Please go here for this interview of caseworkers on DHS:
(It is the 3rd interview down.)
Thank you to Rosanne Scott and Kelly Christian (pictured above) for this deeply needed, very well articulated, and vitally important interview today. I missed it, but my husband told me about it and I just finished listening to the entire interview. Tears. So many memories. Just touches my heart. These were my coworkers at DHS Child Welfare. Kelly started around the time that I did and Rosanne has been there several years longer. Which just amazes me when I see caseworkers who are able to endure over time and continue to do such amazing work. And this work is so hard... Those words seem small. It is difficult to describe what the work is like as a permanency caseworker with Child Welfare, but Rosanne and Kelly nailed it. Deep bow of respect, appreciation, and gratitude! I hope you will listen!
So many experiences described here were also my experiences. Getting on a plane to fly across the country to bring kids back to Oregon who were not able to remain in their out of state placement. Having a child with severe mental health needs who ends up in an ER due to no available appropriate placement. Having kids on my caseload who were stuck in the office for hours or off and on for days while a new foster placement was desperately searched for. Shortages of foster homes, needed treatment and other services. Twice the caseload that we should have, overwhelming amounts of paperwork, and a cumbersome and lacking software system to do all the documentation needed. Crying at my desk. Many, many tears over the years. Having a very young child die. Having two different parents who committed murder. Yes, this and so much more has been my experience and that of other caseworkers who care so deeply about children and families but are lacking in what we need to do our job in a way which truly addresses the great needs of these children and families.
WE ARE UNDERFUNDED! SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES ARE UNDERSTAFFED AND UNDERFUNDED.
And we are a nation and a culture in deep need of awareness, healing, and transformation.
I'm aware that I still say "we" and talk in the presence tense although on March 30th it will be one year since I retired. My heart is still there, though. With my coworkers and the children and families. Next week I actually get to attend an adoption ceremony for two kids who had been on my caseload. I'm so grateful! Getting from point A when a case is first handed to us to the eventual outcome is an incredible journey to take with any child and all who are connected with these children. It is such vitally important work. We need to become a nation that truly cares about its children. When we do, so many things will look profoundly different. And the stories of caseworkers will not need to raise so many red flags that plead for the deep changes that are so long overdue.
Bless all the precious children everywhere. And bless those who are committed to the welfare of children and who work so hard to do right by children and families in need. 
Molly
Molly |
| This was at the end of my last day of work before heading to my retirement party one year ago. My desk never looked that clean over my 10 years and 4 months with Child Welfare! |
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