Child Welfare Social Workers
The type social work I chose to examine is that of child welfare, as I have an interest in child development and the care of the children. I believe it is important to understand how child welfare as a system/organization, and a social work practice has expanded and developed as the years have passed, plus understand the flaws in the system that can happen.
History
The history of social work in the field of child welfare began developing and evolving because of the conditions in the 19th century (Swift & Callahan, 2002). In this time, “a variety of private philanthropic, charitable and religious organizations begin to offer help to abandoned, orphaned and neglected children” (Albert & Herbert, 2006). One can see how it is important to see the development of how child welfare has expanded over the years.
In the United States, there started to be investigations into “complaints of child neglect, exploitation, and cruelty” during the 19th century; however, the case of Mary Ellen Wilson brought the attention towards the matter, after she was removed from her home of abusive caregivers. It was one of the first publicized cases in the country.
It was in 1891 when the first Children’s Aid Society was established in Toronto, and the first Child Protection Act was passed in Ontario in 1893. This “made the abuse of children an indictable offence for the first time” (Albert & Herbert, 2006). In addition to the indictable offence charge it also, “promoted foster care, gave children’s aid societies guardianship power, and established the office of the superintendent of neglected children” (Albert & Herbert, 2006). It is my belief that this Act was the first step into the protection of children.
Issue of Mental Health
One issue I found that stood out amongst those who are being serviced in child welfare is that of child maltreatment. Through child maltreatment mental health issues arise. It is because of the adverse events, such as abuse and neglect, that mental health has such a large impact in the field. As per indicated in the article The linkages among childhood maltreatment, adolescent mental health, and self-compassion in child welfare adolescents, the authors, Tanaka, Wekerleb, Schmuckc and Paglia-Boak, disclosed, “that adverse childhood events accounted for 31-65% population attributable risk for mental health disorders … in ages 4-12 years [and] in adolescence (13-19 years), it was between 24% and about 41%” (2011, p.888). It is important to understand these statistics, as numbers can be overlooked, however, these are children that we are talking about. The statistics mentioned are quite high number and although we are not aware of how many children were taken into account for this study, one child who had to undergo the adverse childhood events, was one too many.
Role
While examining child welfare, it is important to understand what it entails to be a social worker in this specific field. One must be able to understand the role and requirements it takes to be a child welfare social worker, as this allows one to better comprehend and appreciate the role. In addition to understanding the purpose and role of a child welfare social worker, it is important to be able to decipher agencies that aid in the child welfare field.
According to Ashley Miller, “the main responsibility of a child welfare social worker is to protect children from situations of abuse, neglect and other forms of maltreatment”, these are things that people could never imagine a child having to endure (Miller, 2018). Child welfare social workers also, “focus on ensuring the social, physical, psychological and emotional well-being of their clients” and one can see that it could become difficult, especially with the focused target being youth (Miller, 2018).
It is included in the Code of Ethics for the New Brunswick Association of Social Workers, that a social worker who believes that, “a child is being harmed and is in need of protection shall report their concerns to the proper authorities as required by law” (New Brunswick Association of Social Workers, p.17). It is evident that the social worker would need to report their concerns, as the well-being of a child is at risk, but also because if they do not report the instances, it would be considered illegal.
Agencies
When trying to find agencies that employ child welfare social workers, it is not as easy to find as one would believe, however there are a few local organizations in that stand out. Those organizations include The New Brunswick Child and Youth Advocate and Fredericton Residential Youth Services Inc., which both are located in Fredericton, New Brunswick. One similarity between the two agencies is that they both advocate for the rights and interests of children and youth (Fredericton Residential Youth Services Inc, 2018). Nonetheless, Fredericton Residential Youth Services Inc. advocates for the parents as well as the children, whereas The New Brunswick and Youth Advocate does not (The New Brunswick and Youth Advocate, 2018). One is able to relate this back to the requirements and role of a child welfare social worker as overall both agencies are making sure that youth are well protected and have a voice.
Family Services Act
In New Brunswick, the Family Services Act, is the primary piece of legislation promoting the protection, best interests, and well-being of the children (Gough, 2007). As per February 2018, the Act was updated with the current standards that should be followed (Family Services Act, 2018). This is an important piece of legislation, as it protects the rights of children that have not been protected in past. The Act states that “children have basic rights and fundamental freedoms no less than those of adults” which allows for one to see that children are as equally important as adults (Family Services Act, 2018).
Department of Family and Community Services
In 2007, it was stated in New Brunswick’s child welfare system, that “in New Brunswick, the Department of Family and Community Services oversees the quality and delivery of child protection services, which are provided by 265 provincial social workers operating from 16 sites located in eight regions throughout the province” (Gough, p.1). It is common to believe that 265 is a lot of social workers, however when one examines the number of referrals, is is seen as a lot less. The article goes on to mention how in 2005-2006, “there were 6,740 child protection referrals, … with an average of 1,686 active cases each month” (Gough, 2007, p.1). It is hard to believe that there are that many children that are in need of child protection, however there is a limited amount of social workers in this field to aid with the issue.
Another factor that must be examined is that of Aboriginal children within the child welfare system. With the funding of the Federal Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, “there are 11 delegated Child and Family Service Agencies on reserves, providing services to 15 First Nation communities” which can seem very low, in comparison to the non-Aboriginal resources that are offered (Gough, 2007, p.2).
Political Standpoint
In the CBC article, Party leaders offer few solutions to improve child protection during debate, by Karissa Donkin, it is discussed how “New Brunswick’s political party leaders offered few specific solutions for improving the province’s child protection system” (2018). This is very shocking, as these are people who were running in the election to represent Canada as a country. David Coon, Green Party Leader, was the only candidate to offer a solution, saying how “he would restructure the department and called for former child and youth advocate Bernard Richard be appointed to lead the effort” and how “it starts with having an open system so people can see what’s going on, what the recommendations are, to act on them” (Donkin, 2018).
Coon’s offer allows for one to see how there are regulations that the government could change but also how there are some people in government who actually care about the future of the youth. It also shows that there are parts of the procedures that need to be fixed within the child protection system, however our current government is failing to do so.
Funding and Lack of Community Services
Dr. Judy Hughes and Dr. Shirley Chau’s article Practices in the Child Protection System: Listening to the Voices of Child Protection Workers in Manitoba and British Columbia demonstrates a clear understanding of the reality of a social worker. One aspect that stood out in the article was that of funding and community services.
It was included, “that many parents lack the personal resources to find and attend the programs and services that were identified as necessary in the developed case plans” which allows for one to see how there can be limitations because of the economic class of the parents (Hughes & Chau, 2012, p.9). They also add how there were, “stories of parents [shared in how they] were too overwhelmed and lack[ed] in additional money for transportation and childcare
to attend such programs” (Hughes & Chau, 2012, p.9).
There are other workers who stated how “there were not enough community resources available to fit the complex needs of their clients or that the programs available were culturally inappropriate” which is a clear evident issue (Hughes & Chau, 2012, p.9). If the community is not involved, that becomes another factor that is hindering helping those in need.
Rewards and Challenges
While examining the field of child welfare social work, it is evident how there could be rewards and challenges, however it is the likelihood for any social worker. In 2013, the Chicago Tribune published an article which discusses the role of social workers and their requirements. It also the difficulties and rewards that are associated with the job.
Isabelle Moretti, a social worker who assists school-age children stated that “you see tangible results from the people you help, … sometimes it’s small …. and sometimes it’s large” (2013). She also states how “in the end you’re helping someone out” which is the main focus of a social worker (Moretti, 2018).
While examining other pieces of writing, in addition to guest speakers that have come to the class, a common reward was helping someone, whether it be the individual child or the family as a whole. A challenge in the field of child welfare is realizing that you may not be able to help the child. Many presenters, whether there is in involvement with children or not, mentioned how it is difficult if they are unable to assist the individual and something happens to them, e.g., abuse, death.
Conclusion
From the information presented, one can see how important a child welfare social worker is, in addition to seeing the difficulties they face. The development of child welfare has developed throughout the years, however there is still room for improvement. With the information provided, child welfare has become a possible and protentional field of practice for myself.