Feature -- by Mark Sproxton

Those working in the child welfare field play a significant role in providing child care. The field itself is huge, however, and contains many, many varied occupations, too many to cover in one article. This feature will instead focus on three areas of child welfare provided by social workers, education, child apprehension, and adoptions. While those interviewed here work for either the provincial government, a non-profit agency, or a private business, those performing similar duties may also work in day cares, schools, group homes, the courts, and residential treatment centres.

Education

More children with troubled lives, living in troubled homes, are taking root in Calgary. As the city grows in leaps and bounds, so too do the number of children requiring a helping hand. "Unfortunately, business is booming," said Van McGeein, program director with a Calgary day treatment program. "That means there are lots of people out there in trouble."

Through the Links program, part of the Salvation Army's Children's Village, McGeein's staff of child care counsellors help teach courses to kids between six and 12 who have suffered through some kind of trauma, such physical or sexual abuse, or domestic violence, and have had trouble in a traditional school setting. In partnership with Alberta social services and the Calgary Board of Education, those working at Links deal only with children from ruinous circumstances and work regular business hours.

"For the counsellors, they would work directly with seven or eight kids, and their day would be filled with everything from helping kids to learn math, to dealing with a tantrum, to writing reports, to doing follow-ups with parents," explained McGeein, who has worked at the Children's Village for 12 years. That time has allowed him many opportunities to see the affects working with troubled kids can have.

"On the down side, you see a lot of personal pain and hardship on a day to day basis. When you're seeing kids severely damaged by something some adult has done to them, it can be fairly emotionally demanding." That means workers need to find their own effective stress management strategies, and have to be able to separate their work life from their personal life, he said.

"But one of the things that draws people to this, is you find yourself in a position where you can be helpful and make a difference, and actually see that because of your involvement, things get better for that child or family. And the connections you make with people, that's kind of exciting."

For McGeein, who has a Masters of Social Work degree, he came into the profession almost by accident. "I didn't know I wanted to be in this kind of work until I started going to university," he said. "It was just happenstance that I took a course like social work and it struck a chord with me. I pursued that to its natural conclusion."

And after years in this line of work, McGeein must posses some of abilities he said are required to succeed. "People have to have a high level of self-awareness, know their strengths and weaknesses, and can't bring a lot of their own (issues) to deal with the kids. It also helps to have lots of life experience because you come across a lot of people with different lifestyles and beliefs from your own. A decent sense of humor goes a long way."

Child apprehension

Wet snow engulfs the front windshield while the howling wind continually pushes the vehicle toward the ditch. It's midnight, cold, dark, and the child welfare worker knows a battle lies minutes away. She's been here before. She knows the parents, the children, and their circumstances. Notified by neighbors that the children may need some form of protection, action has to be taken. The worker has determined the kids have to be removed from the home.

Accompanied by police officers and social workers, the child welfare worker hopes no force is needed to take the five-year-old, and three-year-old to a safe place. Emotions run high in this situation, and anything's possible. While the worker is empowered by law to apprehend the children, not everyone believes the government should intervene in direct family affairs.

"Being the helper and agent of social control is a conflicting issue for some, and can be a real challenge of this job," explained Ann Rowbotham, a child welfare worker/supervisor with Calgary Rocky View Child and Family Services. "You can work with a family for three, or six months, and then apprehend their children."

Not everyday involves an apprehension, however. Calls stating that children are being physically, sexually, or verbally abused have to be investigated first. That could mean interviewing the complainant, family members, neighbors, teachers, or the children themselves. Some calls are also directed to other, more appropriate, community service agencies. If apprehension is required, the child welfare worker then has to find the best location for the child, either with extended family, a group home, or a foster home. Working around the clock, any day of the week may be required. Recruiting and training foster parents is also part of the job, as is on-going case management. Other duties a child welfare worker may undertake include working with children in prostitution, or working with people who want to place a child for adoption.

"There's always constant and continual assessing of the child's situation," Rowbotham said. "As government employees, it's more or less similar throughout the province. The difference in the city is the volume." Last year, her office received in the neighborhood of 100,000 calls. "You see children and families in pain, but I think people like this (work) because of the potential for them. Most people who work here believe in children, and believe things can be different."

For some, social work is a calling. "I knew at 14 this is what I wanted to do," Rowbotham said, adding the influence of her mother's work in public health carried much weight. "I knew I wanted to work with children, but I didn't know much about child welfare." Because of the demands of this type of work, she said it takes time for a new child welfare worker to truly develop a personal style. "It takes a while to get to know what it is, and how it impacts with other segments. It takes a year, or two, to start developing."

While a Bachelor of Social Work degree is sufficient for a child welfare worker, many also have gone on to complete their Master's degrees. "If you want to be in child welfare, all the skills you learn you need on this job," explained Rowbotham. "It is one of the jobs that will test all your skills as a social worker."

One of those skills is patience with the social welfare system. Lack of readily available community resources, such as boarding homes or foster parents is frustrating. And knowing a child remains in an unhealthy family situation because there weren't enough hard facts to make a court case can be numbing. But those who are good problem solvers, able to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, and are able to express their concerns and opinions in a consistent manner find ways to cope effectively.

"You can get desensitized to the work, but it's not all ugly," Rowbotham said. "Many in child welfare can't believe they've been here as long as they have."

Adoptions

The twinkle in the eyes of the new parents shines bright as the sun. Smiles run ear to ear. Huddled around their new baby, the parents are oblivious to the outside world, standing transfixed on the tiny bundle of joy. Weeks of preparation, planning, nervousness, and excitement are over. The adoptive couple are now parents.

Kim Shook, an adoptions counsellor for a registered private adoption agency, is pleased as well. She has worked with the couple from day one, helping them plan for the addition to the family, and facilitating the arrangements between them and the birth parents. While pleased for the adoptive couple, she knows the birth parents will require help dealing with the emotions their decision brings. But that comes with the territory.

"I love working with people," she said from her home, where she works as a contract counsellor, as is common for those employed by private adoption companies. The career allows her to take on an educating role with the adoptive parents, and a counselling role with the parents who decide to place their baby for adoption. "This is a position where you see really happy parents at the end, and the grieving parents." Aided by Shook, both couples can come to peace with their decisions.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Social Work, Shook landed her first job as an adoptions worker and has stayed in that line of work for 10 years. "I have always wanted to work in the human-services field," she said. "Adoption appealed to me because people are coming to you of their own will, not like child (apprehension) where you go into homes where they might not want you there."

Working as a regional representative for an agency based outside of Calgary, Shook spends her days fielding calls answering questions about applying to become an adoptive parent, how the process works, what it's like to meet the adoptive parents, and discussing the costs. Time will also be spent meeting with potential adoptive and birth parents for counselling sessions, as well as spending at least eight to 12 hours over a period of visits for each home assessment with prospective parents.

"I have no set hours, but work as the calls come, or as I set up appointments," Shook said. "After (a placement), the birth parents can come to us any time for grief counselling, and with the new parents, I do the follow ups and compile all the records." Those records are the only drawback of the work, she added. "For me, I'd much rather work with people than do the paper work." Shook will compile all case information herself, and the agency will look after the court documents required for an adoption.

Not every adoption runs smoothly, or as anticipated. For instance, despite all the pre-birth planning, the birth mother may change her mind about putting her child up for adoption once the little one arrives. This demands workers draw on a variety of skills. "If a birth parent makes a decision you don't agree with personally, you have to support that and be helpful," Shook said. The same goes when conducting a home assessment. "You have to have the ability to think fairly non-judgementally. You have to develop your assessment skills and have the ability of listening to what they're saying, looking at their body language, and listening to your gut feelings." Those are tough demands, but when a child arrives in a new, good home, there's more than one person smiling.