"A well society,” says Washtenaw County Commissioner Barbara Levin Bergman, “recognizes that we live ina community and that our actions are communal. I do believe that in my professional position and as a fellow human being, I am my brothers’ and sisters’ keeper.”
Now in her seventh two-year term as county commissioner, Bergman believes that her background in social work ties in quite well with her role as public servant. She explains: “Commissioners review program and service needs of county residents and decide how to allocate the budget.It is a way to shape how money is spent from a social work perspective.”
Bergman’s personal philosophy influences her policy work on multiple committees. “I am beyond proud,” she says, “to be a founding member of the Washtenaw Community Health Organization [WCHO], the country’s only public health maintenance organization for persons with developmental disabilities and mental illness.” The Courtesy Barbara Levin Bergman WCHO’s innovative approach of integrating mental health, substance abuse, disability, and primary and specialty care services has attracted regional and national attention.
In the 1960s, Bergman was a part of the Michigan League for Human Services Committee charged with making recommendations for the first child abuse and neglect legislation in Michigan. Later, Bergman worked at a runaway shelter in Inkster, Michigan, until her position was defunded. This event led to her move to Ann Arbor in 1980, where she ultimately enrolled in the administrative track of the MSW program at age 45.
Following her graduation, Bergman taught social work and sociology courses at Adrian College and Eastern Michigan University while taking doctoral courses in public policy and social work.
Through her policy work and the influence of her mentor, Professor Emerita Sallie Churchill, Bergman has never lost sight of the importance of the individual and the way policy decisions affect their lives. She recalls Churchill saying that individuals in need of services, not the agencies, are those who need the dollars. “That mix-up faces the commissioners to this day as they vote on outside agency allocations,” Bergman says.
Bergman once considered going to law school with the goal of becoming a judge. Serving as county commissioner has proven more satisfying for her. “It’s truly a way to change lives,” she declares. “It fulfills my mission as a social worker.”
—Jennifer M. Acree, MSW ’05, is director of programs for the BEST Project, a capacity building initiative for Genesee County nonprofits, in Flint, Michigan.