My Volunteer Experience with Robeson County Department of ...



Sharon Cummings

Volunteer Experience Paper

University of North Carolina at Pembroke

My Volunteer Experience with Robeson County Department of Social Services

Introduction

My name is Sharon Cummings. As a Social Work student I volunteered 40 hours to Robeson County Department of Social Services. This was a great experience for me to observe how individuals and social workers work together to achieve goals. My supervisor was Miss Teresa Billings. Miss Billings has her degree in social work from Shaw University, and a master’s degree in Mental Health from Webster’s University. Miss Billings has been a case manager for seven years at Department of Social Services (DSS).

Although Miss Billings was my supervisor, the social worker I shadowed was Mrs. Anita Robertson. Robertson has been employed at DSS for two years. Robertson obtained her degree from University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW). During my time with DSS I became acquainted with the staff in Child Protective Services (CPS) were I did my observations; they were very pleasant people to work with.

Mission Statement for DSS

The mission for DSS states “The mission of the agency is to provide progressive, professional services that promote self-sufficiency and enhance the quality of life for all citizens”. The mission for Child Protective Services (CPS) states “The family support and child welfare services section is committed to provide family centered services to children and families to achieve well-being through ensuring self-sufficiency, support, safety, and permanence”.

Services Provided

The Department of Social Services offers a variety of services for individuals with different needs. Some of the services offered are: cash, medical, substance abuse assessments and referrals, first stop registration, family planning, daycare services, medical transportation, foster care and adoptions, adult services, low-income energy assistance program, and child protective services.

The Department of Social Services provides assistance for the entire Robeson County area. The individuals being serviced may live in the city limits or in rural areas. The agency (DSS) provides services to a diversity of individuals. The clients that are serviced at DSS are Caucasians, African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics and some Asians. The clients are male and female, and age range from birth, pre-school, adolescent, adulthood, middle age and old age (basically from birth until death).

The income levels of the clients are from low-income, middle-income, and high-income. In order to receive services from the agency individuals must go to DSS and apply. Individuals applying for services need to show some proof of income-age-kinship/living with-residence-assets – resource-citizenship – alien status- identity-comply with mutual responsibility agreement-must cooperate with child support.

Social Worker roles at DSS

I would like to give some insight into what exactly some of these programs offer. Child Protect Services (CPS) is services that protect children from any harm that may arise. The child is first and foremost the main issue in any type of situation. First the social worker will investigate the situation and visit the home of the child who is in need of protecting and, in some cases who ever the child is living with may have to attend parenting sessions to be able to keep that child in the environment. The goal is to try and keep the families together to prevent the child from entering into foster care. Social Workers may sometimes move the child from an unsafe environment and place the child in a safer environment; the main goal is to provide the best quality care for the child. Adult Services is providing protecting services to disabled adults who are alleged abused or neglected, or exploited. Child Care Services provides funding for day care services for families unable to afford such care. Medicaid and Special Assistance programs provides assistance to the aged, blind, disabled family and children, long term care, and N.C.Health Programs. The Special Assistance program is not Mecaid but all recipients automatically receive Medicaid benefits.

Work first and Temporary Assistance for Needed Families (TANAF) is a plan to help families move off of welfare and into jobs. Work First is based on the premise that parents have a responsibility to support themselves and their children.

Food and Nutrition Services is a federal program that is offered thru United States Department of Agricultural (USDA) to help provide food purchases for low-income families on monthly allotments. Program Integrity is responsible for recovering funds that people had received due to fraud. Low Income Energy Assistance Programs is federal funding to help eligible families on a cash one-time base pay their heating bills.

Child Support Enforcement is to ensure that noncustodial parents support their children. Crisis Intervention Program is federally funding that provides assistance to low-income house-holds that are in a heating or cooling related emergency. Most of these programs are federally funding.

Agency Budget

The agencies budget in July 2008 was $335, 602, 36. The Fiscal Administration is responsible for preparing the agency’s budget, filing for State and Federal reimbursements, applying and interpreting fiscal policy, and day to day monitoring of expenditures and revenues.

The members of the Fiscal Unit are responsible for paying Work First expenditures, Foster Care payments, and Day Care payments. The Fiscal Unit manages 75 trust accounts, writing more than 3,000 checks per year. With General Funds they make over 5,000 payments to local vendors for services from transportation to utilities. Subsidy services are a combination of State Block Grants and Smart Start funding which varies from year to year. Depending on allocations and spending levels determine whether or not there is a waiting list. Also, the agency receives money from programs such as Health Choice fees, Adoption fees, and Integrity payments.

Involvement

As a volunteer at DSS I attended various meetings. I attended a meeting in effort to receive monetary compensation from employees for The United Way. I attended another meeting about gang lives. This meeting was to inform Social Workers that gangs were in their midst as they perform their daily duties in society. Also, I attended a meeting about Social Security Administration. The Social Worker and I did one on one direct contact home visits in the community and, we also did home visit attempts (this is when the S.W. visits the home and the client is not there). I have read and observed the policy book. I have also observed the Social Worker log the mileage to and from transport and, observed hand written documentations from the Social Worker. I have toured Juvenile Services including the clerk’s office, holding cell, court room, and the court counseling office. This was an interesting experience, because I was not aware of how serious Juvenile Services could be.

As a volunteer at DSS I feel that all individuals should be treated equal no matter what their race or ethnics may be. Every individual has their way of expressing themselves as to what they want out of life. Some of these clients may need resources to attain a better life and, the only access they have is thru Social Workers. I had to sign a confidentiality form from DSS to assure that what I may encounter would be kept disclosed. I really believe that all information shared by the Social Worker and the client should be kept in confidentiality. These clients are sharing information with Social Workers that they would not share with no one else. Most of the time these clients are really sincere people that may have experienced horrible situations that may have led them to the aide of social services.

The Robeson County Department of Social Services is effective in meeting the clients goals considering all the paper work the Social Workers have to deal with. The agencies strengths are meeting the needs for clients in a timely manner. The agency has worked diligently to meet all mandates, guild lines and goals set by State and Federal Government. The agencies weakness are all the high case loads, Federal and State mandates which makes it hard for the Social Worker to handle all the paper work and community visits. Most Social Workers work after hours, on weekends, and literally bring their jobs home to get ahead on their documentations and community visits.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed my observations with DSS. I realize there are many people faced with different dilemmas and these individuals should be treated the same as any other person. I feel it is important to follow the roles of a Social Worker such as the Enabler, Broker, Activist, Mediator Negotiator, Educator, Initiator, Empowerer, Coordinator, Researcher, Group Facilitator, and Public Speaker to make the client feel that as a Social Worker you are doing all that you can do to successfully meet their priorities. It is important to be on a one to one basis with the client assuring them that their goals will be met in a timely manner. As a future Social Worker I would like to be able to provide services to clients in hope that their lives would be much better improved.

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