Making a CASE for these frontline WORKERS.
We can all agree that kids belong in families. Case managers not only believe it, they live it. Treating 43 case managers for lunch recently at the Coop, we learned more of the local crisis right now - kids coming into foster care and literally having nowhere for them to go. Or sleep. Or belong. Many are teens, siblings and sometimes young kiddos, too.
Sometimes, case managers have to sacrifice time away from their own families to figure out how to shift kids from offices to hotel rooms to 8 hour emergency placements in other foster homes already at capacity.
That is the grim reality of child welfare in central FL over the last year. Not being able to find families for kids has led to our case workers carrying an incredibly heavy burden: emotionally, physically and mentally. It’s just too much. Burnout and position turnover is at it’s highest rate ever for case managers. In a county that is supposed to have 30 case managers, they literally have 6. This forces the normal case load of 15-20 cases to increase by 80%, a dangerously high level even for the very best case manager.
A recent study by Walden University found "the chance of achieving permanency (reunification or adoption) decreased from 74.5% to 12.5% after foster care youth received a case worker change.” So this means when a case worker quits and a new one is assigned, the likelihood of that child either going back to their biological family or being adopted or reunified drops to 12.5% meaning more kids in care will age out of the system without a family.
And for those, the stats get worse. Those who age out without a family have what can feel like an impossible mountain to climb.
-Over 60% get caught up in sex trafficking
-Over 50% of the prison system population come from the foster system
-50% of the homeless population has spent time in foster care
-65% of girls who age out become pregnant within 2 years
Our caseworkers are the real heroes. They’re on the front lines and are sometimes the last line of defense keeping vulnerable children safe.
We recently invited some of them to lunch. Just to thank them, encourage them and let them know that they’re making a difference even though they are overworked, underpaid and emotionally drained.
They NEED to know they are seen, appreciated and valued as they daily do what it takes in one of the most difficult jobs out there.
If you’d be interested in sending a note of encouragement to one of these amazing people, email aturton@c127.org and we will contact you on how to be a light to our social workers.
