An analysis of Mariposa County Department of Human Services Child Welfare Department, and the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
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Mission and Goals The Child Welfare Services Ongoing Case Management Unit strives to: - preserve and empower families, - encourage self sufficiency of families and youth through supportive services, - facilitate reunification when children are removed, - ensure the safety, permanence, and well being of all children, youth, and transitioning young adults in our community, - serve the needs and mandates of the Juvenile Court, and - provide ongoing support to the foster parents in our community. Did you know? Mariposa means butterfly
Transcript
Mission and Goals The Child Welfare Services Ongoing Case Management Unit strives to: - preserve and empower families, - encourage self sufficiency of families and youth through supportive services, - facilitate reunification when children are removed, - ensure the safety, permanence, and well being of all children, youth, and transitioning young adults in our community, - serve the needs and mandates of the Juvenile Court, and
- provide ongoing support to the foster parents in our community.
Did you know?
Mariposa means butterfly
Community of Mariposa
• The geographic community of Mariposa county is a mostly mountainous area, but catches a small part of the Central Valley as well. It is also home to some of Yosemite National Park.
•The median income level in Mariposa County is $49,174
•The demographic groups from 2012 US Census is 90.6% White and 3.2% American Indian/Alaska Native. The population-at-risk are children who have been abused or who
are at risk of being abused.
Community of Mariposa Continued How do our clients get to the agency?• by car, either their own vehicle or they get rides from friends or relatives.
•Most of the time, however, we go to them. Wherever it is most convenient for the client to meet, we get there or give them rides ourselves.
Involvement in the community• Mariposa Safe Families
•Independent Living Program
•First 5
•ICES (Infant Child Enrichment Services)
•Mountain Crisis Services
•CASA
•Ethos
•THP-Plus
Services Provided•Emergency Response – First phase of involvement, investigative services provided to determine further involvement of social workers and the court system.
•Family Maintenance- social workers work with families to overcome challenges while children remain in the home.
•Family Reunification- when children are detained, services are provided that enable family to reunify. At the same time, the social worker builds an alternate plan should children not be able to return home.
•Permanency Planning- the search for a permanent placement if children cannot return to their home. Adoption and legal guardianship are some options.
•The Independent Living Program- current and former youth who have been in foster care are eligible from ages 15 ½ to 18, and Aftercare Services are available for those ages 18 to 21. This program focuses on skill building and document retrieval for children who have been in foster care at these ages. The kids can earn money and gain a lot of knowledge through the classes that are offered, and be empowered to be in control of their lives from this point on.
John LawlessInterim Director
Nancy BellDeputy Director of Social Services
Susan ArlingtonSW Supervisor- Child Welfare Services
Shane BonnerSS Aide
Chrissie DossSW IV
Ruth HerSW IV
Charles PeughSW IV
- A state funded agency that answers to a board of directors, and subsequently the (Interim) Director, which then filters down to Nancy Bell, then Susan Arlington.
Social Work Values
• The social workers at this agency are committed to serving and empowering this community. As an intern, I see social workers giving people tools to do for themselves. They believe in helping but not doing the work for the client. The power is in the hands of those being served to do for themselves with the help of the social workers.
Cultural Competence
• Understanding the client and their background is an important part of building a case plan. Each case plan is individualized by the caseworker and the client together, in order to best fit the needs of the client and the requirements of the justice system.
The Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers states that the primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. I believe that this happens at this agency, to the best of the abilities of the social workers here. It is visible in the case workers that I follow when I see how they focus on the client at hand and deal with each case at it comes, in an unbiased manner.
International Agency: Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
• This is an agency that delivers a multitude of services to hundreds of thousand of people per year in Belfast and specialist services to the people of Northern Ireland.
Belfast City Hospital is a 900-bed modern university teaching hospital providing local acute services and key regional specialties.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
Belfast City Hospital
Community Home Care Hospital Care
Social Work
Learning Disability Services Mental Health Services Family and Child Care Services Physical Disability Older Peoples Services
I am focusing on the Social Work Department of the Trust, and within that,Family and Childcare Services
*There are other hospitals that are part of the Trust, but I am focusing on Belfast City Hospital*
The Belfast Trust provides services to the support of children, young people and their families. They work with and empower families so that children can have a safe, nurturing environment to thrive within. The Trust offers a range of services to families where children may not thrive and reach their full potential without some help – this includes children in need of protection. The Trust is also responsible for children who cannot remain with their own families and who are under the care of the Trust.(from http://www.belfasttrust.hscni.net/services/FamilyChildCare.htm )
Services Provided•Adoption (What we do in Permanency Planning)•Early Years Services- provides information to parents about the range of daycare services
available in Belfast and offer training for day care providers. •Family Support Services (Family Maintenance and Family Reunification)•Child Protection (Family Maintenance and Family Reunification)Services for looked After Children:
•Foster Care (Family Maintenance and Family Reunification)•Residential Care (Foster Family Agencies and Group homes)
•Services for young people who have left care (Similar to the ILP Program and Aftercare services)•Out of hours social work services (Emergency Response)•Children’s Disability Services (This agency utilizes our resources all over Mariposa county when we come in contact with children who have disabilities. On staff we do have some interpreters, however we do not have a department that is devoted to Disability Services)
Operations:•Services are provided in much the same way as Mariposa, with an Emergency Response team as well as referrals.
• The social workers work hand-in-hand with other agencies and groups to empower families and to give children the opportunity to thrive within their environment.
Empowering people is the key!• Discovering networks and building bridges between people and their families, communities, and organizations.
“Underlying all social work in the Belfast Trust is the understanding that choice, autonomy and independence are important to everyone, especially the most vulnerable.”
