In this episode of Keeping It Real with Tiff and Carl, listeners are taken inside Part One of a class Carl taught at the 2025 CalWORKS Training Academy, focused on building deeper awareness of bias in everyday practice. Carl guides participants through an exploration of dominant and counter narratives, helping frontline professionals recognize how assumptions, intentions, and lived experience shape interactions with clients and colleagues. The conversation unpacks how well-meaning actions can still lead to harmful impact, often showing up as microaggressions, and introduces practical tools for noticing bias in real time. This first segment sets the foundation for honest reflection, working through defensiveness, and beginning the work of interrupting exclusive behaviors—preparing participants to respond with accountability, curiosity, and growth as the class continues.

This episode shows he second part of Tiff's class at the CalWORKs Training Academy for helping professionals from counties across California. The conversation reframes the role of CalWORKs social workers, case managers, and employment counselors, challenging the traditional gatekeeper mindset rooted in compliance and rules.Tiff facilitates an exploration of what it means to act as concierges of service—trusted guides who build supportive relationships, leverage strengths, and connect families to meaningful resources. Through real-world examples and practical tools, this opening segment sets the foundation for shifting from punitive approaches to relationship-centered practices that empower families and strengthen the people who serve them.

This episode introduces the first segment of a class taught by Tiffany at the CalWORKs Training Academy for helping professionals from counties across California. The conversation reframes the role of CalWORKs social workers, case managers, and employment counselors, challenging the traditional gatekeeper mindset rooted in compliance and rules.Tiff facilitates an exploration of what it means to act as concierges of service—trusted guides who build supportive relationships, leverage strengths, and connect families to meaningful resources. Through real-world examples and practical tools, this opening segment sets the foundation for shifting from punitive approaches to relationship-centered practices that empower families and strengthen the people who serve them.

In Part Two of this special Parent Voices panel, Tiff and Carl continue the conversation with powerful firsthand stories from parents whose lived experience is shaping real policy change in California’s human services system. The panel highlights how authentic parent partnership has influenced reforms—such as reducing sanctions for new parents, improving childcare transitions, expanding measures of success beyond work participation, and elevating parent leadership statewide. They also discuss where systems still fall short, including communication barriers, unrealistic income limits, challenges with access, and the emotional and practical strain families face when support isn’t responsive. Through courage, honesty, and advocacy, these parents demonstrate why their voices are essential in reimagining programs that truly meet families’ needs.

In Part One of this special two-part series of Keeping It Real with Tiff and Carl, Carl introduces us to an incredibly meaningful experience for he and Tiff while serving as co-emcees at the CalWORKs Training Academy. In this episode, listeners are introduced to a powerful parent panel featuring members of Parent Voices, an organization of parents who have navigated the human services system firsthand and now advocate for families across California. Tiff and Carl guide the panelists through heartfelt conversation, honest reflections, and deeply insightful perspectives on what it truly means to experience these systems, depend on them, and push for change within them. Stay tuned for Part Two, which will be released later this week.

In Part Two of this segment, you'll hear the second half of the CTA class, "Empowering Clients Through the Coach Approach". Tiff and Carl continue the conversation by unpacking the Persecutor and Rescuer roles within Karpman’s Drama Triangle and how these patterns quietly show up in human services, leadership, and client interactions. They explore how well-intentioned behaviors—overcorrecting, fixing, enforcing, or rescuing—can unintentionally reinforce dependency, resistance, and burnout. Throughout this segment, listeners will hear Tiff and Carl guide the audience through reflective exercises that help participants identify how these roles show up in their own work as helping professionals. Drawing from real-world examples, they offer actionable strategies for shifting out of the Drama Triangle and into more effective roles as Challengers and coaches, using curiosity, boundaries, and accountability to support growth without taking over. The full course description follows below.Case managers are not just service providers—they're partners in change. This session introduces the coach approach as a powerful way to engage CalWORKs clients, shift responsibility to them, and foster accountability. Instead of doing the thinking for clients, you'll learn to ask open-ended, thought-provoking questions that build confidence, inspire critical thinking, navigate potentially sensitive topics, and support long-term success. We’ll also explore how stepping out of Karpman’s Drama Triangle—especially the Rescuer role—helps clients take ownership of their choices and builds their capability for positive outcomes. Whether you're supporting clients with employment, housing, or parenting goals, this approach can reduce burnout and improve outcomes.

In this episode of Keeping It Real with Tiff and Carl, recorded live from the California CalWORKs Training Academy in Sacramento, Tiff and Carl reflect on a powerful week of teaching, facilitating, and connecting with human services professionals, while serving as the co-emcees of the conference. They dive into the Academy’s focus on resiliency and client-centered service, exploring how shifting power, elevating participant voices, and moving beyond compliance-driven systems can remove barriers and create real impact. The episode then transitions into the first segment of their session, “Empowering Clients Through the Coach Approach,” where they begin unpacking how curiosity, trust, and coaching mindsets can transform service delivery. The full course description follows below.Case managers are not just service providers—they're partners in change. This session introduces the coach approach as a powerful way to engage CalWORKs clients, shift responsibility to them, and foster accountability. Instead of doing the thinking for clients, you'll learn to ask open-ended, thought-provoking questions that build confidence, inspire critical thinking, navigate potentially sensitive topics, and support long-term success. We’ll also explore how stepping out of Karpman’s Drama Triangle—especially the Rescuer role—helps clients take ownership of their choices and builds their capability for positive outcomes. Whether you're supporting clients with employment, housing, or parenting goals, this approach can reduce burnout and improve outcomes.

In Part Three, Carl and Tiffany reflect on the realities of leadership and the shift from peer to supervisor, with Carl sharing his experience becoming a boss in a small community and the importance of consistency, trust, and accepting that leaders can’t control how others perceive them. They dive into effective feedback practices, emphasizing the power of timely, supportive communication that holds people accountable while helping them feel valued. Tiffany describes her “cool boss” approach to feedback, while Carl highlights the importance of frequent positive interactions and research-backed practices that reinforce growth. The segment closes with a focus on process over outcomes, as they discuss how gratitude, attitude, and ongoing feedback shape healthy workplace cultures, reminding leaders that meaningful impact comes from showing up with intention, appreciation, and alignment between words and actions.