Ksl's Oasis Program Case Study

Randall Thigpen is a case manager professional interviewed for this assignment. The introduction and purpose of the interview was done through the phone, but the questionnaire was sent via email. Randall’s official title is Placement Desk Coordinator. Randall provides services to foster care children in the Arapahoe county DHS in Colorado. Although the Randall does not have a nursing degree, eight years of experience working with foster care children was valuable when providing information about the population of interest. Some of the responsibilities include finding a home for children who are removed from their home and their parents or caretakers are regarded as not fit to take care of their children. Other job responsibilities include the supervision of other case workers and to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the child in foster care through continuous assessment of the current placement and adjustments as necessary. The following questions were developed and sent to the foster care professional.

The job of a child welfare worker appears to be a demanding profession that promotes the child’s safety, but also strengthens the family organization around them in order to successfully raise the children. This child welfare workers work in the system known as the Child Protective Services whose initiative is to protect the overall welfare of the child. The short novel From the Eye of the Storm: the Experiences of a Child Welfare Worker by Cynthia Crosson-Tower demonstrates the skills necessary to deal with the practice of social work along with both its challenges and its happy moments. The novel consists of some of the cases involving Tower’s actual career in social work. In reading the book, I was able to experience some of the actual

For example, the Fastow Supported Housing Program services youth who are in the process of aging out of the child welfare system (Legacy Treatment Services, 2016). The support given to these children—from Legacy— is supposed to model the home life, while being away from home. The Fastow program offers affordable apartments, case management services, college and job preparation, and life skills training. The Community Residences for Children—which is usually referred to as the Children’s Homes Campus—offers housing to children aged between the years of 11 and 19 with emotional and behavioral concerns (Legacy Treatment Services, 2016). Legacy Treatment Services also has a Family Crisis Intervention Program, which provides brief family therapy, casemanagment and court advocacy for families who experience extreme conflict, and although the goal is to prevent out of home placement, sometimes children are placed by the state after not following through with court ordered treatment. Lastly, Legacy offers therapeutic foster care and reunification services for

In conclusion, Lee explores a challenging topic in her article, revealing an area in which America is truly failing her neediest children. The article impacted me most because I want to work in the foster care system, helping children and trying to keep them from falling through the cracks, like many of the children in New York City’s foster care

Our team includes six therapists and six counselors all working together with 21 at-risk youth. Our weekly routine can include assisting with independent living skills and holding breakthrough therapy sessions. This may seem daunting; however, I work with an incredible team that builds, encourages, and supports one another. Six months of working with youth in this position has changed my life for the better. I’ve learned how to be vulnerable, deal with the skeletons of my own past, and to have genuine empathy towards

Due to the increasing rate of children being placed into foster care, and the lack of support to meet every youth’s need, America’s foster systems fail to achieve stable placement. When placement plans do not last as long as planned, placement moves are organized and it is called Placement Breakdown. It is common for teenage youth in the foster system to go through placement breakdowns. According to the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), previous difficulties that may affect the level of a youth’s emotional disturbance and motivation to stay in placement contributes to breakdowns. The lack of motivation can stem from “over optimistic expectations”, and absence of support system (SCIE).

Interview paper with a Counselor (Rebecca Alexander), and a Social Worker (Mina McVeigh). This interview is for Mrs. Scott’s online class.

UTSA Social Work Assistant Professor Dr. Alfred G. Pérez’s research is distinct. As a youth who aged out of foster care, and a past child welfare practitioner, Perez’s research is influenced by his own professional and lived experience.

As I read through the final chapters of Beam’s book, I felt both hopeful and disheartened. I feel that the original premise or goal of the child welfare system is to ensure that children have a family. A family that is capable of appropriately caring for a child and providing them with unconditional love. Pat O’ Brien and Chester Jackson’s program, You Gotta Believe! resonates with this goal. There homeless prevention program addresses a principle issue of foster care that the system has not properly addressed, so it seems. According to Pat, an estimated 50 percent of the current homeless population consists of individuals that were once in care. Pat and Jackson saw a need to address the damaging aspects of growing up in care, by implementing

I met Wendy in January of 2014. That year, my brother (who was 20 at the time), was due to “age out” of the foster care system. He was unprepared to lose the housing and assistance he relied on and I was unable to provide all he needed at that time. Upon hearing of our dilemma though a mutual acquaintance, the Lankford 's opened their home and their hearts to my brother and eventually welcomed him into their family through an informal adoption. Since being adopted, he has made remarkable positive strides in his emotional development, self efficacy, and outlook for his own future. The Lankford 's have given him the type of stable and nurturing home life, supportive role modeling, and loving family atmosphere that we as (future) educators hope all children and youths have available to them. Because of how she touched my brother’s life, Wendy was the first parent whom I thought to interview for this assignment. I was eager to learn

For the child abuse prevention program, children are either placed in foster care or in the care of their parent’s under the supervision of child protective service workers. The program helps prevent child abuse and neglect, reduces abuse trauma, improves parenting skills, encourages home safety environment, and helps children progress in school. For the parent education and family development program, the agency offers family members counseling, parent education, employment assistance, financial assistance, legal support, education, tutoring, recreational and cultural activities, youth leadership, and community events. For the teen parent family services, trained professionals intervene and help young parents prepare for the challenges of parenting. Teen families are helped with health care, counseling, education assistance, vocational training, housing, nutrition, and income support. The youth development programs help youths who are at risk for delinquency make better choices. The agency offers counseling, promotes behavior health, educational attainment, and vocational planning. The integrating healthy living is a successful program where a bilingual Registered Nurse makes home visits and holds classes for families to learn about baby care, healthy behaviors,

I have a passion for helping children and an interest in pursuing school social work, I decided to interview my mother’s co-worker, Belle Walker. Belle is an exceptional children’s (EC) social worker for Union County Public Schools and works directly with students and families who need assistance finding resources in order for them to succeed in the classroom. Belle is a very passionate person and loves her work. During her undergraduate, she held an internship at a transitional homeless shelter working with families. As she attended graduate school in Illinois, Belle worked night shifts in a domestic violence shelter as a counselor. After graduate school, she decided to move back to Charlotte and found a job working with A Child’s Place

While the majority of their services tend to the Emergency Shelter Program, Operation SafeHouse also provides what is called the “Safe Place Program”. With over 250 locations in Riverside County, teens who are dealing with a number of issues, from abuse to pregnancies, can access the shelters. Some of the shelters include, but are not limited to: Riverside Fire Stations, Stater Bros, Altura Credit Unions, and Riverside City Parks. They also promote the ‘Cup of Happy and Depression Treatment’, which, accompanied by the Riverside County Department of Mental Health, promotes and encourages interventions and popularizes awareness for youth ages 16-25 struggling with mental health issues. The Cup of Happy and Depression Treatment offers courses to its members, such as creative writing, open mic nights, youth leadership, and LGBT support. The Cup of Happy and Depression Treatment, as well as all the programs Operation SafeHouse offers, present themselves to local high schools to sponsor awareness for young teens who may have nowhere else to turn.

Stability of children with families isn’t the only issue. It is also a major issue of concern within the foster care system as casework instability is quite extreme too. In one study, 35% of young people reported having in excess of five case-workers assigned to them. Children and teens need continuity and stability with their caseworker in order to build an effective relationship, to build trust and security for them. (McDowall,

Maurice William’s understands that social workers get tired because of their relentless job responsibilities, therefore, she makes sure they don’t experience burn out since it is her responsibility to keep the families intact (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). Since she is not out in the field visiting the homes, she puts her faith in her upper management team to be able to listen and pay attention to any problems or potential future problems (Laureate Education, Inc. 2011). Since she is unable to be out in the field, Williams uses her supervisory skills to train her staff to be able to identify potential problems and also to report back to her what the problems are. If there were problems out in the field (i.e., foster parents, foster children), she shoulders the full responsibility to make sure that the problems are addressed and resolved, or modify changes that are in the best interest of the children.