourage us to “love God and love people.” She mentioned how easy it is to stigmatize people without knowing their story, and we should not let that get in the way of our calling to love one another. As for herself, Robrock said, “I may not be able to completely change someone’s life or turn someone’s life around, but I am going to love them no matter what, and if that’s the one thing I do with my life, I will be okay with that because that is what God called me to do.”
Since Manges’ interview, Robrock has pursued a Master of Social Work degree. Whether she continues to work in her hometown or takes her work elsewhere, Huntington University wishes Robrock the best of luck wherever God calls her.
If you would like to learn more about HU’s social work program, visit huntington.edu/Social-Work.
Photo: Madalyn Robrock at the social work commissioning service at Huntington University in April 2023.
