Her Story
About Latoya
Latoya Delmadge serves as the director for the social work department at one of New York City health and hospitals in the behavioral health department. With over 25 years in the field of social work, she is a licensed clinical social worker who holds a doctorate degree, a master's degree, and a degree in social work. Her career path began with administrative work among family therapists, which inspired her to pursue social work to support children and families. In her current role, she focuses on stabilizing patients, collaborating with systems such as the Office of Mental Health and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and developing programs to address gaps in care for vulnerable populations, including those with co-occurring disorders. She has notable achievements in starting Article 28 clinics and grant-funded programs that provide accessible behavioral health services regardless of insurance or immigration status. Delmadge is also a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and attributes her success to her personal relationship with Jesus Christ, which guides her purposeful approach to serving others with dignity in both her professional and personal life.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Latoya
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would have to say, as someone who has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, I would say that that's the biggest part of why I'm able to do what I do. You know, I do believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and I do believe in Him helping me to be able to do everything that I do, but not just doing it just to do it, but doing it with purpose, feeling like I'm doing what I feel like I'm called to do.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Never to limit myself as far as how far I can go in the field of social work. She really encouraged me to think outside of the box, right? Just don't be a clinician. Like, you can get into management, you can do private practice. There's so much that you can do with your social work degree.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
You do have to work from your heart. The work that you do, it's challenging. Patients are challenging, the recovery, you know, sometimes it takes time, and if you don't really have the heart for the work that you're doing, it becomes tedious, and you easily get burnt out. But when you really do have a heart for seeing the needs for a vulnerable population, they can feel that you're genuine about the work that you do.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Some of the biggest challenges in my field right now, when you think about working with behavioral health patients, recovery is always achievable, but it's also a challenge. We have patients who cycle through the system a lot because it's just the nature of mental illness. The challenge is really being able to see patients embrace this recovery process and have someone who is able to support them through the process. Oftentimes, we have patients who fall through the cracks.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Values that's most important to me is serving individuals with a sense of dignity. Whatever I'm doing, I'm doing it to make sure that I'm meeting the needs of people. I do that on the job, I do that in my home with my children and my family, I do that within my church community, just kind of being that person where if someone has a need, they know that they can find me.
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