Counseling and Bits of Divine

God works in such crazy ways. I learned through working in child protection that I had a desire to learn more about counseling. I felt that in child protection I wasn’t able to help the families I worked with the way I wanted to. In child protection, I was referring families. Referring to counseling, to substance abuse prevention, to anger management. I had little time to work on the heart issues with my families. Counseling you get to get in the dirt, in the grind with your clients. You get to walk alongside of them as they approach real issues. You can do this in social work as well, but there is not nearly as much time with your families.

Last fall, I started taking graduate courses for counseling. I don’t know exactly what God is going to do with my desire or where He will lead me, but I trust Him and I am excited about the opportunity. The crazy part is that God is so sovereign over every step we take in life. There were days when I worked in child protection that I wondered why I was there and doubted my decision. There were painful and challenging days, days that I hurt from the burden of the pain I saw. But now I can see the loving, patient hand of God directing me through each step. God is SO good! He has led me to this step and I am taking each counseling class, trusting the Lord with every piece of this experience.

I love people and stories, this is what draws me to counseling. I think people are the most important investment we could make. Wealth and material things and houses will fade, souls will last. I love the idea of walking with someone in the hurt and pain and victories. People are the Lord’s delight and I want to delight in people along with the Lord.

There are bits and pieces that I have been learning through my classes that I want to share. Some thoughts are large and whole, others are small and ripped in broken pieces, like a laundry string of rags drying in the sun.

1)    Counseling is not just giving advice. The gospel says we are all sinners in need of a Savior. I am no better and don’t have it “more together” than the person next to me. I am simply a helper, I want to walk with others in their journey. I see it not as someone superior (the counselor) looking from above to help someone inferior (the client) below but rather walking alongside of someone.

2)    It is very easy in our life to look at the outside, the behaviors. For example, a person presents as an alcoholic as their behavior. But there is always something below the surface that causes that behavior. Counseling is like peeling an onion, layer after layer, until the motive behind the behavior becomes more and more clear. A person may be choosing to drink alcohol to numb themselves or distract themselves from the pain of memories of an abusive parent or a feeling of worthlessness. If we only treat behaviors and not motive, it is like giving Advil to a person with a broken leg. Treating the behaviors may help but it will not solve the main issue. Thus, the main issue will keep presenting itself through other ways if not treated. It is possible that the alcoholic needs to talk about their past, their parents, their abuse. Restoration needs to be made if possible. The cool part about a counselor’s job is that they get to see life from the client’s perspective, to feel and think as they might and listen and truly hear them.

3)    One of my desires in my future counseling (and now as I talk with those around me) is to point others to truth. Truth is found in God alone. We each pursue various versions in our life of what we believe is right and wrong, but ultimately right and wrong is determined by God. His Word gives us truth to live by. In counseling I have learned that unless I work in a Christian capacity, it is unethical for me to push my Christian views on my client. However, I do believe that truth is found in God alone and that effects how I view every issue. I want to point my clients to God when I am able. I want them to seek God, not human advice.

4)    I am still learning in my life how God uses difficult circumstances. I know that God used the death of my father to bring me to Him, for His glory. Sometimes we need to be brought to our knees to realize our need for God. Our need is the gospel. Realizing we have need, need for a Savior, is the first part of the gospel. Realizing that we don’t have it all together but that God directs and leads our life is vital for a rich, full life in the Lord. I love Daniel 3. King Nebuchadnezzar sets up an idol and asks his people to join in worship of it with him. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse to worship the idol, knowing that there is only one God to worship. 

“’But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?’ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God who we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” Daniel 3: 15-18

I love the reminder that in the midst of hardship, God is still good. “But if not”, God is still so, so good. Will we choose to believe this? Will we choose to believe God above whatever else we want? Will we believe He is good even when things are taken away?

I love this thought as I think about walking with people in their hurt. I love that God meets us where we are. We don’t have to “clean up” or “make ourselves better” in order that God loves us. He loves us right where we are, in whatever stage we are. We come to Him in our need and know that “but if not”, He is still so good.

5)    Something I have been learning over and over this year is RESTORATION. God is in the work of restoration, of healing, of peace. Something God has revealed to me over and over is that He desires soothing peace seeking for His people and we are instruments in this. When we gossip and talk bitterly about someone else, we forget that God desires this restoration. I am trying to make a habit of going directly to the person I am upset with, even in the little things and tell them why I am upset. Instead of telling everyone around me: family, friends, coworkers about what upsets me, I desire to skip this step and seek restoration with the person I feel bitter towards.

I have found such sweet growth in this area. I have found that often times the person I share my concerns with responds in a way I didn’t expect. I believe they deserve to not be talked about, but to have the right to hear our concerns. I have found that  after sharing the concerns, you then have genuine relationship with others. We all desire HONESTY in our relationships. Restoration and peace seeking is a part of that. Not telling others how you truly feel is a fake, false relationship. There is so much beauty in truth.

I just started reading a devotional for the year written by Shauna Niequest called Savor. I highly recommend it! I love her talk of the word bittersweet: “Bittersweet is the practice of believing that we really do need both the bitter and the sweet, and that a life of nothing but sweetness rots both your teeth and your soul. Bitter is what makes us strong, what forces us to push through, what helps us earn the lines on our faces and the calluses on our hands. Sweet is nice enough, but bittersweet is beautiful, nuanced, full of depth and complexity. Bittersweet is courageous, gutsy, earthy”.

So good. 2015 has been a year of enormous, raw spiritual growth for me. As I learn counseling, I have been counseled myself. I have begun to peel back the layers of my past and see the bright, white light of the Lord gently pushing me, softly leading me in my bittersweet areas. Thank you, Lord for your goodness. Thank you for the “but if nots”.

Job 2:10- “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

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A Day in the Life of A Child Protection Worker: My Perspective

You know those stories that just ache from your soul to tell and to share? This is one of them for me. The words and thoughts fumble around in my mind day to day. I know I won’t express or communicate them perfectly but my goal is just to share. I certainly don’t expect everyone to take on the same view as me; that is not my goal in this post. Writing is therapy for me, a way to wring out my experiences and thoughts, to work out and work through meaning in what I have seen. I share because I must, I share because it’s soothing.

It’s hard for me to believe where life takes me sometimes. I graduated from college with a teaching degree, got married and followed my love to Alaska, and ended up applying for and getting hired for a job in Child Protection as a Social Worker in ALASKA of all places. I knew I loved working with children and families but I had no idea that working in this field is where God had me for a year and a half. I am now teaching but still going back to working in child protection social work during the summers I have off. It is work that tears at your heart, mind, and soul every minute. Teaching is sweet rest for me- a passion that draws me up and awake every day. Social work is humbling, eye opening, soul aching, emotion filled, bittersweet, never ending, heart wrenching, full, rewarding work. There are things that I saw and experienced in child protection that I will never be able to stop thinking about it. And I don’t know that I want to, because they shaped me into who I am. In fact, I am still working through my own heart about cases I had: wondering about the families and children I worked with, experiencing guilt over whether I could have done more, and joy when I hear about families who are doing well. I replay the past in my mind repeatedly; it’s hard to let go of what you see.

A day in the life of a child protection social worker includes the following (I worked in Family Services): being asked to manage 25 or more family cases which includes visiting with the children (sometimes sibling sets), foster parents, and parents on a monthly basis, responding and reporting to everyone involved in the cases (includes lawyers for each parent, sometimes the child has a lawyer, the judge, the guardian ad litem {a court appointed worker who advocates for the child’s best interest}, sometimes counselors, substance abuse agencies, health care professionals, schools, foster care and adoption agencies, and anyone else involved in each of those 25 or more cases), testifying in court when requested, responding to 200 or more emails and phone calls a day, attending court hearings, attending planning meetings (that often include upset and hostile parents or others involved in the case), investigating possible current or past abuse or neglect that children on your cases have experienced (including sexual abuse), responding to first priority safety alerts such as a teen who is suicidal or a child who ran away from a foster home or group home, filling out referral paperwork for substance abuse recovery programs, mental health facilities, group homes, or residential centers, finding a foster or adoptive home for children on your caseload and some with complex issues such as attachment disorder, or special mental or behavioral needs, sometimes watching a child or providing transportation for them from one appointment to the next, removing a child from a home, holding conversations with parents who are torn between committing to their addiction or their children, parents who wish to cuss you out because they are unwilling to see their part of the problem in their life (this happened almost daily), and the list goes on and on.

Some of the toughest parts of the job are prioritizing all of the needs of your cases (do you prioritize investigating possible sexual abuse or finding a runaway child?) and hearing complaint after complaint from everyone involved that you are not doing enough (a thought you already have 1,000 times a day). I pride myself on being a hard worker and doing my best work possible, I always have. In the field of child protection, those qualities exhaust you to your core. There is never an end to the tasks and you never feel you have enough time to give your cases the attention they deserve. If you spend a lot of time with one family, your 24 other case families suffer. I have shared experiences with social workers who talk about sleepless nights, thinking relentlessly about cases, and the struggle to find personal time and rest and not feel guilty about it.

I don’t share this to boast, I share it to tell you I’ve been there. I’ve been there with my families, walking with them through their victories and their failures. Deeply hurting children and parents have shared stories of violence, abuse, and pain with me. I’ve celebrated with parents when they slowly work to overcome their addictions and eventually reunite with their children. I’ve clapped the loudest of all in the courtroom when some incredible foster parents become adoptive parents to children they’ve loved as their own since day one. I’ve seen parents beam through glistening eyes when I tell them how proud I am of them for putting their children first and working to make things right again. I’ve been there when I have to tell a child that I haven’t heard from their mother in three months. I’ve been there when a child thinks that mommy and daddy fighting and the police at their house two times a week is normal. I’ve been there when a teenage girl shares of repeated rape through her childhood.

I had to learn in my time how to give the pain and hurt from the stories to God, to trust Him wholly with my families. I can’t believe that all things are in my control and I can’t change every situation. This is God’s role. I can’t control the abuse that happened in the life of my families. I can only do what I can, do my best, and leave the rest to God. I had to realize that I am not the answer for my families, Jesus is. I don’t get to share my faith in my work, but I do get to love my families well and give them hope. I’ve seen many social workers burn out because they believe that THEY are the answer for their families. Surely not. We can only do what we can to serve others and there are things that are out of our control. The child protection worker’s burden is a big one: guilt, fear, worry, anxiousness fill your day. The child protection workers are the ones responding to the late night calls for immediate action, to help provide safety for children in need. But no burden is too big for the God we serve.

I feel deeply for those in social work, especially in the field of child protection. There is a lot of hate and hurt and bashing on child protection workers that goes on. The thing is, I will be the first to raise my hand and say there are flaws in government and child protection work. I know because I’ve been there. I’ve seen it for myself. It is not a perfect system, nowhere near it. Broken people make up a broken system and there are no easy answers and solutions. Social workers get tired and worn out and run down. The tasks are endless and time is a precious commodity. I don’t think that blaming the system or social workers for a case’s outcome is the right way to go. All cases have several eyes and hears on the child and a judge makes the final decision.

I write not to impart despair but to impart hope. There is no situation too far gone, no situation too hopeless, no situation impossible for the God we serve. HOPE is what should shout from your soul as a believer. The truth is this life, this world is NOT all there is. Yes, there is sin. Yes, I have seen horrific pain. Yes, I have seen innocent children abused. But the inexpressibly beautiful thing is that Jesus has overcome death. Jesus has overcome sin. There is eternal life. The LORD is making all things NEW. No more pain, hurt, addiction, abuse, sin. INSTEAD: JOY, HOPE, PEACE, FORGIVENESS, ENDLESS SONGS AND SONGS FOR OUR SAVIOR! I can’t wait for that day.

So I write to reflect on what CAN be done, not what HASN’T been done or what ISN’T happening. What IS happening is that I have seen parents claim victory over their addiction and reunite with their children who long to be with them. What IS happening is that I have met some amazingly dedicated foster and adoptive parents who have been there with some very hurting children through every peak and valley, foster and adoptive parents who never give up on that child no matter what that child may bring into their home. What IS happening is that there are people out there who want to help by supporting foster families, bringing meals, providing transportation.

What CAN be done? Well, we can start by asking what we CAN do to help our community instead of blaming the government. We can pray for those in our legal system, judges and lawyers, that they might have wisdom and compassion when needed. We can commit to child safety in our own homes, remembering that we are no better than another and are accountable for our own actions. We can seek help for our areas of weakness when needed, realizing that our pride is not worth child abuse. We can understand that safety does not mean wealth. We can commit to being foster parents (there is always a need for more foster parents). We can foster children in need and support the birth parents of the foster child at the same time. We can speak positively about birth parents in front of foster children. We can rejoice and celebrate when broken and hurting parents overcome their challenges and reach their case plan goals and are able to reunite with their children. We can partner with agencies to mentor parents who need help and walk alongside of them. We can stay committed to the children we welcome into our home, remembering that these are children who have had adults fail them over and over. Yes, this will be messy for foster parents. Yes, it will hurt tremendously to love a child like your own and then have them leave your home. No, there are no band aids or easy answers for this hurt. But you can be sure that you are helping your community, so many families, and serving the Lord in His asking believers to care for the widow and the orphan. We can adopt these hurting children if need be. We can commit to fostering complex children like older teenagers, sibling sets, or children with special needs (there is an enormous need for this).

Can’t commit to fostering and adopting or you don’t feel this is your calling? Commit to encouraging and loving on anyone in this field. Bring a meal to the foster and adoptive families. Offer to help with transportation. Offer to babysit or take a child out to ice cream. Smile and encourage every foster and adoptive family you know. Remind them that they are making a huge difference. Remind them that you are thankful for them. Bring them coffee. Do you know someone in the social work field? Encourage them. When 98% of your day is complaints, a smile or words of inspiration work WONDERS. Consider donating goods to your local child protection agency: clothes of any size, car seats, toys. Consider committing to a mentor program for youth in need: Big Brothers, Big Sisters or a special needs agency. Consider working in social work or volunteering.

My biggest charge is that we become part of solution, not the problem. Instead of talking about what is not happening, make it happen. Instead of complaining, help to make changes.

HOPE should define the life of the believer. Psalm 147:11- “The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love”. There is so much sin in the world, but there is also HOPE to be had.

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Life As a Social Worker (Part 2)

Now that I have explained my faith, I can explain how I view my job as a social worker a little bit better.

When I think about my job, a million and one things start rolling around in my head. To help with understanding, I have organized my thoughts about my job into some recurring themes.

1)   I could not do this job if I were not a believer.

The biggest thing I have learned in this job is that I could not function one single day as a social worker if I did not believe in Jesus Christ as my savior. On a daily basis as a social worker, you are asked to make huge decisions for families and often in high pressure and stressful environments. You have to make decisions fast and sometimes you wonder if those decisions are the best for families. The Lord has taught me something invaluable at this job: I am not big enough to mess up another’s life. I used to go home at the end of the day and really think about things and mull over situations in my head, wondering if I have done something wrong for a family and made the wrong choice. In the end, the Lord has shown me that he is the author of all and the King of the universe. The Lord is a God of big details and small and nothing goes unnoticed by him. The Lord has taught me that he has a plan for each of my families, and that I am not big enough to mess that plan up. My life and this world are all for his glory anyways. This does not take away the responsibility of me doing the absolute best I can for my families, but I have found that I am able to give to the Lord the burden of wondering if I have done something wrong. I can’t mess up a decision: the Lord has it under control.

2)   I have to remember that I am working with extreme cases, and see it as a ministry.

Working for OCS, our department get thousands of reports of abuse or harm on a child per year. Those reports get investigated and when absolutely necessary, a child is taken out of his or her parent’s home. I have come to know and try to remember that I am working with extreme cases. I have to remind myself that there are good, loving, and wonderful parents out there who care about their children and also remember that I serve a loving Father in heaven. Most often, I am working with parents who have mental health issues or substance abuse addiction (drugs or alcohol). I look on my families with compassion because I realize Satan has a grip on them. Addiction is powerful, and I know that the “case plans” I develop are not what will really help my families. What they need is the gospel. I see my job as a ministry: I want to show as much love, hope, joy, and compassion as I can to them because I want them to see Christ in me. Working for the state limits my ability to share the gospel in words, but I want the way that I treat my families to make a difference for eternity. I find myself praying for them as I talk to them, asking God to save them. Prayer has also helped me find peace in some very crazy situations. “God is our refuge and strength, a VERY PRESENT HELP in trouble.” Psalm 46:1 This is truth.

3)   I have to separate work in my mind.

Something that has helped me in this job is taking steps to really separate my work life from my personal life. It is extremely necessary in this job. I do not think I would have made it this long in the job if I weren’t for the ability to separate work and personal. This job is demanding: you can never, ever do enough in this job. You will never get everything done that you want to. A common problem I see in my job is that caseworkers are given an extremely high number of cases. Because of this, I struggle to find the time I need to devote to each family which adds worry and stress to my job as I want to provide the best possible service I can to families. I have had to develop the ability to take lunches, leave work at 4:30 PM and not work overtime if I can help it, and take vacations. You have to give your body, soul, and mind the opportunity to rest because this job demands everything from you: emotionally, mentally, physically. It is very taxing and breaks are much needed.

4)   This job has stirred in me a heart for foster care and adoption.

I believe that one reason the Lord has me in this job is that he is preparing in me what he wants to use me for in the future: foster care and adoption. I know that because I have been a social worker and seen what happens behind the scenes, I will be better prepared as a foster parent and adoptive parent. Tony and I have talked about potentially fostering and adopting in the future and we both feel the Lord calling us to that ministry. I believe that more Christian families should adopt. Adoption is a picture of the gospel: by no merit or working of our own, we were chosen by the Lord to become his children. It is a beautiful picture: children need families that can love, cherish, and keep them safe.

“For he chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.” Ephesians 1:4-5

I encourage you to consider foster care and adoption. This is true in my job: there are not enough families for children who need safe homes. All you need is a heart for kids. I can’t wait for the day that Tony and I can invite a little child into our home who needs a family.

5)   I find that my biggest frustrations are not with my families, but when the government system fails.

You may think that the hardest part about my job would be the cases I get: stories of abuse and neglect and broken families. This IS a very difficult part of my job. Often times, my families are very hostile to me and do not want to admit that they have a problem. It is heartbreaking to see parents who do no want to parent and may say they love their children, but put their addiction first. However, to me, this has not been among my biggest frustrations. Because I know the gospel, I feel compassion towards my parents. They are lost and in need of Christ. To me, what has been frustrating is when the system fails. Let me explain further. So, I am asked to write a case plan for each of my families. Part of my job is to develop a case plan that works for my families to get them to the point where they can be safe families. A difficult part is that I have to balance between what works for the families and what the court/ attorneys ask me to put in case plans to ensure families are safe. For example, often, we ask our families to go to treatment for their addictions. Treatment can be thousands of dollars. Families can choose to try other (cheaper) methods of treatment but often times they do not work. Paperwork also frustrates me in this job. It is a huge piece of this job and necessary, but often times documentation and administrative work takes away from the time I could be spending with my families. As a dreamer and creative solution seeker, I try to find the best possible solutions for my families but sometimes I do feel that what the system requires of me can get in the way of my case planning with families.

6)   We are all sinners and none more righteous than another.

This job has shown me how broken the world is. It is definitely a wake up call job. I have seen horrific situations and tragic things happen to children. It is easy to blame parents. Often times, however, I have seen that my parents come from homes where they were in foster care themselves because their families could not safely care for them. There is this perpetual generational sin that I see happens. Alcoholism and drug addiction are passed down from one generation to another and children never get to see parenting as it should be. I have had to realize over and over again that sin is sin and we are all sinners. I am no better than my families who have abused or neglected children. We all desperately need Christ. No one is more righteous than another. This leads me to act compassionately towards my families.

7)   I know the Lord has me here for a reason.

This is a lesson I am taught every day. I see that the Lord has put me in this job for a reason. There are days where people will cuss at me or yell at me. There are days where my families will cry, ask desperately for help, or plead with me. Every single day is an opportunity to heap endless love, grace, and forgiveness on broken and lost people. My families come to me humbled. To get to a point where your children have to be taken away is humiliating. I know the Lord is using me. My families come to me when they are homeless, hurting, addicted, broken down, beat up, and filled with fear and anxiety. What I can offer them is Christ. I aim to treat my families with a forgiving and loving attitude. In the end, we are all in desperate need of a Savior. I cannot save them, but I can show them through my actions and compassionate heart that there is more to this world than the life they have lived without a Savior.

These points sum up my biggest views about my job. There is so much more to talk about, but I find myself dwelling on these thoughts most often. Thank you for taking the time to read the musings of a social worker driven by Christ. I pray my writings point to His saving grace.

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Life As a Social Worker (Part 1)

Last January, I started working for the State of Alaska as a Children’s Service Specialist which means that I am doing social work for the state. I wanted to take some time to reflect on my experience so far and what life is like through the eyes of a social worker.

The dictionary defines social work as organized work directed toward the betterment of social conditions in the community, as by seeking to improve the condition of the poor, to promote the welfare of children, etc.

Social work had its beginnings in the social and economic upheaval in the time of the Industrial Revolution, in particular the struggle of society to deal with poverty and its problems. Today, you can find social workers in hospitals, schools, mental health clinics, government agencies, advocacy organizations, and private or non-profit agencies such as agencies directed towards working the special needs population or adoption agencies.

I work for what in other states would be called Child Protective Services (CPS). In Alaska, it is called the Office of Children’s Services (OCS) and is under the Department of Health and Social Services. Although I have a teaching degree and did not get my bachelor’s in social work, Alaska has a more open philosophy as to who they hire in the field. I work alongside those that have gotten a social work degree but I am called a “Children’s Service Specialist.”

My Office Building

When I started working at OCS, I began by starting with about 2 months of training. Four of those weeks I spent in a building learning about case planning and what to expect at the job. For the rest of the weeks, I was observing and going out with other workers to ask questions and being to see how different workers handled situations and what the job is like.

To explain my job in even further detail, the Office of Children’s Services in Alaska is broken down into different departments. The motto of our office is “Safe Children, Strong Families.” Our intake department takes reports of harm against children from the community. Concerned citizens can call our office, or fax or email, reports of harm. Those intake reports are developed into protective services reports and sent to an “Initial Assessment” worker. Basically, these workers investigate reports of harm against children (can be aged 0-18 and after 18 is sent to the Adult Protective Services). Initial Assessment workers will go out and begin interviewing alleged victims and alleged “abusers” (or “perpetuators”) and begin to ask questions about the event or what was reported. Reports often come from police or schools but can often come from concerned family or friends as well.

Initial Assessment workers must take the time to get to know the family and find out whether the allegation is true or not. These workers must gain collateral for their investigation. They will interview teachers, family members, nurses, doctors, neighbors, or anyone else that can give information as to an event of harm. The worker then talks with their supervisor and if they believe a child has been harmed, they will hold a meeting to discuss this with the family, the department, and anyone else who wishes to join. A petition for custody of a child may be developed, or depending on the situation, the worker may refer the family to our in-home services department which would work with the family and the child would stay in the home.

After 30 days, the case (cases are families whose children we are working with) will be transferred to the Family Services Department, which is where I work. As a Family Services worker, my job is to work with families through the life of a case. My first job is to do what I can to help a parent reunify with their child. At the point that I am working with the family, it has been deemed necessary that a child is unsafe to be in the home of their caretaker and the child is placed in the home of a foster parent, or if possible, a relative or family friend. I work with families on a daily basis by referring them to services to meet their needs and help them overcome what we call “safety threats” that have made them unsafe parents. Safety threats, for example, could be that they are unable to control their behavior (possibly substance abuse or addiction), that the parent is not realistic about the child’s needs, or maybe that the parents is unable to put the child’s needs above their own. The important thing about safety threats are that they revolve around a person’s behavior and not just something you can see on the outside. For example, a safety threat cannot just be drug or alcohol use. A parent can still be a safe parent if they find a sober caregiver to care for their child when they use substances. If a parent cannot overcome the safety threats and change the behaviors that make them unsafe, part of my job is to plan for a child to be adopted into another family. The federal government places guidelines on children who come into the custody of the state. By 18 months, a child must be in a permanent home. This is so that children do not linger in the system without a permanent caregiver to meet their needs. By 18 months, a parent must have changed their behavior and worked a “case plan” or it is my job to ensure that a child has a permanent home.

So how does my job break down into daily tasks? This is what I do on a daily basis:

1)   Home Visits (with Children and Foster Families)

I am required to see every child on my “caseload” every month. This means that I call every foster family every month and schedule a time to see the child. I can also see the child at school. This can be challenging. Some caseworkers have up to 30 cases (translation: this means seeing a child a day). Right now, I only have 13 cases which is manageable but still difficult with all the other tasks we are required to do. I typically schedule an hour per home visit. This is when I take the time to talk to the child, if they are old enough, about how they are doing. I will ask if they feel safe in the home they are in now. Many foster parents can also be abusive and it is important to maintain that each child is safe. I also take time to talk to the child or foster parent about the child’s well being: how are they doing mentally, behaviorally, physically, and in school? I have to make sure that my kiddos are getting seen by the dentist, doctor, or other specialists as needed. I have to make sure there mental health needs are taken care of. Many children that come into custody have emotional trauma and will need to see a counselor, psychiatrist, or psychologist to ensure that they are diagnosed properly and are healthy mentally and emotionally. I also take this time to talk to the foster parents. How are they doing with the child in their home? Are they bonding? Do they have any reports to give me about the parents? Foster parents have the option of working with the child’s parents. This means they can coordinate visits for the child to see their parents, phone calls, etc. Some foster parents are relatives (for example, a child will sometimes live with their aunt, uncle, or grandparent). Sometimes these relatives can report to me how they parents are doing if the parents are not in contact with me. They may be able to tell me where they are, what they are doing, or whether or not they have seen the child recently. A big piece of home visits is ensuring that the foster parent and child are a good fit together. Some foster parents, while committed to the child, may not be the best fit for a child. I have to ensure that each child is in the best home possible and in a safe home.

2)   Case Planning Visits with Parents (or Caretakers)

Another piece of my job is meeting with the parents (or caretakers) that we have removed the children from. This involves talking with the parents about the reason that we have decided to take custody of their child and how we can work together to help them reunify with their child. Every case is so different, and every family deals with the stress and trauma of the child being removed in different ways. Some parents are in denial and do not want to face the issues. Some parents want to put on a good face and will meet with me but then go out and act completely different. Some parents work actively on their case plan and want to do anything they can to get their children back. Case planning meetings typically involve talking about how I can connect my parents to services that help them meet their needs. For example, for a parent who struggles with using drugs or alcohol, a referral to a treatment facility may be needed. There are agencies that work with families on domestic violence, sexual abuse education, anger management, and more. My job is talk with parents about what they think needs to change, what I think needs to change, and talking about agencies that can help them get there if possible.

3)   Family Contact

Another piece of my job is ensuring that children are seeing their parents. I have to develop a family contact plan for each of my children. With 13 families, this can be struggle. We have what is called “Social Services Associates” who help watch children but we have limited staff. Often, it is my job to refer to other agencies who can supervises visits with parents and children or relatives or foster families who can coordinate those visits as well. At the beginning of a case, we have to supervise visits with parents and children to ensure a child’s safety. Sometimes, we can move to a child going out with a parent that we have removed a child from and the visit can be unsupervised by another.

4)   Court Proceedings

A big part of my job is being involved with the court system. This involves attending court hearings or trials, writing reports to the court in regards to how the families are doing, communicating with attorneys for the state and for the parents, and testifying in court as to my work with families. It can be scary at times, but I have found it easier the longer I am in the job.

The Anchorage Courthouse Building

5)   Administrative

A boring part of my job, but a huge part, is answering emails and phone calls. We get an endless daily amount of emails and phone calls from all of the people we work with: biological parents, foster families, the child (if they are older), schools, doctors, attorneys, agencies working with the child (such as mental health agencies or special needs agencies), inter-department calls and emails such as from my supervisors or upper management, etc. It can be extremely exhausting simply handling emails and phone calls.

My Desk At Work- Organization is key to making it through the day :)

6)   Documentation

In working for the state, it is important for me to document EVERYTHING. I have to document every single home visit, case planning visit, phone call, or work I do towards a case such as calling a family to search for a relative, etc. It takes much time to type up every documentation, but it is important for the court to see that a social worker is documenting their efforts towards working with a family.

7)   Referrals

I also work with other agencies in Anchorage, AK. For example, in Alaska, the state is able to license foster families but there are 2 other agencies that license families as well. Denali Family Services and Alaska Children’s Services are two organizations that are able to license foster families. We work with those agencies. We also work with facilities that a child may need to go to because of their mental health needs. We call these facilities “residential treatment facilities.” Some children need to be placed in a facility with trained staff that are able to meet their needs for example, if a child is suicidal, extremely depressed, bi-polar, self-harming, a runaway, or aggressive. It is hard to find a foster home to take a child who may have these extreme behaviors and it may also be unsafe for a child to be in a foster home until they are ready for a home environment. I spend time talking with these agencies and making referrals on a child’s behalf. In addition, I will make referrals to agencies to help the parents such as treatment for drug or alcohol abuse, parenting classes, anger management or domestic violence classes, etc. Often times, this involves 15-20 page packets that I have to fill out answering questions about my families. It’s a lot and its time consuming.

8)   Tribal Work

Alaska is a very unique place to work in that we work with a huge population of Alaska Native families. To those that are unfamiliar with Alaska, these are families that are native Alaskans and can come from a Native tribal background. It would take much too long to go into detail about all that we do when we work with Alaska Native families but a huge part of my work involves working with these tribes to ensure that a child is staying culturally connected to their tribe or making sure that they tribe is aware of a family and connected with the families we are working with. Tribes can intervene on behalf of a family in court and request a hearing or a trial for a specific reason.

Bonus: the view is beautiful from the courthouse

I wanted to take some time to talk about my job. Social work is a very often misunderstood field. People don’t know what it would be like to work for a place like CPS. This is part 1 of my story: the simple outline of what I do daily. Part 2 will be my personal beliefs about my work, incorporating my belief in Jesus Christ as my Savior and how that effects my work with families. In addition, I’d like to write in the future about the things I see every day that have affected me personally and have forever changed me.

I hope this gives you more insight as to what I do! Thanks for taking the time to hear about my job.

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