Social Work: This hurts me more than it does you..
Author: Calen Velervron, December 2017
In the world of social work and child protection there is a plethora of aggravation from almost every single person I deal with on a daily basis. Part of this article is going to serve as my time to rant a little bit about something that drives me absolutely nuts.
When I walk up to do an initiation for an investigation, if it turns out to be a false complaint or silly... I did not want to be there either! It is so hard to get the message across to people I deal with on a daily basis that everything has to be investigated that gets called in. Some days I get called out to the silliest calls. Often times it involves parents who are divorcing or who hate each other and they take turns calling to get the other parent in trouble. If I have to investigate say, 30 calls a week I can almost guarantee 20 of those are false reports. The real concern from an investigation standpoint is do you want me to NOT investigate a call and it turn out to be real. If you ever do find yourself hating the other parent to your child and wanting to get revenge... please leave me out of it!
Also in my world I deal with cases of horrible, sincere, and heartbreaking drug use. Parents all the time are dealing with very real addiction issues that go beyond the occasional hit of THC. I went into a house earlier this week where I found a mother and father that very much loved their children but they could not get off the floor to change diapers due to a methamphetamine high. I had to place these children into an emergency hold and it broke my heart as I watched the parents get taken away in an ambulance. I am not missing the point that these children are in danger, I am not discarding the point that they need help. But I am giving credit that they called the next day and sought rehab. I am giving credit that they finally checked in to get help. They never hated me, they just needed help with what I see as a very real illness and addiction.
Some days I have to remind myself and I hope maybe some of you that all of us are a few bad decisions, maybe less than a few, from being in the roles of people we so often judge. I really hope these parents get the children back they say they love so much. I for one am glad we could help them get some help. I talked to the mother today to check on her and she is going through some pretty serious withdraws BUT she is dedicated to getting her children home - and that is what matters to me.
