Rachael Dietkus
@rdietkus.bsky.social
care for the public / lifelong advocate / designer / social worker / organizational ecologist / space nerd / tech ethicist / founder of www.socialworkerswho.design
Reposted by Rachael Dietkus
If Russell Vought wants a progress report on how his federal worker “trauma strategy” is performing, Virginia, who has the 2nd largest federal workforce, flipped 13 seats blue yesterday.
November 5, 2025 at 1:15 PM
If Russell Vought wants a progress report on how his federal worker “trauma strategy” is performing, Virginia, who has the 2nd largest federal workforce, flipped 13 seats blue yesterday.
Reposted by Rachael Dietkus
Today was a heavy one. I know folks are hurting over the harms our best efforts didn't prevent. It's not a fair fight, and these things are going to happen. Too often, the best we can do is document the damage done.
October 30, 2025 at 1:39 AM
Today was a heavy one. I know folks are hurting over the harms our best efforts didn't prevent. It's not a fair fight, and these things are going to happen. Too often, the best we can do is document the damage done.
Beyond excited that I get to speak at @sdingov.bsky.social (SDinGov) next month. Will you be there?! Let’s definitely connect!
Meet our keynote, Rachael Dietkus.
@rdietkus.bsky.social is an internationally recognised leader in trauma-informed design, civic tech ethics, and public interest service design, with 25 years experience in public service and policy advocacy.
Find out more: sdingov.net/keynotes/rachael-dietkus
@rdietkus.bsky.social is an internationally recognised leader in trauma-informed design, civic tech ethics, and public interest service design, with 25 years experience in public service and policy advocacy.
Find out more: sdingov.net/keynotes/rachael-dietkus
August 16, 2025 at 1:08 AM
Beyond excited that I get to speak at @sdingov.bsky.social (SDinGov) next month. Will you be there?! Let’s definitely connect!
(1) Social workers have a professional Code of Ethics and many need to have a masters degree, a license, and tons of continuing education to do (and keep doing) what we do.
(2) Understanding trauma comes from far more than a one-hour snake oil webinar (often from someone marketing to your pain).
(2) Understanding trauma comes from far more than a one-hour snake oil webinar (often from someone marketing to your pain).
What is common knowledge in your field, but shocks outsiders?
Nearly all people in public service are smart, ethical & hardworking, & nearly all bureaucratic rules at least originated for good reasons.
Nearly all people in public service are smart, ethical & hardworking, & nearly all bureaucratic rules at least originated for good reasons.
What is common knowledge in your field, but shocks outsiders?
Diverse teams and psychologically beneficial cultures are more innovative and more successful at solving problems
Diverse teams and psychologically beneficial cultures are more innovative and more successful at solving problems
June 18, 2025 at 1:58 PM
(1) Social workers have a professional Code of Ethics and many need to have a masters degree, a license, and tons of continuing education to do (and keep doing) what we do.
(2) Understanding trauma comes from far more than a one-hour snake oil webinar (often from someone marketing to your pain).
(2) Understanding trauma comes from far more than a one-hour snake oil webinar (often from someone marketing to your pain).
Reposted by Rachael Dietkus
@laurigoldkind.bsky.social starting of #NASW2025 plenary on #ArtificialIntelligence. Great overview. #SWTech @naswsocialworkers.bsky.social
June 17, 2025 at 2:36 PM
@laurigoldkind.bsky.social starting of #NASW2025 plenary on #ArtificialIntelligence. Great overview. #SWTech @naswsocialworkers.bsky.social
But… we don’t need trauma-informed care, design, tech, policy, governance. Nah. 😏
It also tries to distinguish between "patient care" and "psychosocial support", as though those are different things, and treats the latter as "munchable" This is insane, particularly given the trauma veterans experience and the hard work that has been done to expand VA's work in this area.
June 9, 2025 at 5:09 PM
But… we don’t need trauma-informed care, design, tech, policy, governance. Nah. 😏
Reposted by Rachael Dietkus
I learned so much talking to ProPublica for this story. It's a telling window into how Trump/DOGE are using AI to shrink the government and the consequences. And even though this use is particularly ham-handed, it's a good example of the limitations of the technology more generally.🧵 @propublica.org
Inside the AI Prompts DOGE Used to “Munch” Contracts Related to Veterans’ Health
Experts who reviewed the code for ProPublica found numerous and troubling flaws in the system, providing a disturbing glimpse into how the Trump administration is allowing artificial intelligence to g...
www.propublica.org
June 6, 2025 at 11:54 AM
I learned so much talking to ProPublica for this story. It's a telling window into how Trump/DOGE are using AI to shrink the government and the consequences. And even though this use is particularly ham-handed, it's a good example of the limitations of the technology more generally.🧵 @propublica.org
Reposted by Rachael Dietkus
I was so happy to have Kate and Milo from @altusds.bsky.social on the show!
The way they spoke about tech development shows how differently it can be done if the will is there. It’s so different from techies who build tools for themselves then say everyone else should just learn to code.
The way they spoke about tech development shows how differently it can be done if the will is there. It’s so different from techies who build tools for themselves then say everyone else should just learn to code.
Elon Musk’s DOGE is gutting the US Digital Service and its citizen-focused approach to tech development is going with it.
This week Kate Green and Milo from @altusds.bsky.social join @parismarx.com to discuss how government can build technology differently.
Full ep: techwontsave.us/episode/269_...
This week Kate Green and Milo from @altusds.bsky.social join @parismarx.com to discuss how government can build technology differently.
Full ep: techwontsave.us/episode/269_...
March 27, 2025 at 6:41 PM
I was so happy to have Kate and Milo from @altusds.bsky.social on the show!
The way they spoke about tech development shows how differently it can be done if the will is there. It’s so different from techies who build tools for themselves then say everyone else should just learn to code.
The way they spoke about tech development shows how differently it can be done if the will is there. It’s so different from techies who build tools for themselves then say everyone else should just learn to code.
Reposted by Rachael Dietkus
Fascinating conversation. If you want to know what the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) does and why it’s being fucked up this is a good episode to listen to. I will also recommend the podcast, “System Crash” that @parismarx.com does with @brianmerchant.bsky.social. Both are excellent.
DOGE Is Gutting the US Digital Service w/ Kate Green and Milo — Tech Won't Save Us
Paris Marx is joined by Kate Green and Milo to discuss how Elon Musk’s DOGE is dismantling the US Digital Service and the consequences that has on really improving service delivery in government. Kate...
overcast.fm
March 27, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Fascinating conversation. If you want to know what the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) does and why it’s being fucked up this is a good episode to listen to. I will also recommend the podcast, “System Crash” that @parismarx.com does with @brianmerchant.bsky.social. Both are excellent.
Reposted by Rachael Dietkus
New, from me:
Trump recently issued a memo giving the Office of Personnel Management, and not agencies, final say on which new employees get to stay in government.
This centralization of personnel authority tells us a lot about Trump's mode of governing. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/centralizi...
Trump recently issued a memo giving the Office of Personnel Management, and not agencies, final say on which new employees get to stay in government.
This centralization of personnel authority tells us a lot about Trump's mode of governing. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/centralizi...
Centralizing Personnel Authority
A new Trump move seeks to evade court orders and empower DOGE
donmoynihan.substack.com
March 22, 2025 at 4:48 PM
New, from me:
Trump recently issued a memo giving the Office of Personnel Management, and not agencies, final say on which new employees get to stay in government.
This centralization of personnel authority tells us a lot about Trump's mode of governing. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/centralizi...
Trump recently issued a memo giving the Office of Personnel Management, and not agencies, final say on which new employees get to stay in government.
This centralization of personnel authority tells us a lot about Trump's mode of governing. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/centralizi...
Reposted by Rachael Dietkus
I helped build a government AI system. DOGE fired me, rolled the AI out to the whole agency, and implied the AI can do my job and the jobs of the others they've fired.
It can't. But, what DOGE accidentally revealed about themselves in the process is fascinating. 🧵
It can't. But, what DOGE accidentally revealed about themselves in the process is fascinating. 🧵
March 21, 2025 at 10:41 PM
I helped build a government AI system. DOGE fired me, rolled the AI out to the whole agency, and implied the AI can do my job and the jobs of the others they've fired.
It can't. But, what DOGE accidentally revealed about themselves in the process is fascinating. 🧵
It can't. But, what DOGE accidentally revealed about themselves in the process is fascinating. 🧵
Reposted by Rachael Dietkus
NEW: In October, we published secret recordings of Russell Vought discussing plans to eviscerate entire agencies and decimate the morale of federal workers if Trump won a second term.
It's hard to imagine a more prescient piece of journalism, our editor-in-chief @sengelberg.bsky.social writes.
It's hard to imagine a more prescient piece of journalism, our editor-in-chief @sengelberg.bsky.social writes.
The October Story That Outlined Exactly What the Trump Administration Would Do to the Federal Bureaucracy
Historians have hindsight when they look into the past; journalists have the facts on the ground and context to help them look ahead. That means we can sometimes be surprised by how prescient a story ...
propub.li
March 20, 2025 at 11:02 AM
NEW: In October, we published secret recordings of Russell Vought discussing plans to eviscerate entire agencies and decimate the morale of federal workers if Trump won a second term.
It's hard to imagine a more prescient piece of journalism, our editor-in-chief @sengelberg.bsky.social writes.
It's hard to imagine a more prescient piece of journalism, our editor-in-chief @sengelberg.bsky.social writes.
Reposted by Rachael Dietkus
Thanks for all the excitement, we'll get this thing going shortly. Get on our mailing list at digitalcorpspdx.org
Digital Corps of Portland - A volunteer-powered, short-term civic tech initiative
PDX Digital Corps is a short-term civic initiative connecting tech volunteers with Portland-area organizations to solve real digital problems through focused, short-term projects.
digitalcorpspdx.org
March 18, 2025 at 4:09 AM
Thanks for all the excitement, we'll get this thing going shortly. Get on our mailing list at digitalcorpspdx.org
Tonight, I re-read this ‘Trauma and Design’ piece I wrote 4 years ago (May 2021) on Medium, although I could have easily written it in the last 8 weeks. It’s eerily relevant to current events.
Please read + reshare.
Link: medium.com/surviving-id...
Please read + reshare.
Link: medium.com/surviving-id...
Trauma and Design
written by Rachael Dietkus, LCSW
medium.com
March 20, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Tonight, I re-read this ‘Trauma and Design’ piece I wrote 4 years ago (May 2021) on Medium, although I could have easily written it in the last 8 weeks. It’s eerily relevant to current events.
Please read + reshare.
Link: medium.com/surviving-id...
Please read + reshare.
Link: medium.com/surviving-id...
Reposted by Rachael Dietkus
NEW: The WIRED crew takes you inside the first 6 weeks of DOGE, laying out in great detail how Elon Musk installed loyalists across government who gained access to our country's most sensitive computer systems.
“This is a digital coup,” one USAID source told me.
www.wired.com/story/elon-m...
“This is a digital coup,” one USAID source told me.
www.wired.com/story/elon-m...
Inside Elon Musk’s ‘Digital Coup’
Musk’s loyalists at DOGE have infiltrated dozens of federal agencies, pushed out tens of thousands of workers, and siphoned millions of people’s most sensitive data. The next step: Unleash the AI.
www.wired.com
March 13, 2025 at 6:59 PM
NEW: The WIRED crew takes you inside the first 6 weeks of DOGE, laying out in great detail how Elon Musk installed loyalists across government who gained access to our country's most sensitive computer systems.
“This is a digital coup,” one USAID source told me.
www.wired.com/story/elon-m...
“This is a digital coup,” one USAID source told me.
www.wired.com/story/elon-m...
Reposted by Rachael Dietkus
you’re fired. wait you’re rehired. email us a list of things you’ve done today wait forget it you’re fired again. come back your job was important. you’re fired. or hired. come in to the office. wait the office has no computers go home. we are the department of government efficiency.
March 5, 2025 at 10:34 PM
you’re fired. wait you’re rehired. email us a list of things you’ve done today wait forget it you’re fired again. come back your job was important. you’re fired. or hired. come in to the office. wait the office has no computers go home. we are the department of government efficiency.
Reposted by Rachael Dietkus
18F was doing exactly the type of work that DOGE claims to want – yet we were eliminated shortly after midnight. Read our letter to the American people:
18f.org
18f.org
We're not done yet | 18F
18f.org
March 1, 2025 at 11:38 PM
18F was doing exactly the type of work that DOGE claims to want – yet we were eliminated shortly after midnight. Read our letter to the American people:
18f.org
18f.org
Reposted by Rachael Dietkus
If you worked for 18F and got fired, Group together to start a consulting company.
It’s just a matter of time before DOGE needs you to fix the mess they inevitably create.
They will have to hire your company as a contractor to fix it. But on your terms.
I’m happy to invest and/or help
It’s just a matter of time before DOGE needs you to fix the mess they inevitably create.
They will have to hire your company as a contractor to fix it. But on your terms.
I’m happy to invest and/or help
March 2, 2025 at 12:34 AM
If you worked for 18F and got fired, Group together to start a consulting company.
It’s just a matter of time before DOGE needs you to fix the mess they inevitably create.
They will have to hire your company as a contractor to fix it. But on your terms.
I’m happy to invest and/or help
It’s just a matter of time before DOGE needs you to fix the mess they inevitably create.
They will have to hire your company as a contractor to fix it. But on your terms.
I’m happy to invest and/or help
Reposted by Rachael Dietkus
Rather than violate their oath or comply with Musk’s illegal requests, 21 civil service employees resigned today from Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (formerly the United States Digital Service), stating they would not use their technical expertise to dismantle critical public services.
February 25, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Rather than violate their oath or comply with Musk’s illegal requests, 21 civil service employees resigned today from Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (formerly the United States Digital Service), stating they would not use their technical expertise to dismantle critical public services.
I appreciate @donmoyn.bsky.social letting this writing on “The Weaponization of Trauma” be a guest piece on his remarkable blog, Can We Still Govern. See the link below.
And listen to the @nytimes.com episode of The Daily, which was the anchor for this writing: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
And listen to the @nytimes.com episode of The Daily, which was the anchor for this writing: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
New, at Can We Still Govern: Rachael worked as a govt technologist, specializing in trauma-informed design of public services.
Then the Trump admin promised to put her and other public employees "in trauma."
She explains what this means.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-weapon...
Then the Trump admin promised to put her and other public employees "in trauma."
She explains what this means.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-weapon...
The Weaponization of Trauma
The human toll being being paid by public employees
donmoynihan.substack.com
February 22, 2025 at 5:43 PM
I appreciate @donmoyn.bsky.social letting this writing on “The Weaponization of Trauma” be a guest piece on his remarkable blog, Can We Still Govern. See the link below.
And listen to the @nytimes.com episode of The Daily, which was the anchor for this writing: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
And listen to the @nytimes.com episode of The Daily, which was the anchor for this writing: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
Reposted by Rachael Dietkus
Tag yourself. I'm "Fight, Flight, Freeze" and "Grief & Mourning."
New, at Can We Still Govern: Rachael worked as a govt technologist, specializing in trauma-informed design of public services.
Then the Trump admin promised to put her and other public employees "in trauma."
She explains what this means.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-weapon...
Then the Trump admin promised to put her and other public employees "in trauma."
She explains what this means.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-weapon...
The Weaponization of Trauma
The human toll being being paid by public employees
donmoynihan.substack.com
February 21, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Tag yourself. I'm "Fight, Flight, Freeze" and "Grief & Mourning."
Reposted by Rachael Dietkus
The US Digital Service (USDS) - now the US DOGE Service - is being weaponized by the Trump administration to target career federal employees, dismantle safeguards, and enable corruption.
👀 Read more on our site.
🔗 wethebuilders.org
#DefendDemocracy #SaveOurServices #AltUSDS #fedworkers
👀 Read more on our site.
🔗 wethebuilders.org
#DefendDemocracy #SaveOurServices #AltUSDS #fedworkers
wethebuilders.org
February 22, 2025 at 6:36 AM
The US Digital Service (USDS) - now the US DOGE Service - is being weaponized by the Trump administration to target career federal employees, dismantle safeguards, and enable corruption.
👀 Read more on our site.
🔗 wethebuilders.org
#DefendDemocracy #SaveOurServices #AltUSDS #fedworkers
👀 Read more on our site.
🔗 wethebuilders.org
#DefendDemocracy #SaveOurServices #AltUSDS #fedworkers
What is your ethical stance?
Civic technologists need an ethical stance – a clear articulation of what we are willing to participate in and where we draw the line. Without one, we risk becoming complicit in the very harms we sought to prevent.
Read more here: lnkd.in/gdC3sCyv
Civic technologists need an ethical stance – a clear articulation of what we are willing to participate in and where we draw the line. Without one, we risk becoming complicit in the very harms we sought to prevent.
Read more here: lnkd.in/gdC3sCyv
February 9, 2025 at 3:32 PM
What is your ethical stance?
Civic technologists need an ethical stance – a clear articulation of what we are willing to participate in and where we draw the line. Without one, we risk becoming complicit in the very harms we sought to prevent.
Read more here: lnkd.in/gdC3sCyv
Civic technologists need an ethical stance – a clear articulation of what we are willing to participate in and where we draw the line. Without one, we risk becoming complicit in the very harms we sought to prevent.
Read more here: lnkd.in/gdC3sCyv
Reposted by Rachael Dietkus
As the more mainstream press continues to flail on this story, Wired is all fucking over it.
NEW: The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk's Government Takeover
from @telliotter.bsky.social
www.wired.com/story/elon-m...
from @telliotter.bsky.social
www.wired.com/story/elon-m...
The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk's Government Takeover
Engineers between 19 and 24, most linked to Musk’s companies, are playing a key role as he seizes control of federal infrastructure.
www.wired.com
February 2, 2025 at 7:32 PM
As the more mainstream press continues to flail on this story, Wired is all fucking over it.
#SWtech this post from Ariel at Beeck is important for social work students and social workers to be aware of: bsky.app/profile/arie...
The digital infrastructure of the United States Government is both critical and fragile. Many of us who work in digital government have been trying to figure out what’s going on as norms and protocols are being subverted — Thread on some of what we know so far:
February 2, 2025 at 12:58 PM
#SWtech this post from Ariel at Beeck is important for social work students and social workers to be aware of: bsky.app/profile/arie...