Reflection On Liberty Godparent Home

I conducted an in person interview at Deaconess Cross Pointe, 7200 East Indiana Street; Evansville, Indiana 47715. I interviewed Natalie Goffinett, who has achieved her Master’s Degree in Social Work, and counsel’s children and families at that facility. When setting the appointment to interview Ms. Goffinett, I offered her the option to conduct the interview either in person or over the telephone. Ms. Goffinett and I agreed that an in person interview would be best if I wanted to have the opportunity to tour the facilities, as well as develop a sense for inpatient and outpatient environments. Deaconess Cross Pointe is a

It focuses on support to families and carers for effective parenting, fostering or child care.

On September 21, 2015, I met with Ms. Katie, a student in the MSW program at NCSU, to conduct an interview. We met at Starbucks in Cary, in the crossroads shopping center. Ms. Katie’s responses helped me learn and think about social workers in the child welfare social field. As a prospective social worker, my questions were formed based thoughts that I was concerned about my responsibilities in the social work field..

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

Adoptive Families are special; they have a desire to grow their families by reaching out to children that need homes. These families face many unique challenges, but also receive many rewards, associated with the decision to adopt. These challenges continue for many families, through the process of adoption, legal finalization, and for many years post-adoption. The challenges are different in many ways from those faced by biological parents. Adoptive parents not only face the normal challenges faced from raising a child, but also the psychological issues of the child/ren adopted. Some children placed for adoption have social, psychological, or physical problems that many adoptive families may not be able to address. Previous research has shown an association between post adoption services and successful adoptive placements. “Post adoption services often respond to the effects that separation, loss, and trauma can have on children and youth who have been adopted. They can facilitate adjustment processes; promote child, youth, and family well-being; and support family preservation” (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2012). It is because of these issues, and many others, that placement agency must consider when providing wrap around services for families.

Greetings, I am Winifred Knighton- Davis, Program Supervisor/Recruiter with Lutheran Services of Georgia (LSG). LSG is one of the largest non-profit providers of foster care services in the state of Georgia. This agency specializes in placing at-risk and special needs children in quality, highly trained, specialized foster care homes. LSG works in partnership with the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) to ensure the safety, permanency, and well-being of children. Although I have been with this agency for ten months, I have devoted five years working within therapeutic foster care services. I have twelve years of experience as a social worker and have worked as a school social worker, in mental health, with individuals with disabilities, with the prevention of underage drinking, and specialized foster care. I received a Bachelor of Social Work and a Master of Social Work from Albany State University.

This inability to cope with their child’s intellectual or developmental disability often leads to improper care, and in extreme cases, abuse. Aside from the abovementioned causes, a small percentage of placement is due to particular environmental factors such as financial need, inadequate housing, or chronic unemployment, but poverty frequently contributes to the crises that require children to be placed in foster care (McDonald). While the overall goal is to reunite these children back with their families, sometimes that option isn’t feasible and while some children are fortunate enough to gain kinship care, others aren’t as fortunate. “Foster care includes a wide variety of placement options including emergency shelters, diagnostic centers, foster boarding homes, kinship foster homes, agency-operated boarding homes, group homes, group residences, child care institutions and residential treatment centers” (FC & EC). With so many options for placement that a child can be exposed to, it provides various dimensions that can impact child development, especially with those with past trauma history. The type of residence a child is placed in, whether it’s kin or non-kin, how many children are already in the residence, the type of staff and the support services provided all play a crucial role in their developing growth and overall success in the system.

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.

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

On September 18, 2015 I interviewed Mrs. Anisha Nix at Ted’s Montana Grill in Downtown Decatur, Georgia at 5:48pm. Mrs. Nix is a Family Consultant Supervisor at the DeKalb County Child Advocacy Center. I interviewed Mrs. Nix, not only for the position that she holds but also because she did not start off with a degree in social work or sociology. Before Anisha took an interest in social services, she gained her masters in Biology from Spelman College. Once done with her undergrad Ms. Nix decided that she would pursue and ultimately gain her Masters in Social Work at Georgia State University, then continue on to become a licensed Social Worker. As the Supervisor of the Advocacy Center, it is her job to supervise the Family Consultants at the

During this practicum at the Durham Children 's Aid Society (CAS), I have taken advantage of numerous learning opportunities to develop skills and enhance my social work practice. These assignments align with the goals and tasks outlined with in my Learning Agreement and relate to the organizational, community, social work, and professional contexts of practice. This summary will highlight how I have met each of these key learning outcomes.

As a Social Worker, I have had the opportunity to work with children and families from diverse socioeconomic, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. My experience and training includes extensive work with prenatal, infant and early childhood education and development. Through this course I have been able to

Mary Keane was a loving lady who had the dream to turn a mansion into a group home for lesbian girls because of their struggles they encountered. Although her dreams did not come true as there are not many lesbians in the foster care system, she still opened a group home to girls only. Mary fostered 11 kids and practiced “moral adoption’, which is committing to a child for life. She didn’t want to only help a child until the day they turn 18, but until they stop needing assistance. She said that many times after a foster child would move out after 18 they would soon regress and need someone’s help, but not receiving any help from the foster care agency or their old foster parents. Mary mainly focused on safety and praise and told her foster children that nobody would be kicked out, but they would work

Goal Statement Social work introduced itself to me at a very tender age. Being adopted, and being teased cruelly in school for being “adopted” taught me a great deal about the scars many of us carry. In my work, I draw from my own reservoir of experiences. I have known about low self-esteem and low self-efficacy since childhood. I know the pain, one I personally ended, building my own sense of self-worth and independence.

The role of social work professions and the public welfare system was a theme that was found in almost all of the articles reviewed. Surprisingly, majority of the articles agree that social work professionals were essential in the lives of pregnant and