Negative Experiences
This paper is about my experiences and the things that I will take away from this class. Since it is a reflection I will be open and honest about how I truly feel participating in this class in the Human Services Program. This is a writing intensive course that is required I take to graduate. I do not believe what this course holds are necessarily needed to become a human services professional. I am currently a social worker for Child Protective Services Investigations unit and not once has an evaluation been a necessary part of my job or any social workers job as far as I know. Many of us do not plan on going into the human resources side of the field and I feel there should be a choice for students in which classes they should choose. I feel a class on documentation would suffice for this class as it is supposed to be highly detailed but holds students accountable on skills they need to develop before joining the human services profession. Evaluating workers on their jobs without students being able to experience those jobs does not hold the same amount of merit that a retired social worker would. What I mean by this is that this evaluation was not very helpful as I, a student, do not have the experience to judge another agency from. I was able to conduct an evaluation of the agency of my choosing. The agency I chose is a county over from the one I currently work for. Even though I completed my evaluation and obtained a large amount of information from them, I do not feel it was effective as I only have two years of human services experience under my belt. I just feel my results were not what they needed to be as I do not have very much experience in this field. There were some great things that came out of this class, and I learned a lot about evaluations, but this class would have been better used to learn how to document effectively.
Positive Experiences
This class has taught me what an evaluation is, who are stakeholders, and what goes into an evaluation process. I have learned different research methods and was able to choose my preferred method. The planning process helped me to not become overwhelmed and work step by step, which was very helpful in the end. I was able to keep my information organized and learn about the agency a bit more than I knew before. This evaluation has given me a better opportunity to make connections and find a support system in a different locality. Evaluations are meant to keep agencies running efficiently and effectively. This must be measured every so often to make sure agencies still qualify for funding. My director fights for workers daily to get raises for themselves, and grants put in place to help better serve client’s needs. Evaluations can highlight both the good and bad in an agency without bias.
In this class I have found research to be very beneficial to my own insight on my chosen career. Granted research can be very time-consuming and is not very popular by most but proves to be so valuable. I learned that many social workers feel the same way as I do for the lack of protection and high volume of constant with daily tasks. Agencies are constantly understaffed and in need of more workers. Research has shown this is due to the high turnover rate. The cause for the high turnover rate in the vicarious or second hand trauma experienced by workers and the high amount of danger workers face. It is no secret that social workers are not welcomed into homes with open arms, and many have been murdered by the families they are trying to help. When it comes to the job, unfortunately, we are not permitted to have anything to keep ourselves safe in the field and are unable to defend ourselves unless there is we are cornered with no way to escape. We are basically in the hands of our clients, and they are often unkind. Being a social worker is not a popular job, but it is vital and important for the safety and well-being of the clients we serve.
In conclusion, this writing intensive course would better serve as a documentation course as in this field it is the most important skill to have. I learned a large amount about evaluations and if I need that information I will have it. I feel this course could have gone better if it was a bit more focused on what students will be walking into straight out of college and not what they may achieve later after a large amount of experience in an agency.
Resources
Molakeng, M. H., Truter, E., & Fouché, A. (2021). Resilience of child protection social workers:
a scoping review. European Journal of Social Work, 1–23.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13691457.2021.1901660
Toros, K. (2021b). Children’s Participation in Decision Making From Child Welfare Workers’
Perspectives: A Systematic Review. Research on Social Work Practice,
104973152098484. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731520984844
Toros, K., DiNitto, D. M., & Tiko, A. (2018). Family engagement in the child welfare system: A
scoping review. Children and Youth Services Review, 88, 598–607.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.03.011
Abrams, L. S., & Dettlaff, A. J. (2020). Voices from the Frontlines: Social Workers Confront the
COVID-19 Pandemic. Social Work. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swaa030