Who Can Be A DCFS Caseworker?

Well, when I was hired at DCFS in Provo in 1995, I had a BYU bachelor's degree in Theater Education. My good friend, Eric, who was hired the same day had a degree in Korean! DCFS gave us a year to bring our 'unrelated' degree up to a 'related' degree.

During that year Eric and I took classes from the 'U', Weber State and UVSC...we had to take I believe, 5 classes. Then we could formally be hired at DCFS; which we both were in May or June 1996. Within a few years a ruling came down(from wherever rulings come down from) which said DCFS can now only hire those with certain bachelor degree's. I'm not sure, but this may have been instigated by the David C. vs Leavitt lawsuit from the mid-1990's (more on the lawsuit in a later blog).

At this time Eric and I were able (and required) to take and pass the state social worker test so that we could be Social Service Workers (SSW's). Which we both did, successfully.

Today, as I started to say a few sentences ago, DCFS hires it's caseworkers from graduates of degrees in social work, and a few other related majors. They probably wouldn't look twice at applications from theater or korean majors!

This change in hiring practices was a GOOD THING! It didn't 'guarantee' an understanding of the social worker mentality, (which is one of compassion, helping, boundary setting, non-judgmental-ness, among other attributes)...but it sure does lay a strong foundation of basic principles of this important field of study and service. Which I didn't have....

I usually tell a story in my foster parent training classes about how proud I was when I was hired at DCFS. How I felt strong, capable, and better than the loser birth parents who abused or neglected their kids... I'm also pretty sure that I was successful at letting others know I was those things, too. I believed working for 'state government' was an elitist position; good insurance, paid holidays, great working environment...and that the families who abused or neglected their kids better know that I was the one in charge and if they didn't do what I told them to, they'd probably be unsuccessful at getting their kids back.

Not long after I was a licensed social worker in Utah, DCFS was under a scrutinizing microscope to create more family-friendly practices, again the catalyst was the lawsuit. There was a huge number of changes (around 300 specific items, but I'll double check that #) that DCFS had to make if they wanted to be the child protection agency in the state. Research was showing that families were more apt to respond to services offered to them, when they had a say in what the services were (services such as therapy, substance abuse issues, domestic violence, anger, unemployment, parenting skills, etc)...so that meant caseworkers needed to ASSESS the families strengths and needs and to link them to the services the family needed to bring the 'needs' up to 'strenths'.

Now this was a new philosophy to digest. I remember case workers really kicking and screaming about this new assessment and how we didn't have time to be all warm and fuzzy with our high caseloads, etc. But, it made total sense to me as I digested it....but it took a few trainings to really open my eyes and heart to what social work was really about. (Now, I was morphing from a drama teacher with a state gov't job, to a real social worker!).... and it was my goal to become a cheerleader of these new practice principles.

Assessments were implemented; strengths and needs were put in writing, new Service Plans were (and still are) updated to keep up with best practices; families were given more choices instead of being dictated to...and the recognition that hiring trained social workers was an important element in successful child welfare practices in Utah.

It's been so educational to be a part of the child welfare world in Utah. Many of you have no idea that Utah's Child Welfare practices are on the cutting edge of 21st century, North American ideals. Other states visit Utah's DCFS administration, and some local offices, to see how we do what we do. That's something to be proud of...but it has not been an easy road: ask any worker who has at least 15 yrs under their belt!