“Now, nearly four decades since that conversation, Franklin serves at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work as the director of external relations and the Stiernberg/ Spencer Family Professor in Mental Health. Her list of accolades is long. She’s been designated as a Social Work Pioneer from the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), selected as one of only 20 Longhorn Legends by the University of Texas, and owns a variety of other career achievements that she too humbly dismisses.
“I have colleagues that now call me Dr. Legend,” Franklin said laughing, referring to the Longhorn Legends banner that was revealed outside of DKR Memorial Stadium. “Who ever saw that coming?”
Call her Dr. Legend or Dr. Franklin, but either way, she feels that she’s still got several opportunities in front of both her and the school she has faithfully served since 1989.
How to Help Young People
Cynthia Franklin’s father, a cotton farmer who never learned to read or write, came from Indigenous decent from rural Oklahoma. Her father spurred her to get her education and eventually work in academia, especially to focus on a long career working with youth in K-12 schools.
“He instilled in me that the best thing that I can do is to help youth get their education,” said Franklin.
Franklin was educated and trained as a” “family therapist, her vision is to see every educational setback in youth experiences to be turned around into a setup for success. Throughout her career she became an internationally recognized expert on solution-focused brief therapy and mental health in K-12 school contexts.
Used as a strengths-based, intervention developed by social workers, solution- focused brief therapy (SFBT) is a “whole new way of thinking” about psychotherapies, Franklin said. Instead of working through people’s past problems, SBFT focuses on their preferred futures and propels every step they take forward.
Franklin developed the research basis of SFBT that is now practiced around the globe She played a large role in the highly successful solution-focused dropout prevention program, Gonzalo Garza Independence High School For the past 30 years, she has implemented SFBT in schools ranging from Texas to Scandinavia, and she has continued to watch more and more students graduate every year from the Garza program – some of which have also later graduated from UT-Austin.
The Future of SHS
Recognizing past successes is a part of developing a preferred future, Franklin said, but change is constant. She is happy to see the growth of the school she’s dedicated her career to, and in the future, believes the top 10 program for social work education will be a standout Top 5 program. In her current role as the Director of External Relations, Franklin cultivates relationships between the school, professional social work organizations and the community. She adds that without relationships inside and outside of the school working together, we will “never solve the critical social problems – a key job for all social workers.
Franklin sees a bright future for the Steve Hicks School. She believes all of the many successes at the SHS are catapulted forward through the school’s strong community. The school’s ability to work together to equip and mobilize students is what makes SHS a top school for the social work profession, she said. With the faculty, and the numerous research institutes at the school, Franklin sees a tremendous public impact.
Using the words “up and out” to describe how SHS students are sent out to impact people’s lives, Dr. Franklin knows that the University of Texas and the Steve Hicks School change the world for the better. After all, it’s the school that made her Dr. Legend.
“It’s the institutions you cultivate that make you successful,” Dr. Franklin said. “And at this institution, I am proud to serve. I owe my life University of Texas system.””