By Terra Avilla
March is Social Worker Appreciation Month. If I was a betting woman, I would bet that most of you would go through the entire month of March and never hear the words ‘social worker appreciation.’
Why? Most of us never have an interaction with Social Workers or CPS (Although they are now called CFS, the abbreviation for Child and Family Services). That is a good thing. We go through parenthood without ever needing help. As such, the average person is not going to ever witness the inner workings of what these professionals do. It does not relate to them so many see their work as a non-issue.
The catch is that their work is our issue – all of our issue.
The safety and well-being of our county’s children affects us all. The kids they deal with are in our children’s classes. They are our neighbors. They are the cute faces we see at the bus stops. So really, whether you have personal experience with them or not, we owe them a lot of gratitude.
I recently saw a quote that broke my heart but was so incredibly true. Social Workers are one of the small group of professionals that are hated when they do their job and hated when they don’t.
My guess is they don’t ever receive thank you letters from the parents they interact with, and many of the children they see are probably too scared or too little to be able to truly express their gratitude for the help these women provide.
The other barrier of what prevents the general public from knowing the hard work these elite group of saviors are doing for the children in our community? Confidentiality. They are bound by laws and policies, which means they can never display or showcase exactly what they do.
Our local team is responsible for the entire county, facing the same challenges and types of cases seen in big cities. The difference is our workers don’t have the same resources as their counterparts in larger areas. They are held to the same standards with half the resources.
I know when writing this, that some people have fixed idea of what CFS does, or doesn’t do, but I can tell you, these women are on-call twenty-four seven, and go into the same houses law enforcement does, without the radio, the vest and the firearm.
They must make quick decisions and balance the importance of child safety between family unity. That is a burden I am so thankful I never have to make.
When we go to the really bad calls, we call them in, and they then begin the months-long (or years-long) process of advocating for these kids. They show up at doctor’s appointments, court hearings, home visits, police interviews etc.
I remember one time, I was working graveyard and I saw Lassen County Social Worker Chelsea Dompeling sitting in the Emergency room holding a baby that had just been detained. The baby was no older than four months old and needed medical attention.
Chelsea sat in the room cuddling the little girl. It was almost midnight. She sat there, not complaining, trying to comfort the infant while she attempted to fill out forms and make calls attempting to locate a safe place for the baby girl for the night.
The kicker, whatever time she cleared the hospital, found a foster parent for the infant, she would have to go home and be ready for a full work day within hours. Detaining a kid at night ensures the next day is full of paperwork and meetings.
The truth is, the work these ladies do is cloaked in confidentiality. They can’t call back concerned teachers or other reporting parties and tell you what happened with each case. The work they do is beautiful and sad, and amazing, and so, so needed.
I know that there are parents that have had intervention from CFS and through their own hard work with the assistance of CFS were able to be reunified with their children. And they are doing great. They may not say it – but thank you for helping them.
The children you help, they may not say it – but thank you for helping them.
The officers who call you guys out all hours of the day – they may not say it but thank you for helping them. For helping us.
You are one of the reasons we are so unique as a community and are one of the reasons I love the place we live.
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