DFCS

Today I went to meet my field supervisor for next semester, I'll call her Leigh.

The drive over wasn't too bad.  It took me about 25 minutes, so while not the worse, I'll definitely be watching my money a little more closely next semester.  I was surprised to see a lot of the county offices on the same street. (Mental Health, Head Start(would have loved to be placed here!), DFCS, Sr. Citizens Outreach, etc.)

The DFCS offices are spread out over a couple of buildings and my supervisor was in the back.  She was a very sweet woman and graduated from my program about 5 years ago. She asked me if I was more interested in CPS or foster care/adoption and I told her foster care. 

She told me a little about their program and how it is heavily based on reunification and the integration of foster families and birth families.  In most cases foster families and birth families work together on issues concerning the child.  She also said they have come a long way in how many children they have in foster care. A few years ago it was around 200 and now it's down to about 60. 

I'll be shadowing people mostly.  Going out to inspect foster care homes, going to court, going to visit children in group homes or hospitals, attending treatment meetings, etc.  Possibly even going along for the removal of children from their homes...don't know if I'm ready for that! 

I'm very excited and I got a really good vibe from Leigh. I'll be there Thursdays and Fridays from around 8:30-5.  A few of those Fridays are furloughs, so yay! 

She mentioned that they were able to hire both their 2nd year interns from last year.  That sent a "Would I stay in this state if they offered me a job?!" through my head.  I don't think I want to stay here though. If it was the only offer I received, I guess it wouldn't be smart to turn it down. But I really want to move back to my home state when I'm done with this program.  That is a year and a half away...so I've got time!

Foster Care.

Is it typical/ethical/acceptable for social workers to be foster parents?

I ask because my interest in social work came from my desire to be a foster parents.  I hope I don't have to give that up.

I've never come across a social worker who had foster kids...