A question for DU social workers

[Giant Robot]

Given the recent murder of Kentucky social worker Boni Frederick while bringing a child back to her birth mother for a supervised visit, quite possibly the last visit since the mother's rights were going to be terminated, I was wondering what you all thought of this.

I am an MSW myself and work in the mental health field, so PS things are not with my experience, but I just wondered what all of your experiences have been. Has anyone ever felt threatened while on the job? Has anyone received threats or worse been assaulted during the course of your work? What safeguards does your agency have?

Very curious to hear from my fellow social workers. As for me, I have been on the receiving end of many threats but have never been assaulted. I have been uncomfortable in the presence of a couple of clients, but never to the point where I needed to request assistance, or changed my normal pattern of interaction. In fact for those folks in question, reacting like that would probably have made the situation worse. I guess I am lucky so far. So what about you?

[H2O Man]

1. I used to do

community-based work. Over the decades, that included everything from work with families in their homes, to community crisis response. Safety issues were a frequent concern. In the case in question, it appears -- and not simply from the murder involved -- that there was an error in the decision to send one worker into a high-risk environment.

[Giant Robot]

2. I would agree with you that there was a serious error

from what little I know of the situation. I am curious where the error originated, if it was an agency policy, lack of police support, failure of judgment of the social worker in question.

[H2O Man]

3. Those are good questions.

Of course, I am only basing this off news reports, but a few things seem to stand out. First, there is a home with a mother who has lost custody of one or more children, due to serious concerns about her lack of parenting skills. She has a boyfriend who lives in her home some or all of the time, who has a past legal history that indicates a level of instability. They are aware that the child in question may be permanently removed by the court system, and put up for adoption.

In terms of the social worker's supervisor: he or she should have been aware of those dynamics. Thus, no matter what the social worker's previous experience with the mother had been, the addition of the possible change in custody/adoption has to be a red flag. Just as "the system" is responsible for that child's safety, the system is responsible for the social worker's. I am aware that agencies are too often understaffed and overworked, and that they need to meet all the court-ordered specifications to prepare for any court proceeding .... and the mother would likely have an attorney who would be looking to see if the mother had had all the visitations. That said, it appears that in an attempt to "cut corners," the worker safety was not given adequate consideration.

Second, concerning the social worker, I hesitate to ever blame the victim of any crime, especially a violent one. But I used to tell my co-workers to never let their guard down. That means to always do a mental assessment of the environment you are asked to be in -- and that includes "office safety," too! -- and never, ever take things for granted. When going in the field, a cell phone is always essential. But in any case where there is an increased risk of hostility, it is important to take a co-worker.

The issues regarding police is also worth considering. Most people who work in the community build some sort of linkages with various police agencies. These relationships can range from good to bad .... I know people who were in the domestic violence programs who reported frequent frustrations in this area. After a few decades, I had found individual officers who I got along with quite well. More, I found that there were numerous situations where a blue uniform and a badge changed the aggressive behaviors of some threatening characters.

[Giant Robot]

5. Excellent post H2O Man

I certainly do not want to blame the victim or come off that way, but it *could* have been the case that this person was poorly trained or lacked some type of knowledge of what to look for as far as dangerous situations goes. My understanding was that she worked for that dept. for 15 years, so I think that question is dubious at best, but certainly needs to be addressed.

It is always true that social services are asked to do more with less, over worked, understaffed, etc. At least I feel that way. I think things can get lost easily with larger agencies, like protective services or whatever it was called in Kentucky. (In my state I have been through two name changes to that agency since I have been licensed in the past 5 years). My guess is that this was something that got lost. And they just received a hard reminder.

The police are, like I said, pretty good around here for the most part. Human like the rest of us, so some are better than others. Its important to have a good relation with them. I have yet to find a need to call them for my own safety, although I have called them to do welfare checks on clients I am concerned about. I think they will have an impact on any situation, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. The situations I am thinking of probably would not have gone as well if I just called the police for my safety, as I suspect the police would have made these individuals much more agitated. But a good point comes out of these ramblings: we must be constantly assessing any situation, not just for safety, but for mental status, strengths, weaknesses, etc. so that we can better meet the needs of our clients, safely and efficiently. We cannot lose that piece if this is the life we choose.

[bobbolink]

15. Thank you for helping us to understand what the situation is like on that

side.

I've talked with people who no longer trust social workers, for damned good reasons, so I appreciate this side of it.

"Can't we all just get along?" sometimes it all seems so futile...

:(

[Giant Robot]

16. I'm glad you got something from this thread then!

Like I said somewhere, social workers have this myth of being either cold, evil baby stealers, or irrational uber-hippies. We are not either one. We are like the rest of humanity, good and bad. I am sorry the people you have spoken to have only experienced the bad side of it, from I can see.

[bobbolink]

17. Yes, there are control freaks in every profession, unfortunately.

It's part of our culture.

Not every social worker is like Amy's mother in "Judging Amy". :)

I could tell you some of my own hurtful stories, but... this is not the place, in general, to get empathy, unfortunately.

I wish all of you well, and wish that one day we could all come together and create understanding for each other, rather than this ugly "Us and Them" that permeates this society!

Thanks for bringing this up. Understanding is all.

[Maureen54]

4. Social work/ home visits

I work in Early Intervention, a program that provides supports to families with young children with developmental delays. We do all the visits in the home. This is not usually a problems. Our program is very different than that of Children & Youth ( protective services) . Our families are usually delighted to have us involved and we are not there to question their parenting or "take their kids away" as they perceived C&Y to do. We have been in situations however that have been scary, intimidating etc. and we are given little support in dealing with this. We have trainings every so often on home visit safety but that's about it.
Usually we are fine though and don't feel threaten.

I feel more threaten by job security and the direction of social service in general right now. So I would like to add to your question and ask the social workers out there how their programs are going and if they feel that the federal government is questioning continuing to fund their services.

[Giant Robot]

6. Probably not the question you want to ask me right now

We just got the news not to expect raises anytime in the foreseeable future, insurance co-pays are going up, we will be charged a premium for our insurance for the first time ever, and our personal leave time is being cut.

We are starting an ambitious new program soon that, as far as I can tell, we do not have the money to operate. It is a great idea, don't get me wrong, but I cannot see the logistics of it working out well for us, unless some great new funding source comes through. Quite frankly, I am scared for my job safety, and for the safety of my agency as a whole.

[bobbolink]

18. And, scared for those who need your services!!

What's being done to social work is nothing short of a crime!

Whatever can be done to give more money to those poor, underpaid corporations, donchaknow..

:mad:

[Giant Robot]

20. Oh I can't tell you how many calls we get from

CEO's needing help paying rent or getting gas for their cars!

[phylny]

13. I work in EI as well (speech-language pathologist)

and due to a situation this year, my boss has asked all of us to have our spouses, significant others, or a family member sign a confidentiality statement so that they would have access to our daily schedules and addresses of where we were visiting each day.

I have only felt uncomfortable once, and it turned out that it may have been for a good reason, but the person was forced to leave the home, and after that things were fine. I always take my cell phone in with me, but you are right in your assertion that we are usually quite welcome in homes and they are happy to see us.

We often run into reluctant parents when we suggest that the family might benefit from a social worker. In EI, as you say, we do have to explain to the parents that the role of the social worker is to help everyone involved, not to break families up.

Edited to clarify that I don't think the role of ANY social worker is to "break families up" but often the parents we see have a negative perception of social work as "the people who take your kids away." This has not been the focus in any case I've been involved in, even when Child Welfare gets involved. Sorry if I made it sound negative!

[Giant Robot]

14. No worries

we both know social workers are not usually evil creatures tearing babies away from wailing mothers with glee. But I think you have hit on something there; the public at large has this mythology built about who and what social workers are, and that falls right in line with it. The reality I have experienced through people I have known who work in protective services, is that taking a child is the last thing they want to do, the last thing the agency wants to do as it costs time, money and resources that are always in short supply. Social workers, from what I have seen, experienced, and felt, are generally regarded as at best, some time of ultra-hippie liberal, and at worst, some type of cold hearted baby snatcher.

I watched ER on occasion. The only time there was a positive representation of a social worker there was when the character was made a recurring love interest for another of the main characters. The rest of the time they have been basically cold, jaded, one dimensional caricatures, that swoop in to steal a child away from someone else who knows better.

I certainly think this adds more to why this poor woman was murdered last week.

[AspenRose]

7. Not quite an MSW....

I'm in school for it.

We discussed in class a situation where an MSW was murdered by someone who had been diagnosed as schizophrenic. I don't think the majority of people in my class had much to say about it, perhaps because the vast majority of them had already chosen to work with gerontologists....perhaps they didn't feel that working with that population was 'threatening.' :shrug:

Before I began school towards my MSW, though, I was a paralegal for a family law attorney who was also a guardian ad litem. She reluctantly admitted to getting threats from disgruntled exes seeking revenge on their former spouses. I think that shook me up quite a bit. I mean, any one of these 'exes' could have raided her office with an AK47 and the first one to go could have been me, since my desk was at the front of the office.

Not long before I began working for her, I recall an attorney being murdered in front of a courthouse in Santa Fe. I just say all this to add that not just social workers, but attorneys involved in family law issues, are also at risk.

I'm planning to go into child and family advocacy as well, but from a policy perspective.

[Giant Robot]

8. Good for you for getting an MSW

and what you want to do with it. I'm more into the mental health side of things so I don't see schizophrenia as a scary thing.

I certainly agree that it is not just social workers who are the target of threats and assaults. There certainly are many situations where someone with some hostility and desperation can act out on people just doing their jobs, for good or for ill. Being that it was a social worker who was murdered and that is my profession as well, I wondered about others' experiences with threats and assaults. No disrespect was meant.

Oh and welcome to the social work club!

[brook]

9. Not a social worker...

I supply a service to ill and elderly. Had a schizophrenic go off her meds and threaten to kill several of us over a period of a few days. Police determined she did not have a gun after a search of her home. A couple of days later, she tried to run me down in the parking lot.

Long story short, she no longer receives our services but is still in town. Hopefully on her meds.
Services for mental illness are shamefully inadequate in this country. I don't know what people are thinking when they brag about us being "The Greatest Nation". At what? Abuse of power?

edited for typo.

[JDPriestly]

10. Without going into boring legal details, my take on this issue:

Of course, the primary concern in children's dependency proceedings is the safety and welfare of the child. The social worker is often the individual who deals directly with the parents and reports on findings on the best interests of the child to the court. It is not the social worker's fault, but the procedures used to terminate parental rights in my state do not adequately protect the rights of the accused to due process in a related criminal action if any. Parents are ordered to anger management and parenting classes and to individual counseling, but those remedies are not sufficient for severely mentally ill parents. The social workers get caught between the faulty legal system and the frustrated parents.

We need universal health care and preventive parenting education. Much violence and neglect would be discovered a lot earlier if children saw doctors more frequently -- for free -- and if we spent a tenth of what is spent on sports and violent TV shows for communication with parents about child development and parenting skills. You would be shocked to learn how few parents know how to care for their children's basic psychological and physical needs. The obesity epidemic, the TV and video game addictions of many children and the lagging performance of students in our public schools are just a few really obvious pieces of evidence of the need for parenting education. Let's get comedians like Jon Stewart and Larry David, etc. and their writers and some child development experts to put together some really funny shows for parents about how to raise children.

I believe that it is useless to talk about peace between peoples, nations, etc. unless you can achieve peace in your own life -- peace with your family, your friends, your society. If we are to be able to maintain peace in our relationships with others as adults, we need to learn the techniques of living peacefully at an early age in our families. Parenting education should be a number one priority in the U.S. Seriously. I believe that we will not be able to resolve other problems -- taking responsibility for our environment, equitably allocating our resources, even repairing our economy, unless we do something about the violence in the homes in which our children are growing up.

[brook]

11. Excellent post.

You've presented a very clear direction for a society that is absolutely dysfuncional. Would that those who need to understand it the most, would take heed.

[Giant Robot]

12. Wonderful well written post

I am guessing you are an attorney from the way you described the legal aspect of child welfare.

I think most of us on this board would agree that universal healthcare would be a blessing and a way to eliminate many troubles that plague our society. We get many calls from people who are begging for the kinds of things that universal coverage would clear up so easily.

It certainly is not the social worker's fault that the system is what it is; I was just curious if there was a way we could identify the obvious broken pieces that can be fixed, or pre-emptively fixed if nothing has gone wrong yet. And to get a review of who works in the field here and what their experiences have been.

Sorry for the brevity of this post after your in-depth, thoughtful one. I am actually at work now and have other things going on. I just wanted to say that your last paragraph reminded me of a quote from Ghandi, and I may get this a little wrong but here goes:

"You must be the change you envision."

[JDPriestly]

19. Actually,

from a purely legal perspective, I believe that criminal charges related to dependency matters should be resolved before the parent is required to plead in the dependency court. Simple matter, that.

[bobbolink]

21. From your lips to the ears of the Goddess! If only we could all learn

from your words!!

"I believe that it is useless to talk about peace between peoples, nations, etc. unless you can achieve peace in your own life -- peace with your family, your friends, your society. If we are to be able to maintain peace in our relationships with others as adults, we need to learn the techniques of living peacefully at an early age in our families. Parenting education should be a number one priority in the U.S. Seriously. I believe that we will not be able to resolve other problems -- taking responsibility for our environment, equitably allocating our resources, even repairing our economy, unless we do something about the violence in the homes in which our children are growing up."

So true! So important, it deserves to be repeated and repeated and shouted from rooftops!

Hell, I can't even post on DU without getting reamed for something, and even told not to vote!

Peace.

What a concept!

Thank you so very much for these words!

[OzarkDem]

22. Kids already get free health care, it doesn't help

Parents don't take them to doctors for routine care. I keep scratching my head trying to figure out why Dems are always talking about getting health care for kids - they already have free health care under SCHIPS program.

We have to find better ways of intervening in the local communities. What we're seeing is the consequences of the Law of Diminishing Returns. Doing things the same way over and over begins to become less effective after a while.

[JDPriestly]

25. Several European countries offer financial incentives

to parents to take their children to the doctor for regular checkups in the first years of life. Once a relationship with a doctor is established, it is much easier to seek medical care.

It's called "Kindergeld" in German, but it is offered in several countries. Of course, it is not a lot of money, but it is enough to serve as positive reinforcement for taking care of your children.

My children were born while we lived in Europe. The European doctors alerted me to problems in time for me to handle them. These were problems that I would not have noticed on my own or would not have known how to handle on my own. Needless to say, my children have benefited all their lives from the excellent pediatric and infant care they received in Europe.

The free health care along with the free half-day, play-oriented kindergartens are things I wish were available for every American child. Thanks to their good health and kindergartens, my children were ready to excel in school. I never pushed them. I didn't need to teach them the alphabet at home before they were ready. We are stupid to spend so much money on superficial entertainment and so little on the real needs of our children.

[H2O Man]

23. One area of

concern that I would have would be connecting serious mental illness and issues such as anger management and parenting classes. The Axis 1 mental illnesses may include some things that can create family dysfunction and parenting concerns. However, most people with a serious mental illness pose no greater risk for physical violence than the general population. In fact, the only statistical difference that stands out is that in the USA, those who suffer from a serious and persistent mental illness are more likely to be the victim of violence than the general population.

In NYS, parents at risk of losing their children have access to legal services, and that includes long before "the system" considers removing children and placing them up for adoption. There are also attorneys to represent the children. There are evaluations from a range of agencies, and this includes imput from the social workers who go into the home, and certainly PhDs. It's a long and difficult process, and in this area is extremely rare. It is something that takes place as a last resort, and in decades of experience, in three counties, I could count on the fingers of one hand how many parents actually fought it and lost. I'd also note that agencies such as social services, alcohol & drug abuse, and mental health often work together on intensive parenting classes for the highest risk parents.

[laylah]

24. I believe I am a

"thinking outside of the box" kinda gal, for that reason, if I have ANY unease regarding a client, I will not meet them on my own anywhere but at the agency. That said, the worker, IMVHO, was not "seasoned" and, or, the supervisor was not on top of things.

What a sad, sad event.

Jenn