What is the job of a Social Worker??

 I was inspired to write this after being made aware that a behavioral science professional was unaware of the role of a social worker. Social Workers have one of the most diverse roles in the behavioral sciences. 

"Social work is the professional activity of helping individuals, groups, or communities enhance or restore their capacity for social functioning and creating societal conditions favorable to this goal. Social work practice consists of the professional application of social work values, principles, and techniques to one or more of the following ends.

1. people obtain tangible services

2.providing counseling and psychotherapy to individuals, families, and groups

3.helping communities or groups provide or improve social and health services

4. participating in relevant legislative processes

Social Workers work in a variety of settings including schools, hospitals, mental health clinics, senior centers, elected office, private practices, prisons, military, and corporations as well as a variety of other public and private agencies that serve individuals and families in need. According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Social Work is one of the fastest growing careers in the United States."

(citation: http://www.uvu.edu/besc/bsw/) 

An individual with a bachelors degree in Social Work is one of the few behavioral science bachelors degrees that has a license, the SSW (Service Social Worker) License.  This means that when getting a BSW degree, you'll have a job waiting for you, which isn't the case with other degrees in the behavioral sciences.  So a student that gets a bachelors degree in psychology has limited job openings in their field, but a Social Worker has a myriad of choices waiting for them when they get their bachelors degree and then is still able to go further and get their masters degree and perform counseling for clients.  

In order to get a SSW license, the individual has to have 2000 supervised hours, a bachelors degree in social work, and pass the licensing exam.  While getting a bachelors degree, students volunteer, work, and intern in many different settings, to assess which area they would like to apply their skills and to gain experience in their chosen field.  I know many of my classmates who are currently working in substance abuse facilities, troubled youth, and facilities that work with individuals that have developmental delays.  

I was lucky enough to volunteer in a setting that has a setting that mirrors what I want to work with.  I hopefully will be lucky enough to work with either children and families involved in foster care, or child victims of abuse.  I have a tough skin. I am able to be compassionate to the plights of children and want to help them, to see the need that is there and do what I can to help things to improve.  I feel empathy for individuals, but I do well at not letting things not eat away at me. 

I have one more year of classes, and then one year of an internship that will cover most of my 2000 hours, that is of course if I get accepted into the BSW program at my school.  The Bachelors of Social Work Program is a program that you have to be accepted into.  There is a resume, which includes professional, educational, and volunteer experience, there is a 2 page personal statement on why you are choosing social work, your strengths and limitations for this field, 2 letters of reference, school transcripts and a smidgen of other criteria.  I just finished my application for the BSW program tonight and get to turn it in tomorrow...so wish me luck <3

Working with what you've got

I am a nontraditional student in many senses of the word. I waited ten years to go back to school, I have four children, and now..I also work while going to school. I haven't published on facebook where I work. I feel that it is a lowly job for someone who has gone to school for three years, has four kids, and is over thirty.

I applied to many jobs before I took the one that I currently have.  I knew with having morning classes that I could only work nights. I applied for a position in a girls facility at the local Mental Health facility.  I got a call back from the mental health facility and they wanted me if I could work Sunday mornings. With four children at home, the youngest only five years old, and a husband who works weekends, I was not able to take the job.  After the job being receded, I was frustrated, I wanted this job for experience, and because this was Exactly the age group that I want to work with when I am finished with school. I originally gave up on my job search.

When I came to my husband a few months back and talked with him about study abroad programs that my school was facilitating, he was completely on board.  There were two study abroad programs that were in my area of study.  Only one of the programs provided credit for my program, study abroad to Guatemala.  I knew that we would not be able to afford the program without additional funds, so I reentered the job search.  I applied to positions at four places, a restaurant as a waitress, housekeeping job at a local hospital and two other positions.  The email reply from the housekeeping position was that I was not qualified to clean their facility. That was a low blow. Low enough to send me looking at fast food.

So I took what I could get, I applied to the McDonald's location closest to my home and started working the day after I turned in my application.  Fast food happens to be the one venue that works with the availability of their employees, and not around their client's schedules', or making employees fit around each other (which was the problem with two of the previous employer's that I turned in my application).

So I swallowed my pride, I am working fast food, saving for Guatemala, and making a small contribution to the bills that we have. When something is important to you, you take what you can get to achieve your goals. I know my limitations, and I know that my children will not be young forever.  I am sure that I will be able to work in a facility for adolescents before I know it, I just have to give Jesse a bit longer to get older, and the other children some more time to mature to be able to be home by themselves for a Sunday morning.