New Job: Saving the World

So, for those of you who don't know, I work for a state agency called Child Protective Services. For the past year and a half I worked with families whose children are currently in foster care in the hopes of reuniting families, if possible. Although I absolutely loved working with the kids on my case load, I didn't have much patience for the parents. I was understanding of the bad situation these families came from (usually) but what I couldn't fathom was the lack of effort And concern most of the parents put forth in working services and regaining custody of their kids. It was simple in my mind, this is where we are-the beginning, a fresh start-now is the time to put on our big girl panties and deal with this situation like adults. Or don't. But don't waste my time or worse, your kids'. I had a hard time biting my tongue when parents gave me excuse after excuse for why they haven't done services or made appropriate changes in their lives. I was as blunt and honest as possible with my clients while maintaining my professionalism (which was extremely challenging at times) but this became extremely stressful for me. After a lot of contemplating and soul searching I decided to apply for a CPS Investigator position. This was a hard choice to make because of the potential emotional stress involved in being an investigator (high turnover rate, emotionally charged situations, listening to and witnessing evdence of horrific abuse and neglect as well as quite a bit of on-call hours) but I knew that I would not be able to hold back my anger and frustration with the parents forever. Being an investigator, I will only be involved with the family for about 30 days, depending on the situation whereas before I worked with a family for a year to 18 months. I will no longer be spoon feeding the parents services or listening to them tell me why their paramour is appropriate even though the paramour is often the perpetrator. After reading the intake report I will investigate allegations and come to a conclusion on the disposition (Ruled Out, Reason to Believe, Unable to Determibe). This is an over-simplified explanation but it gets the point across. I am currently in Austin for Investigation training. I am here this whole week and next week and toward the end of the month as well. So far I have learned a ton of information (feel like my brain is going to explode) and everything is very interesting!! I can't wait to finish and get out in the field! Ok, time to watch my shows! Goodnight! -J. Pin It