Casework can be very demanding at times. It’s also a broad profession in terms of the situations and expectations that social workers come across.

Despite it being a challenging field, it’s also one of the fasting growing ones here in the US. This is mainly due to the high demand for caseworkers globally to counter a growing shortage, especially here in the US.

And while social services case management software can help manage the caseload to a certain extent, caseworkers need certain traits also.

Casework can be very rewarding. So naturally, as you study hard and get through tough exams and finally get to practice—you’re going to be pretty excited. And you should be because you’ll be making a real difference in people’s lives and helping them turn things around on a daily basis.

But you’ll soon find out that social work is one of the toughest jobs out there. Not only because there are real people and emotions involved, but also because it’s demanding work.

From long working hours to massive caseloads, here are a few ways to manage your early years as a caseworker.

A Caseworker's Christmas Card

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Oh, That I Might...

Be the Adult

Remember the Forgotten

Heal the Abused

Bring Homeless Home

Feel the Fear

Be Hope in Despair

Free the Imprisoned Spirit

Redeem Relapse

Feed Souls

Touch the Lonely

Venerate the Aged

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"And if I cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that I should leave my work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy...

For if I bake bread with indifference, I bake a bitter bread, that feeds but half man’s hunger."

~ "Work" by Kahlil Gibran

 

Peace in 2022

Most social workers feel enthusiastic and passionate about their work at the beginning of their careers. However, as the years roll by, the spark dies—or rather drowns in the piles of paperwork due, thanks to overwhelming caseloads.  This is only natural given that there is a serious shortage of social workers in the US.  And it’s estimated that this shortage will grow into quite a national crisis by 2030. This increases the caseload per worker and makes human services case management much harder.

We were surprised by the results of our recent mini-poll, when we asked six case workers serving our elder population what they considered the most pressing current problem elders are facing. 3 out of 6 (50%) said, "internet scams". Internet scams?! What’s going on now? What kind of scoundrel would cheat the elderly out of the last of their nest egg?

Case workers tell us that the shameful practice of scamming seniors is on the rise. With the elderly population growing, seniors racked up more than $3 billion in losses this past year. Case workers say that the heart-breaking irony of elder fraud is that seniors are targeted because they tend to be trusting and polite.

We are taught as children that we can trust our parents, our teachers, our religious leaders, the police, the mayor, and the President of the United States. It is their duty to care for us, to mean us well, and to do only good. We can trust them; until we can’t.

Case workers in Juvenile Justice have long been concerned about a subversive movement in the back halls of Congress and many state houses to erase any distinction between young offenders and adult criminals. As recently as the 1990s almost all 50 states overhauled their juvenile justice laws, allowing more youths to be tried as adults and scrapping long-time protections to help rehabilitate delinquent kids and prevent future crimes. Only ignorance of the history of juvenile justice in United States could be responsible for a now subdued but continued movement to “simplify” criminal justice by merging juveniles and adults together in the eyes of the law. May we take a moment to remind everyone how our juvenile justice system evolved to its present effective state.

Paperwork is a dirty word in social services. Social work is not about keeping records, it’s about “hands-on” interpersonal contact with abused children, single parents, the neglected elderly, the abandoned homeless, and other vulnerable populations. As you might suspect, as social work became a more integral part of our society’s fabric, our social workers have been swamped by a virtual paperwork tsunami.

We recently talked to a child and family services case worker in Phoenix, Arizona who, contrary to popular opinion, shed a positive light on all this confounded paperwork.

While singing the praises of our dedicated case workers during the coronavirus pandemic, I have received numerous inquiries from readers who do not know what case workers do in hospital and post-care settings. Apparently, the critical role of medical social workers is not clear to the general public. I thought it best, therefore, to let them speak for themselves.

Social workers practice in schools, hospitals, psychiatric clinics, juvenile courts, prisons, police departments, and a range of other settings. Current practice demands collaboration between social workers and the professionals who dominate these agencies. But the Covid-19 Pandemic has presented case workers with a variety of new challenges.