Social Caseworker

A Social Caseworker is a Social Worker who deals with the really rough stuff. Social Caseworkers are the ones called when kids are taken away from their families due to domestic violence, abuse, or neglect. Your ultimate goal as a Social Caseworker is to find a way to safely return the kids to a better home, and you do this by providing resources, therapy, and crisis intervention to everyone involved.

Each case you get requires an individual plan for improving things. In order to form a plan, you first figure out what happened. You interview the parents, children, extended family, foster parents, Teachers, and, if applicable, Police Officers.

The information you gather lets you know what types of resources are needed. For example, you might get the kids in therapy, or connect the parents with drug counseling or parenting classes.

Although you hope for each case to end with the children returned to their parents, it doesn’t always happen that way. When parents can’t or won’t make the necessary changes to support their kids, you start putting the termination and adoption process into motion. You work with foster parents, extended family members, and the courts to make sure the children end up in a stable environment.

Be aware that this is a job that takes a huge emotional toll and has a high burnout rate. You mustn’t be affected by the stories you hear, which can often be pretty awful. Focus on keeping yourself mentally healthy, and don’t be afraid to take time off for yourself.