Polk County DFCS Assignment
Polk County DFCS
Services Offered:
DFCS offers a variety of services for the children and parents which include:
Obverse behavioral aids
Parenting aids
Free day care/after school
Adoption
Foster Care
Counseling and many other services to help the needs of families.
Mission of DFCS:
The mission of DFCS is to access the well being and permanency of children. We strive to build stronger families and communities.
Clientele or Population Served:
There is no certain criteria or population served as anything can happen at any moment where your child may potentially have to be removed from your home. Often, it is families with low incomes which can sometimes result to not having the resources to provide for their children.
Job Activities/Professional Roles:
As a social worker Im always accessing and making sure the children are safe in their home.
Required to see children and families once a month but she sees her families many times throughout the month to build a relationship with them by attending events they me involved in.
The social worker I interviewed is in the so her main purpose is finding permanent placement for the children if they unfortunately will not be reunited with their biological parents.
Working close with parents to ensure they complete their case plans in order to get their children back in their home.
Why Social Work?
In high school and while in college, she mainly worked in retail positions. She always knew that she wanted to be a social worker or counselor. She has a passion to help people in need as well as a love of working with kids. It is a rewarding profession once a child/children are in their forever homes or reunited with their families.
Opportunities for :
There are many chances in moving up in this profession. Theres many different roles you can indulge in but still be a help to the families as well as the community. For example, becoming a Supervisor, Trainer, Administrator, etc.
For professional development, all staff have opportunities to learn new/updated rules/regulations as it refers to the job and what they do daily. For example, there would be new training on ethics, HIPAA, certain protocols, court hearings, etc.)
She also asks her supervisor/directors for critique often to see how she can be more effective in her career.
Self Care:
A couple of strategies she learned is first to UNPLUG!
When you get home, unplug from work; unplug from your work your devices (unless you are on-call).
Do not check emails, calls, texts, etc. it is very hard to do, but that is how you start to experience burn out if you are constantly on the move and never just taking a break.
If she is not on call once she gets home, she turns her phone off (weekends as well) You have to set boundaries or people will take advantage of you and your time. Spend time with your friends, family, do what you like to do in order to have a balance.
Job Satisfaction:
Being able to see parents get their kids back
The children will make you love them as soon as you meet them.
Knowing the hard work and dedication you put into reuniting families and/or finding families that are willing to adopt a child.
She stated that the job can become stressful, but if you take time for yourself and practice self care strategies, you will begin to love what you do.
Thoughts and Feelings about the Agency:
Since I just started my career as a Case Manager at DFCS, I am aware of what comes with the job. The employees I had the opportunity to see were very nice and appeared to know a lot about the agency, so they gave me more insight on what to prepare for.
While protecting personal client information, I heard of what I COULD expect from families and children. Some children lie just because they get popped, some run away, some are neglected, some parents really do not care and some do. Luckily, majority of the cases are closed, and families are provided specific resources to get them out of the current circumstances they are in. I am prepared.
My reactions:
I had no reactions to anything I was told during this interview or during my (current) orientation; I am sort of used to it.
While I never worked for DFCS, I was a mandated reporter at my previous job. None of my clients had cases with DFCS, but other clients did or were on the verge of it. Some of the clients would come in with , not come to therapy, parents would be late picking them up, bugs would be in the clients food/lunch boxes, etc. So, I am prepared for whatever I must witness/help a family with.
Cultural Awareness:
Cultural awareness was not demonstrated, but during the interview, I could tell that they are aware of cultural awareness. During the interview, the Social Worker kept saying that the children and families come first, no matter what their background or race is.
She stated that she empathizes with each parent and understands that not everyone is raised or raises their children the same. For example, she said some parents may whoop/spank their children and some may not. The only way she will continue a case is if the child is severely beaten, have bruises, or is constantly beaten for no reason.
How to Services Provided:
DFCS serves almost everyone/all families in the community
They have multiple services that help all families, regardless of the income
They help single parents with daycare/afterschool
Counseling is provided to families/parents who need it
Provide adoption/foster care services without judgment to parents who do not want their children
Social justice relates to the services because if a family needs help/certain resources, they are provided. These services are provided to ANYONE who needs them!
