Understanding of Public Child Welfare Services
Child welfare means exactly what it sounds like; it is the well-being, the health, and the happiness of children. Through my understanding, public child welfare services are services available to families in order to better equip them in creating the safety development, stability, and well-being of their children.
Interest and Commitment in Public Child Welfare
For most of my college career I worked as a nanny, assisting families in fostering a safe and fun learning environment for their children. Playing with them, reading stories, doing arts and crafts and running around at the park were among the many activities that I engaged in. Through nannying, I came to the realization that I wanted to pursue a career that allowed me to work with children and toward their well-being; this was what originally sparked my interest in child welfare. Although I was set on working toward helping children, I was not entirely sure how or in what setting I wanted to work with them in.
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Upon receiving my field placement at the Department of Family and Children Services in the Dependency Investigations Unit, I thought about the fact that I would be taking part in the separation of parents from their children and children from their siblings and focused solely on that aspect.
I neglected to think about the unsafe environment that the children were exposed to, the absence of the parents and how it affected the children, or even how social workers make every effort to reunify families in which the parents are making the same effort to get them back. I focused merely on how I would be part of the separation process. Like nannying, this internship gave me the opportunity to work with different families, however in a completely distinct
manner. Through my internship, I learned that all of my assumptions pertaining to Child Protective Services were false. I learned that the process is long and challenging, that it is always changing, and it can even be heartbreaking. My interest in public child welfare system has rapidly flourished since then and although I have gained valuable experience as an intern, I was limited to the amount of responsibilities I was given. Consequently, I would like the opportunity to further expand my knowledge in the field as I am fully committed to my professional development within the public child welfare system. I believe in the philosophy “Teach the parent, Reach the child”; a philosophy that I feel public child welfare and the child welfare system manifests in its mission and core values. How Stipend Program relates to your short-term and long-term goals I have been a working student since the beginning of my undergraduate college career and have experienced the difficulties that come from working and going to school. It was a challenge to find a balance between juggling both but, I have finally found a happy-medium. Although I am confident in my ability to juggle my current school duties and my job, I am nervous about the rigorous study graduate school requires. Therefore, this stipend would help immensely and give me the opportunity to thoroughly engage myself in all aspects of the work that graduate study requires. Long term wise, the Child Welfare Title IV-E stipend would give me the opportunity to be entirely engaged in my career as a child welfare social worker as soon as I graduate and get started on my career. This stipend would give me the chance to be less concerned about paying back the student loans that I would otherwise need to borrow to pay for graduate school. Also long-term wise, if this stipend were awarded to me, I would make sure that I prove that I was a great investment by paying the stipend back through my dedication and services as a child welfare social worker.
For the purpose of this paper the social worker interviewed is Ronnita Waters, MSW, RCSWi; she is currently an operations manager at the Center for Family and Child Enrichment (CFCE). The issue or area where her advocacy skills are practiced is within child welfare. Mrs. Waters mentions to the interviewee “I always wanted to work with children, then eventually for children.” when asked what developed her interest in this area of social work. Furthermore, before she became an operations manager, the social worker was an adoptions supervisor, overseeing adoption case managers and ensuring the proper implementation of policies such as the sibling placement policy and adoption policy. In addition, before achieving the role of supervisor, she was
Investigates and prevent in cases of a child abuse or neglect. They respond to complaints from law enforcement, day care, schools, etc. They work with parents and other social service agencies to keep the child away from harm and hurt.You need to be able to communicate effectivly with the child and their parent to be able to handle hard situations, and take the time out to investigate the home, inspect the living conditions, and sometimes having to remove the child from the situation at hand. This all may involve counseling and educating parents, and help come up with plans so that the child can live a better life. In order to do that you may need to continue to monitor the situation until it is resolved. If that doesn’t work the CPS workers may remove the abused child/children from
There can be some improvements in how the police system is involved with the child abuse investigation, in order to allow the child welfare workers to focus on providing services to disadvantaged families. Since caseloads are high, most child welfare workers have limited time span to work and focus on the families’ issues such as, financial stability, social and emotional well-being of all family members. Implementing successful prevention strategies will require the need to provide assistance to the entire family and focus both on the child’s safety and well-being, as well as the parents’ emotional and economic well-being. Child welfare systems can provide resources such as child care services for single parents who lack education, which limits their employment. Such services can help the family become financially stable, and hopefully get out of living in poverty.
One thing that catches my attention during my research about foster care adoption I thought once the foster children find a home their suffering will come to an end but I was so wrong and learning more about their situation it open up my eyes to the other tragedy that will continue to follow them wherever home they go. Some kids even though they found a new
To many outsiders, the foster care system may appear to be a safe haven for those children that are abused or abandoned by their birth family. This is correct, but the system with which it is based, has many flaws. A background check is mandatory for all foster parents, but a test to see if a child 's temperament matches that caregiver 's parenting style, is not. Now, this is seen as a minor issue, but there is not enough evidence to support this. Plus, there are many other, much worse reasons, why the system is not perfect. Altogether, the foster care system and a multitude of its rules are flawed and may actually be negatively affecting foster children.
Since the last fifteen years of my life, I have been interested in social work involving families with children. I have always had an interest in helping, supporting and working with children and adults. These practical experiences social work will continue to lead me to learned, applied, and prepared to become a social worker. I will continue to work with developmental disabilities and other diverse groups of the population.
Explain how the service assists parents and carers to prepare for their roles and fulfil their responsibilities.
The one thing that I have always known I loved to do with my life is to help people. Cicero had once said that, “Non nobis solum nati sumus. (Not for ourselves alone are we born)”, a statement that I have always held close to my heart as it means that we are put on this earth for a purpose and one of those purposes is to be there for people who are asking for help, as we should not only worry about our own purpose in life but others as well. I am applying to the Faculty of Social Work for a Bachelor of Social Work at the University of Calgary because I want to learn the skills required to enable me to work with people, supporting them, and making a difference in their lives. My goal is to enhance the wellbeing of the vulnerable, oppressed, and impoverished individuals of our society. Essentially, my reason is driven on my aspiration to see others succeed in fulfilling their own potential, not only to gain happiness, but to see their lives as fulfilling and worthwhile for themselves. Although it feels somewhat cliché, my passion and desire for the field of social work originated from a genuine wish to make a positive difference in other people’s lives. I want to feel like I have done something meaningful, worth something, and that I sparked a light into a person’s life that needs it the most. By receiving the opportunity for a Bachelor of Social Work, I believe I can achieve this and become a supportive and compassionate member of society.
I want to pursue a career in social work because I want to help people who are suffering from mental illness and who are underserviced when it comes to getting help for mental illnesses. By working with a distressed person to become better, not only will I be able to enhance their life, but also the community will transform into a more positive place. I view transformation as a ripple effect, where changing the situation for one person eventually causes a change in the majority. This is especially true when it comes to mental illness and the stigma that surrounds it. I have been highly involved in mental health work on my college campus since my sophomore year. I am one of the founding members of our Active Minds chapter, and have held the
Child neglect is the most common form of maltreatment towards children, which may lead to various short- and long-term physical, psychological and social consequences. It is known to coincide with other forms of abuse and difficulties. Infants and toddlers are often the main victims of neglect.
What is a social work? “Social work is a profession which promotes social change and problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance wellbeing. Utilizing theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at the point where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work”. (Understanding Social work, Neil Thompson, 2005, page 13, 2nd Edition). Social workers convey their enthusiasm and sense of duty regarding fill in as they help construct more grounded groups, families, and people. Amid the meeting procedure, I was set up to talk about contextual investigations in which extreme choices need to be made and
Child abuse over is happening all around the world to many young children. Many of the victims tend to keep the abuse silent because of the fear that the situation at home could only get worst. Persons from the community sometimes have an idea that something is wrong in a particular household and refuses to speak out to the authorities because the situation is not affecting them directly.
Currently, I work at the Foster Knox Day Care here at UCM. Being a Social Work major has enhanced my love of helping children. After taking Human Behavior, I can cue in what is going on in the developmental stage of the child life. Now I understand that a two-year may not say No to be defiant. Being able to interact with children has made me more aware that I want to work with children as a social worker.
I am the product of divorced parents, poverty stricken environments, and a blended family, but I refuse to let that dictate the outcome of my life. At the age of ten, I had to assume the role of a fatherly figure to my three siblings, so I missed out on the typical childhood most would have had. I grew up in neighborhoods where gangs and criminal acts of violence were a pervasive occurrence, but I resiliently did not allow the peer pressures of others to force me to conform to their way of life. By the age of 15, I received my worker 's permit, and that allowed me the ability to help my mother financially in the absence of my father’s income. I worked the maximum amount of hours I could while balancing my academics and extracurricular school activities. I was a scholar athlete and triathlete in high school, and although I continuously faced much adversity, I still managed to be accepted to the University of California State, Bakersfield after I graduated from high school in 2005. Sadly, after
Have you ever experienced child abuse before? Think about the children who have been abused. They cannot protect themselves from it. Most of them are so small they don’t know what’s going on. Child Abuse has been around for many and many years, but nobody knows a way to stop it. Child Abuse is not only a bad problem, but it’s a problem that has to be stopped.