Sunday, August 31, 1997
Adopt-a-Caseworker Involves Community in Child
Protective Services
By BETH HALLMARK / Abilene Reporter-News
Few caseworkers who work with abused and neglected children
don't at some point reach into their own pockets to buy something
for a needy client.
Although Children's Protective Services caseworkers strive
to find other resources for the families they serve, those items
can be hard to track down and clients' needs are not always predictable.
"Say you go into a home, find abuse and neglect, and have
to remove the kids," said Jana McMullen, volunteer services
coordinator with the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory
Services. "All they come out of there with is the diaper
they have on and maybe a bottle you picked up on the way out.
Usually, there is not the availability to gather what you need
or the family doesn't have it to begin with."
Because that type of situation can happen in the middle of
the night -- and often does -- or at a time of day when a check
can't be signed, the caseworker supplies the needed items.
But a new volunteer program being coordinated by Community
Partners of Abilene offers another option.
Adopt-A-Caseworker will match each Taylor County CPS caseworker
with a community group that will serve as a one-stop resource
for the caseworker to call on. The idea behind the program is
to meet the needs of abused and neglected children and families
in crisis through service to caseworkers.
To date, two caseworkers have been adopted, both by the Junior
League of Abilene, which sponsors the Community Partners project.
Another adoption by the Aldersgate United Methodist Church men's
group is pending.
And the work has already begun.
The Junior League is trying to locate baby furniture for a
family on adopted caseworker Cyndi Reed's caseload. The baby beds
are for 7-month-old twins who are now sleeping on a mattress on
the floor. The group has already located car seats for another
adopted caseworker.
"It's nice to have the League to turn to," Reed said.
"It makes me feel good because maybe we do have the chance
of getting these families' needs met."
The wish list for clients is made up of everyday items -- diapers,
baby formula, food, children's clothes, toys, uniforms for Cub
and Girl Scouts, eyeglasses, medications and school supplies.
Though some of the items can be acquired through local charitable
groups, locating and obtained the goods takes time.
"It becomes a lot of running around, calling on the phone,
finding a place that can do it," McMullen said. "That
takes away from time to do casework."
With an adoptive group, the caseworker can make one phone call
and the sponsor agency will do the legwork.
ÔA lot of times abuse and neglect happen because of stressors
placed on a family," McMullen said. "And a lot of times
it has to do with financial status. (Parents) don't have the means
to provide the basic things their family needs."
The Junior League has set up small cash accounts for its adopted
caseworkers to provide the extra help some clients require.
One of the caseworkers used the group's funds to pay for a
client's driver license so he could look for a job. The League's
funds were also used to buy a bus pass for a client who needed
a ride to work and shoes for a teen-age client who needed them
for her job.
The caseload
According to figures from the Texas Department of Protective
and Regulatory Services, more than 500 suspected cases of child
abuse and neglect were investigated in Taylor County last year.
Of that number, about 200 were confirmed.
Children between the ages of 1 and 3 made up the largest group
of victims.
Most of Taylor County's 1996 cases involved neglectful supervision,
but physical and sexual abuse were also confirmed in about one-third
of the cases.
More than 5,000 children were determined to be at-risk of abuse
and neglect in Taylor County last year.
Learning more about the problem of abuse and neglect is another
aspect of the Adopt-A-Caseworker program.
"Our eyes have been opened," said Junior League member
Shari Dozier. "We all tend to live in our own little niche
and do our own thing, and we don't know all of this is happening
in Abilene, in every city."
Adopt-A-Caseworker is the first project of the newly formed
Community Partners of Abilene. The organization is a collaborative
effort between the Taylor County Child Protective Services Board
and the Junior League of Abilene to benefit abused and neglected
children.
Dallas County organized the first Community Partners project
in Texas in 1989. The concept has since spread statewide. The
Junior League of Abilene voted earlier this year to take part.
After establishing Adopt-A-Caseworker, Community Partners'
next goal will be to set up a stock room of supplies caseworkers
may need.
Protective services
Taylor County has 17 CPS caseworkers who handle cases ranging
from abuse and neglect investigation to family preservation to
removing children from homes where they are in danger. Hours are
rarely from 8 to 5, and workers are often called out in the middle
of the night.
"It's really a very hard and stressful job, and they deserve
a lot more help," Dozier said. "Mostly, no one else
I know would go into the conditions they go into at the time of
day or night they have to go."
Dozier is confident adopting groups will be found for all of
the caseworkers. And then those groups can begin gathering items
such as toys and clothes to help brighten a young child's life.
"Little things like that mean a lot to these kids,"
Dozier said.
<I>For more information on Adopt-A-Caseworker, call Jana
McMullen at 738-3213. The program will be featured on "KTXS
Presents" at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, cable channel 4.<I>
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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