GEORGIA COUNTY INTERNSHIP SPOTLIGHT
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Anna Rivera Interns in Paulding County
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When Kennesaw State University student Anna Rivera went on a ride-along with a local sergeant as part of her criminal justice class, she did not realize that her experience that day would later turn into an internship with Paulding County. When the sergeant, Jared Gunter, learned of the upcoming internship in Paulding's Mental Health Court, he sent the listing to Rivera, who eagerly applied. During her internship over the summer, Rivera significantly impacted the county and developed her skills and confidence in mental health counseling.
Rivera is a rising senior at Kennesaw State pursuing a degree in psychology. As she advanced on her path to becoming a counselor, Rivera also had an interest in criminal justice and considered minoring in the field. Though she had no previous experience with county government, her ride-along with Sergeant Gunter opened her up to the possibility of working in local government.
Rivera completed her internship in the county’s mental health court under Judge Angela Woodall. The Paulding County Mental Health Court is an 18-month program that provides outpatient mental health and substance abuse counseling as an alternative to incarceration. During her time as an intern, Rivera was responsible for several items within the court and worked on varying projects related to the legal system. She worked firsthand on cases, learning specific case management practices and document preparation. Rivera said that her observations of cases and court proceedings helped her gain more insight into the complexity of handling cases and the importance of thorough communication. “I was allowed to see the efforts that the whole team puts towards making sure the correct things are done to benefit the participants,” Rivera reflected.
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One of her most significant successes of the internship was developing a volunteer database for participants in the mental health court. Rivera developed materials to reach out to businesses and visited potential partners in person to create a database of volunteer sites in the county. The database will help participants better identify places where they can complete long-term community service.
Rivera also independently initiated projects during her internship. Most notably, she designed and created an incentive program for court participants. Through outreach to local businesses, she identified incentives (e.g., bowling vouchers) and devised a points system to reward participants. Looking toward the future, she also developed a questionnaire and a framework for a quarterly "check-in" program to acquire participant feedback. At the conclusion of her internship, Rivera presented her work on the new incentive program directly to participants.
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Mental Health Court Coordinator Lorie Gordon had always hoped to improve the volunteer and incentive programs, but the work often got pushed onto the back burner. However, Rivera's curiosity and commitment made Gordon's hopes for the courts a reality. “Anna has helped tremendously,” Gordon said. She also noted that Rivera brought a good perspective to the court and offered many new insights.
Though Rivera was unfamiliar with accountability courts before the internship, she completed her time with Paulding County with a deeper understanding of county government. In seeing the alternative pathways counties offer in the court system, Rivera noted that she learned “how much more involved the government is” in daily life. “Being more involved in the government has opened my eyes to what’s happening in the county,” she said.
Upon her graduation next spring, Rivera plans to attend graduate school. She said her internship experience affirmed her career interests and "made her more passionate about getting an MA in counseling." By developing her communication and leadership skills, Rivera feels more confident about pursuing her chosen career. Reflecting on the internship overall, Rivera noted: "The knowledge I have and will continue to pick up will serve me well in the future, and I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of an awesome team.
To learn more about the GCIP, please visit our website at https://www.accg.org/caf_index.php.
