Ever wonder if what you see on TV is like the real world? Obviously it is never exactly like what is on TV, but maybe some parts are true right? Maybe I am the only one who thinks that. I have watched a lot of crime shows, many of which have some kind of information about child abuse or crimes against children at some point in them. While I acknowledge that things on TV are never exactly what reality looks like, I did think that some things were similar. But TV gets it wrong a lot. For example, ever seen a child abuse investigation on TV where there parents are the alleged perpetrators? The police do all the work on TV, but in reality it is a joint investigation with police and CPS because CPS can do things and get places police can't. But most often it is just CPS that investigates, except for in cases of sexual abuse and extreme physical abuse.
But what I really want to talk about is court. From watching court occur on all those crime shows I watch, I had some idea of what court would be like. Here is what I learned from watching TV: court is really formal; all lawyers hate each other because they are fighting against each other all the time; court takes forever, it is long and drawn out. Turns out those are misconceptions. I have been to quite a few court hearings now and they are not like at all. (Side note: all the hearings I have been to have been Child in Need of Care hearings (CINC) and all the hearings I have seen on TV have been criminal hearings so that could account for the difference)
Here is what I have seen: lawyers all get along. Really. In between hearings they can be seen chatting and laughing. All the lawyers. Defense attorneys, county attorneys (representing the state), Gaurdien Ad Lietams (GALs) who represent the children's interests. They are all friends. Which makes sense because they are also the same lawyers in every case. Really - in once case this lawyer is appointed to represent mom and in the next case the same lawyer is the GAL. So, since they see each other all the time, they must be friends. Court is actually really short. In all the hearings I have been to only one or two has heard testimony, and most of them have only lasted 15 or 20 minutes at the most. And they are quite informal. Of the ones that have heard testimony I have only seen one person sworn in. In many, someone has spoken from the galley/audience. While the lawyers are all dressed professionally (as are the CPS workers or other social workers present at the hearing) most often the parents are in jeans or even sweat shirts. And the Judge often talks directly to the parents or other members of the audience. Now some things are formal. When a lawyer speaks they almost always begin with "if it pleases the court" and if the judge ever speaks to you or you speak to the judge you are expected to stand up. But all in all, very different from what is seen on TV.
I also thought I would share with you the different types of hearings we are involved in. Because I had no idea, so you might not have any idea either. They types of hearings are (in order): Temporary Custody Hearing, Adjudication Hearing, Disposition Hearing, Permanency Hearing, and Termination Hearing. Now you are probably wondering what these are so let me tell you.
A temporary custody hearing occurs if the police have taken custody of a child. A child can only remain in police protective custody (or PPC) for 72 hours (working days) and then there has to be a hearing to determine what should happen to the child now. The county attorney, along with us and a foster care provider, makes a recommendation and the judge ultimately decides what happens. The child can either be place in the temporary custody of the state, remain in the custody of the parents but be place with a family member, or be returned to the home. Children can also be placed in temporary custody of the state through what is called an ex-parte order, which is when DCF, along with the county attorney, takes a case directly to the judge and the children are placed directly into our custody without involvement of the police. In this case a temporary custody hearing would not be needed.
The next step is an adjudication hearing. In this hearing, a child is formally labelled a child in need of care or not. In this hearing, parents have the right to contest the findings (or fight the DCF report/recommendation), essentially claiming there is no reason for the children to be in custody. The judge then ultimately looks at the evidence to determine the needs of the family/child. In all the hearings I have been at, parents have stipulated to the findings. Essentially this means they agree with the reports and recommendations and will not fight it. They can also claim "no contest" meaning they do not agree but will not fight it.
The next step is a disposition hearing. I have actually not been to one of these so I will give you a vague idea of what it is based on what I have heard and learned. In this hearing the court accepts a case plan, which is a series of goals and tasks the family must accomplish if they are to regain custody of their children. A case plan is created with the family, children (if age appropriate), DCF, the foster care provider (which in the state of Kansas in contracted to a private agency), and maybe lawyers. The judge then accepts the case plan (or tweaks it or rejects it). Some of the goals in the case plan are things like the child will reside in a home that is free of abuse 100% of the time or a child will reside in a home that is free of substance abuse 100% of the time. And then tasks will be assigned to show that this is happening or will happen, for example parents might be required to complete substance abuse treatment or age-appropriate parenting classes.
Permanency hearings are on-going throughout the life of a foster care case, and actually DCF is not involved in these hearings at all (in KS), so I have actually only seen these hearings because I was waiting for other hearings to begin. In these hearings the court monitors the progress of the parents in accomplishing the case plan goals and tasks. We always want the kids to achieve permanency as quickly as possible, we don't want to disrupt their lives needlessly and constantly. So the court has to monitor the progress to determine if the parents are progressing at a reasonable pace and reintegration is going to be possible or if nothing is progressing and termination needs to be looked at. DCF is not involved in these hearings because at this point the foster care provider is completely in control of the case and DCF has a hands-off role.
So, if the parents are not progressing and it is determined that reintegration is not going to be possible or it is in the best interest of the child to have greater permanency, a termination hearing is the next step. This is exactly what it sounds like: the parental rights are terminated by the court, allowing the child to be open for adoption.
So that is the court process, pretty interesting (at least to me). Which brings me to an important point: I find everything about my job fascinating and interesting and I really enjoy it all, but I am never sure what other people really want to know. So I ask you: what do you want to know? Do you have questions or burning desires that you really want me to write about? Is there something you have always been curious about? Please let me know either by commenting on a post, emailing me (tricia.elaine7@gmail.com), facebooking me, or whatever other mode of communication you like best!
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Day in the Life
So you might be wondering what we do in typical day. Well let me tell you. There is no typical day. That was a let down wasn't it? The truth is every day is different, with different cases and different requirements, and different things we need to do. So while I cannot tell you about a typical day, I can tell you some of the things that we do.
Like I said before when a report comes in we have to respond either on the same day, within 72 hours, or within 20 days (for non abuse, non neglect cases). Most cases are 72 hours. Cases are only same day if a child has a bruise (so we can get pictures of it), is afraid to go home (so we can assess their safety right away), if the child is in police protective custody, or if the alleged perpetrator is living in the same house (in cases of sexual abuse or extreme physical abuse allegations). The first step to responding is to see the child, which usually occurs in the school (if the child is school age). I have been in on several of these meetings and find them really interesting. During this interview we are attempting to assess the safety of child. We want to know about their home life and what is going on. We want to talk about some of the details of the report to determine exactly what happened and if it is concerning. We want to talk to all the kids in the home, even if the report was not about them, to get a complete picture of what the home life looks like. Once we have met with the kid (or kids) the report is about, response time is considered met. From there, we have a month or two to officially close the case. When we are talking to kids you have to be really gentle with them. We need them to open up to us, but many are afraid of the consequences of talking to us or just of talking about the situation. So we have to encourage them to talk by talking about unrelated things (like school or activities they enjoy) and then slowly moving into what was in our report. Kids are all different in how they respond to us. Some just open up and talk about everything. With others, every word is a struggle to get out. We have to be prepared for whatever we might face and adapt to what the child needs.
After we have talked to all the kids we will talk to the parents. Unlike when we talk to kids where we talk around the report, with parents we deal with everything head on. We tell them exactly what is in the report and give them a chance to respond to the allegations. As you can imagine, parents have a wide range of reactions to being investigated by us. One mom came out, took one look at us, and started cussing us out wanting to know who reported her and why they would do that and telling us it was basically crap. Another mom, who was reported for emotional abuse, just admitted to yelling and screaming at her kids, told us she was overwhelmed, and broke down and cried. Many parents are afraid of us, worried we are going to take their kids from them. So we have to do a lot of reassuring and telling them we just want to ensure the child is safe. Once we have their side of the story, we offer them services if the situation warrants it. Family preservation services are designed to offer intensive in home services (such as counseling, parenting training, disciplining training) to help keep the family together.
Many other things can happen in the life of a case, but I will leave that for another day!
Like I said before when a report comes in we have to respond either on the same day, within 72 hours, or within 20 days (for non abuse, non neglect cases). Most cases are 72 hours. Cases are only same day if a child has a bruise (so we can get pictures of it), is afraid to go home (so we can assess their safety right away), if the child is in police protective custody, or if the alleged perpetrator is living in the same house (in cases of sexual abuse or extreme physical abuse allegations). The first step to responding is to see the child, which usually occurs in the school (if the child is school age). I have been in on several of these meetings and find them really interesting. During this interview we are attempting to assess the safety of child. We want to know about their home life and what is going on. We want to talk about some of the details of the report to determine exactly what happened and if it is concerning. We want to talk to all the kids in the home, even if the report was not about them, to get a complete picture of what the home life looks like. Once we have met with the kid (or kids) the report is about, response time is considered met. From there, we have a month or two to officially close the case. When we are talking to kids you have to be really gentle with them. We need them to open up to us, but many are afraid of the consequences of talking to us or just of talking about the situation. So we have to encourage them to talk by talking about unrelated things (like school or activities they enjoy) and then slowly moving into what was in our report. Kids are all different in how they respond to us. Some just open up and talk about everything. With others, every word is a struggle to get out. We have to be prepared for whatever we might face and adapt to what the child needs.
After we have talked to all the kids we will talk to the parents. Unlike when we talk to kids where we talk around the report, with parents we deal with everything head on. We tell them exactly what is in the report and give them a chance to respond to the allegations. As you can imagine, parents have a wide range of reactions to being investigated by us. One mom came out, took one look at us, and started cussing us out wanting to know who reported her and why they would do that and telling us it was basically crap. Another mom, who was reported for emotional abuse, just admitted to yelling and screaming at her kids, told us she was overwhelmed, and broke down and cried. Many parents are afraid of us, worried we are going to take their kids from them. So we have to do a lot of reassuring and telling them we just want to ensure the child is safe. Once we have their side of the story, we offer them services if the situation warrants it. Family preservation services are designed to offer intensive in home services (such as counseling, parenting training, disciplining training) to help keep the family together.
Many other things can happen in the life of a case, but I will leave that for another day!
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Snow Day(s)
Remember being a kid and really hoping to have snow days? I was always like that. Ever winter I really wanted it to snow enough to force schools to shut down. Of course, in the Lower Mainland, that did not require much snow. But it was still fun: no school, playing in the snow, building snowmen. Well I grew up, and I no longer like snow. I can handle it for about a day, and then it gets old. And here in Kansas we just got a lot of it. You might have heard about the storm that past through the mid-West. It was SOO much fun...not. Okay, well it was fun for a little bit. But then it kept snowing and I was stuck in my house all the time. And strangely, I just wanted to go to work. The snow fell on us for a couple of days resulting in over a foot of snow after the first night and another several inches a couple of days later. It resulted in 2 and a half snow days for me, luckily I am doing my internship and it shut down because of the snow. Tabor College, on the other hand, did not shut down. Nor does it ever really shut down. So, since my friends either go to Tabor, work at Tabor, or work else where it town, it was a lonely couple of snow days for me. We did get some fun from it. We attempted to build a snowman, we played in the snow, we even went sledding (there are SOME hills in Kansas big enough for sledding). Here are some pictures:
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| All bundled up and ready to go out in the snow |
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| That is how deep it was in our driveway |
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| My poor car! |
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| Swinging fun |
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| It was only a little cold down there |
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| Sledding at the Res |
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| Just hanging out... |
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| Our awesome snowman |
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Baby Steps into the Deep End
Well, it finally happened. All that talking eventually amounted to full-time internship that began just over two weeks ago. I have now taken baby steps into the real world! And all my unanswered questions have been answered.
So what do I do you ask? Well let me tell you. I am a PPS intern (Protection and Prevention Services) which is a branch of the DCF (Department for Children and Families). PPS encompasses many things including: APS (adult protective services), foster care and adoption services, independent living services, and CPS (child protective services) which is what I do. (I hope you are all memorizing these acronyms cause I might start talking in them all the time now...or so I have been told)
But what does that mean? I know I have given brief over views of what CPS really is based on my own limited knowledge, but now I can tell you even more! So here is what happens BEFORE CPS gets involved: first you call in a report that you suspect a child is being abused or neglected. You talk to someone about your suspicions and all the events that led you to call today. Then that report gets sent to a social worker who does a brief review of the report and maybe gathers some additional information. That person decides whether or not the things in the report meet the baseline for something that is considered abuse. They then assign it as a specific type of abuse (which can be physical abuse, neglect, medical neglect, lack of supervision, sexual abuse, and a couple more) and assign it to a CPS social worker. And that is where we come in. We take that report and then we investigate it. We talk to the kids, the parents, and any other involved parties (maybe teachers, doctors, grandparents, etc.) We do assessments to determine if the child is safe or not and decide whether that child might need to be removed or if services need to be added. Services can include counseling, intensive in-home therapy, monetary help with bills, and many more. Now here is a common misconception: CPS does not remove the child. This surprised me too. CPS has no legal authority to take custody of the child. We either call the police and the police deem it necessary to put the child into police protective custody (PPC) or we gather all our evidence, take it to the county attorney, who takes it to a judge, and then the judge decides whether or not custody is necessary. Our goal is always to strengthen families and keep them together, but unfortunately that is not always possible.
So now you know what CPS is, but what exactly do I, as an intern, get to do. Well at the moment I do a lot of shadowing of the other CPS workers. When we get a report we generally have make (or attempt) contact either within 24 hours or 72 hours depending on how it was assigned. So I go out with them to make that first contact. I have sat in on several first contact with kids. Usually this happens in schools so that it is a neutral environment. It is also done because we do not need permission from parents to talk to their kids (to ensure they don't tell their child what to say or what not to say) so we can show up at school, identify ourselves (though in small town Kansas it seems CPS workers are known to schools), and talk to the child. I have also sat in on several parent interviews. Most of the ones I have observed have either been follow-up interviews or interviews where the parents were not the alleged perpetrator. But they have still been really interesting.
Okay, I have so much more to say but in the interest of keeping this brief (as if you could call this brief) I am going to stop now and save the rest for a future post. I feel like I have learned so much and I want to learn so much more and do and learn everything there is. I will share some of my future adventures with you soon!
So what do I do you ask? Well let me tell you. I am a PPS intern (Protection and Prevention Services) which is a branch of the DCF (Department for Children and Families). PPS encompasses many things including: APS (adult protective services), foster care and adoption services, independent living services, and CPS (child protective services) which is what I do. (I hope you are all memorizing these acronyms cause I might start talking in them all the time now...or so I have been told)
But what does that mean? I know I have given brief over views of what CPS really is based on my own limited knowledge, but now I can tell you even more! So here is what happens BEFORE CPS gets involved: first you call in a report that you suspect a child is being abused or neglected. You talk to someone about your suspicions and all the events that led you to call today. Then that report gets sent to a social worker who does a brief review of the report and maybe gathers some additional information. That person decides whether or not the things in the report meet the baseline for something that is considered abuse. They then assign it as a specific type of abuse (which can be physical abuse, neglect, medical neglect, lack of supervision, sexual abuse, and a couple more) and assign it to a CPS social worker. And that is where we come in. We take that report and then we investigate it. We talk to the kids, the parents, and any other involved parties (maybe teachers, doctors, grandparents, etc.) We do assessments to determine if the child is safe or not and decide whether that child might need to be removed or if services need to be added. Services can include counseling, intensive in-home therapy, monetary help with bills, and many more. Now here is a common misconception: CPS does not remove the child. This surprised me too. CPS has no legal authority to take custody of the child. We either call the police and the police deem it necessary to put the child into police protective custody (PPC) or we gather all our evidence, take it to the county attorney, who takes it to a judge, and then the judge decides whether or not custody is necessary. Our goal is always to strengthen families and keep them together, but unfortunately that is not always possible.
So now you know what CPS is, but what exactly do I, as an intern, get to do. Well at the moment I do a lot of shadowing of the other CPS workers. When we get a report we generally have make (or attempt) contact either within 24 hours or 72 hours depending on how it was assigned. So I go out with them to make that first contact. I have sat in on several first contact with kids. Usually this happens in schools so that it is a neutral environment. It is also done because we do not need permission from parents to talk to their kids (to ensure they don't tell their child what to say or what not to say) so we can show up at school, identify ourselves (though in small town Kansas it seems CPS workers are known to schools), and talk to the child. I have also sat in on several parent interviews. Most of the ones I have observed have either been follow-up interviews or interviews where the parents were not the alleged perpetrator. But they have still been really interesting.
Okay, I have so much more to say but in the interest of keeping this brief (as if you could call this brief) I am going to stop now and save the rest for a future post. I feel like I have learned so much and I want to learn so much more and do and learn everything there is. I will share some of my future adventures with you soon!
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Finished!
Now, don't get too excited. I'm not finished finished. Just getting there. Yesterday I finished my last class of my undergraduate degree! I do have a whole semester ahead, but no real classes just an internship and a class that goes a long with that. So classes are finished!
I was taking a child welfare and families class...which (shockingly) was all about child welfare. It focused a lot on definitions of different child abuses, legal definitions, treatment/intervention, prevention measures, and how the legal system works. I really enjoyed it because it was so in line with what I will be doing in just over a week (so soon!). It felt really good to be learning something and think "I will be doing this in less than a month". Needless to say, I am getting very excited to start my internship (and slightly nervous, which is normal I think). One really cool thing that we did in my class is create Public Service Announcements. PSAs are used to raise awareness to some issue or a program. Mine was raising awareness on the amount of abuse that occurs and also what you can do to help. So I thought I would let you all see it and let you know what you should do if you think a child is getting abused or neglected. Here is a link to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5ysWkGHTpo
I will be starting my internship next week (Monday January 28) and prayers are much appreciated as I start a new and stressful adventure. I will give you more information when I know more information...which will probably not be until I actually start. I do know that I will be doing some training before I will actually get to do anything, and I do not know what that will involve or how long it will be. There are so many unknowns about my internship, but I am still really excited to get my feet wet and start working! More to come!
I was taking a child welfare and families class...which (shockingly) was all about child welfare. It focused a lot on definitions of different child abuses, legal definitions, treatment/intervention, prevention measures, and how the legal system works. I really enjoyed it because it was so in line with what I will be doing in just over a week (so soon!). It felt really good to be learning something and think "I will be doing this in less than a month". Needless to say, I am getting very excited to start my internship (and slightly nervous, which is normal I think). One really cool thing that we did in my class is create Public Service Announcements. PSAs are used to raise awareness to some issue or a program. Mine was raising awareness on the amount of abuse that occurs and also what you can do to help. So I thought I would let you all see it and let you know what you should do if you think a child is getting abused or neglected. Here is a link to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5ysWkGHTpo
I will be starting my internship next week (Monday January 28) and prayers are much appreciated as I start a new and stressful adventure. I will give you more information when I know more information...which will probably not be until I actually start. I do know that I will be doing some training before I will actually get to do anything, and I do not know what that will involve or how long it will be. There are so many unknowns about my internship, but I am still really excited to get my feet wet and start working! More to come!
Monday, January 7, 2013
Christmas in Canada
Well, I just completed my last Christmas break. Next Christmas I will (ideally) be graduated (that will happen) and have a job (that's the ideal part). And it was a marvelous Christmas break! Mostly I....did nothing. I read lots of books and watched lots of TV and eventually got really bored. And then I hung out with lots of friends which was amazing! I definitely miss all things Canada when I am in Kansas. I also ate lots of turkey (and other delicious, home cooked, made just by mom food) and hung out with lots of family. It was nice to do lots of relaxing before my final semester of college (ever!...okay fine, until I decide to get a masters degree).
So what does this semester look like? In case you haven't been following my blog or just don't remember my last couple of posts (they were a long time ago, so I don't blame you) I will recap for you. Right now is a semester we like to call interterm. Basically the month of January is its own semester where you either go on a trip or take a class. I am taking a class. It is a child welfare class which deals with different things surrounding abuse and neglect. Most people might not think this would be a cool or interesting class. But I do! There is a lot of information crammed into a two week period but it is very interesting and definitely in line with what I want to do after graduation. And it will provide me with a lot of information for my internship.
Which brings me to my next thing...my final semester of college will be me working (for free) and taking a class one day a week that goes along with that. I will be working with Child Protective Services and learning a lot about the investigation of abuse and neglect. I do not know exactly what it entails, but I will let you all know when I know! I am really excited for it and to get my feet wet in the world of social work! It should be really good!
Well that is what my future looks like. Class, internship, graduation, and then nothing but question marks. We will see what the future holds...
So what does this semester look like? In case you haven't been following my blog or just don't remember my last couple of posts (they were a long time ago, so I don't blame you) I will recap for you. Right now is a semester we like to call interterm. Basically the month of January is its own semester where you either go on a trip or take a class. I am taking a class. It is a child welfare class which deals with different things surrounding abuse and neglect. Most people might not think this would be a cool or interesting class. But I do! There is a lot of information crammed into a two week period but it is very interesting and definitely in line with what I want to do after graduation. And it will provide me with a lot of information for my internship.
Which brings me to my next thing...my final semester of college will be me working (for free) and taking a class one day a week that goes along with that. I will be working with Child Protective Services and learning a lot about the investigation of abuse and neglect. I do not know exactly what it entails, but I will let you all know when I know! I am really excited for it and to get my feet wet in the world of social work! It should be really good!
Well that is what my future looks like. Class, internship, graduation, and then nothing but question marks. We will see what the future holds...
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Fall Happenings
Wow, it has been a really long time since I last posted. And a lot has been going on! Mostly I have been writing a million papers. As of today the number of papers I have written in the last month totals 20. I have 4 more to go before I am done with papers this semester! I am definitely done with writing for a while. Next up is 5 exams, and then my last semester of classes will be over!
Which brings me to my next bit of important news: I have an internship. Lots of you may know that it has been a bit of a frustrating process. I have had an internship in principle since last spring, but nothing official had been agreed upon. When I returned to school this semester I learned a bit more about it and was given a contact to set up an interview. After over a month of emailing and trying to get answers I finally got an interview set up a couple of weeks ago and then finalized everything on Friday. So, pending a security check, I will be interning with the Department of Children and Families (DCF) working in Child Protective Services (CPS). What does this mean, you might be asking yourself. Well, CPS is the investigative body of DCF. They investigate abuse suspicions or claims, work in the court system, and work closely with law enforcement. Why did I want to do this you might ask. Well, I really wanted to do one of the more difficult things I thought I could do within child welfare. And this is what I came up with. I really want to know if I can emotionally handle working with children who have been abused and families who abuse their children. It will be a huge learning experience for me. Just in my interview I feel like I learned a lot and I am really excited to start. So, what will I be doing? Mostly I will be shadowing other social workers who work in CPS as they go about their daily things. That will include going to houses to investigate, working with law enforcement to remove kids from homes, working with courts to determine parental rights, and doing interviews with kids for abuse and sexual abuse. I will be working Monday-Thursday, 6-8 hours a day to get 400 hours, starting the last week of January. I am really looking forward to it! And all your prayers are appreciated as I go through it.
In between all this busyness there have actually been some really fun moments as well. And since pictures are worth a thousand words I thought I would share some pictures!
First I got to go home for a very quick trip. I am pretty sure I spent the same amount of time in Canada as I did on airplanes and in airports. I was home for just enough time to eat some delicious turkey and pumpkin pie (it was Canadian Thanksgiving) and see my cousin get married.
Next up came Tabor's annual Sadie Hawkins weekend. Just like the song, the girls as the guys to various events. My roommates and I got very creative one weekend to ask my neighbor to Seniors Night. Our creativity involved a pinata, a note written half in Spanish (courtesy of my Spanish speaking friend, not myself) half in English, and breaking and entering into our neighbor's apartment. The actual event (which somehow I failed to take pictures of) involved us dressing up as senior citizens and going to All Star Sports in Wichita where we played some arcade games, won some prizes, and played some golf. It was a really fun night!
Last, but not least, a couple of weeks ago my church in Hillsboro held their annual fall festival. One couple has a farm just outside of town and they host the whole church for a night of fun games and fellowship. We went on a hay rack ride around the farm and surrounding areas, taking in the sights of Kansas, then we roasted hot dogs, ate some snacks, and won some prizes. It was a nice break to hang out with friends and make some good memories!
More exciting things to come as I get to go home once again in a few weeks for another wedding and then it will be time for Christmas break!
Which brings me to my next bit of important news: I have an internship. Lots of you may know that it has been a bit of a frustrating process. I have had an internship in principle since last spring, but nothing official had been agreed upon. When I returned to school this semester I learned a bit more about it and was given a contact to set up an interview. After over a month of emailing and trying to get answers I finally got an interview set up a couple of weeks ago and then finalized everything on Friday. So, pending a security check, I will be interning with the Department of Children and Families (DCF) working in Child Protective Services (CPS). What does this mean, you might be asking yourself. Well, CPS is the investigative body of DCF. They investigate abuse suspicions or claims, work in the court system, and work closely with law enforcement. Why did I want to do this you might ask. Well, I really wanted to do one of the more difficult things I thought I could do within child welfare. And this is what I came up with. I really want to know if I can emotionally handle working with children who have been abused and families who abuse their children. It will be a huge learning experience for me. Just in my interview I feel like I learned a lot and I am really excited to start. So, what will I be doing? Mostly I will be shadowing other social workers who work in CPS as they go about their daily things. That will include going to houses to investigate, working with law enforcement to remove kids from homes, working with courts to determine parental rights, and doing interviews with kids for abuse and sexual abuse. I will be working Monday-Thursday, 6-8 hours a day to get 400 hours, starting the last week of January. I am really looking forward to it! And all your prayers are appreciated as I go through it.
In between all this busyness there have actually been some really fun moments as well. And since pictures are worth a thousand words I thought I would share some pictures!
First I got to go home for a very quick trip. I am pretty sure I spent the same amount of time in Canada as I did on airplanes and in airports. I was home for just enough time to eat some delicious turkey and pumpkin pie (it was Canadian Thanksgiving) and see my cousin get married.
Next up came Tabor's annual Sadie Hawkins weekend. Just like the song, the girls as the guys to various events. My roommates and I got very creative one weekend to ask my neighbor to Seniors Night. Our creativity involved a pinata, a note written half in Spanish (courtesy of my Spanish speaking friend, not myself) half in English, and breaking and entering into our neighbor's apartment. The actual event (which somehow I failed to take pictures of) involved us dressing up as senior citizens and going to All Star Sports in Wichita where we played some arcade games, won some prizes, and played some golf. It was a really fun night!
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| Eating their food while breaking in! |
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| And playing their games! |
Last, but not least, a couple of weeks ago my church in Hillsboro held their annual fall festival. One couple has a farm just outside of town and they host the whole church for a night of fun games and fellowship. We went on a hay rack ride around the farm and surrounding areas, taking in the sights of Kansas, then we roasted hot dogs, ate some snacks, and won some prizes. It was a nice break to hang out with friends and make some good memories!
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| Playing with the IPhone 5's panoramic picture feature |
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| My favorite picture of the night! |
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