Chris Said:

I am having a problem understanding what kind of ramifications this policy could create as far as ethical.?

We Answered:

I would say no based on the loose definition of "domestic violence". Often times people are convicted of minor domestic violence charges that are false or erroneous just because the law is written requiring a person to be arrested for the offense regardless of evidence. Alcohol related offenses are similar. Just because something happened one night that looks really bad to the outside worlds, isn't a reason to remove the child from their custody. The ramifications of foster families is often significantly worse than if they had stayed in their own parents care. If not from the foster parents, from exposure to the other foster children they may have, who often are involved in drugs, gangs, and much worse. This should always be on a case by case basis with the specific incidents being microscopically viewed on their merits.

Helen Said:

What can you tell me about social working?

We Answered:

I have a Masters Degree in Social Work (MSW) from Colorado State University and I worked as a professional social worker for about 30-years. I am now retired but I enjoyed being a social worker very much even though at times it was very hard work and challenging. I learned a lot about myself and the people whom I was privileged to help helped me much more than I had helped them.

The field of social work is very versatile and you have a lot of options; social workers have vertical mobility; that means they can move up and down the administrative ladder. They can be program coordinators, executive directors and even regional managers. I was once a Regional Coordinator with the State Health Department responsible for monitoring alcohol and drug abuse programs, and developing prevention programs, etc. My area of responsibility involved 60-counties. So with vertical mobility you can move up and down the administrative later, especially if you have an MSW. The only draw back to vertical mobility are the politics that you most likely will encounter and there may be a tendency to lose direct contact with patients and clients.

The other thing that social workers have is horizontal mobility; which means the ability to move from one population in need to another population in need. Horizontal mobility is often called “direct services,“ this is where you have the most client/patient contact. With and MSW you can get a license and go into private practice with just about any at-need population; private practice usually brings with it a much higher income.. But if you did not want to go into private practice you can work for other companies with a variety of populations; social workers work as substance abuse counselors, mental health counselors, they work with the developmentally disabled, or they may work in a hospital as a medical social worker, or at a school as a school social worker, and there are a lot more areas then this. Some populations are more stressful to work with than others. Social workers work with the elderly as well as children, teens, etc. But they are given the primary responsibility in investigating child abuse and elder abuse.

Rural social work, out away from the city, is a lot different than urban social work which is right in the city. In rural social work your office most of the time is your car because you have to do a lot of outreach, while in urban social work most of the time you have and office in a building where you meet people. As I said social work is a very versatile field and some people study a particular track while others may become a generalist. I was a generalist and did a little bit of everything that social work had to offer. For me variety was the spice of life and I had a lot of variety during my career. I enjoyed it very much; the money was not bad, and it was both emotionally and spiritually fulfilling.

P.S. With an MSW you can also be a college teacher and teach courses related to the social sciences.

Mattie Said:

Is the Teaching of Religion Really a Form of Child Abuse?

We Answered:

To tell them that God loves them? How is that abuse?

Greg Said:

Can a 14 year old refuse to attend a 2-week psychiatric program in favor of going to school to preserve grades?

We Answered:

In areas of behavioral health the person in question's rights are compromised. They are typically medically cleared by an ER physician/pa and then evaluated by an independent social worker who will talk to them and determine if that person is a threat to themselves or anyone else. If that person is a perceived threat then they either need to go voluntarily or involuntarily for treatment. A parent can not have their child forcefully committed unless there's proper reasoning and that reasoning needs to be proven by the social worker.

John Said:

What policies are in place in the world to prevent children in care achieving poor educational outcomes?

We Answered:

None. At any rate, whatever policy exists is not effective.