From the US Bureau of Labor Statistics
"Social work is a profession for those with a strong desire to help improve
"Social work is a profession for those with a strong desire to help improve
people’s lives. Social workers help people function the best way they can in
their environment, deal with their relationships, and solve personal and
family problems. Social workers often see clients who face a life-threatening
their environment, deal with their relationships, and solve personal and
family problems. Social workers often see clients who face a life-threatening
disease or a social problem, such as inadequate housing, unemployment, a
serious illness, a disability, or substance abuse. Social workers also assist families
that have serious domestic conflicts, sometimes involving child or spousal abuse."
For those of you who don't have much exposure to the impact social workers have on people's lives, the sacrifices they make and how little they're compensated for it, I'm going to tell you;
Imagine getting called in the middle of the night to meet the police at a crack house to pick up a 4 yr old and a 7 yr old living there as their drug dealing parents are hauled away in handcuffs. And rather than being relieved to be getting out of that disease-infested hellhole, the kids are screaming and crying because they're being taken away from the only "adults" they've ever known. You try to comfort them as they pack up their few belongings in a black trash bag - a couple filthy changes of clothes, their one hole-filled pair of shoes and a grungy old stuffed animal (their only plaything). So as they walk out past the discarded needles, human waste and dead rats, you become their entire world.
Social workers get their hearts broken every day - a six yr old girl sexually abused for the past 3 years, a boy with cigarette burns halfway up his arms, a baby dipped in scalding water to me him stop wandering, an infant shaken into a vegetative state because she wouldn't stop crying. They do this while getting little thanks from anyone.
So this is just my little way for thanking Joy and all the others who do what they do. I just want them to know that some of us see what they do and are left in awe at their sacrifice, diligence and tremendous hearts.
Thanks Joy.
that have serious domestic conflicts, sometimes involving child or spousal abuse."
For those of you who don't have much exposure to the impact social workers have on people's lives, the sacrifices they make and how little they're compensated for it, I'm going to tell you;
Imagine getting called in the middle of the night to meet the police at a crack house to pick up a 4 yr old and a 7 yr old living there as their drug dealing parents are hauled away in handcuffs. And rather than being relieved to be getting out of that disease-infested hellhole, the kids are screaming and crying because they're being taken away from the only "adults" they've ever known. You try to comfort them as they pack up their few belongings in a black trash bag - a couple filthy changes of clothes, their one hole-filled pair of shoes and a grungy old stuffed animal (their only plaything). So as they walk out past the discarded needles, human waste and dead rats, you become their entire world.
Social workers get their hearts broken every day - a six yr old girl sexually abused for the past 3 years, a boy with cigarette burns halfway up his arms, a baby dipped in scalding water to me him stop wandering, an infant shaken into a vegetative state because she wouldn't stop crying. They do this while getting little thanks from anyone.
So this is just my little way for thanking Joy and all the others who do what they do. I just want them to know that some of us see what they do and are left in awe at their sacrifice, diligence and tremendous hearts.
Thanks Joy.
7 comments:
Thank you Joy.
thank you, theresa.
Thank all three of you!
I agree. Social workers are very underappreciated. And when they get burned out...there are few resources for them. So many of them burn out...and change careers!
sometimes they run away and hide in blogland.
Thank you AC for reminding me that some people actually have jobs that count.
Thank you AC, for this thoughtful "Ode" you've written. It's good to know there are people out there who appreciate what social workers do. We're usually seen as the bad guys with the families that we work with. And so, I give you all my heartfelt thanks this.
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