Child Welfare Specialist
Summary
Investigate cases and find supportive homes for abused or neglected kids.
What does a Child Welfare Specialist do?
The fast-paced position of a child welfare specialist offers you the opportunity to positively affect children’s lives. A child welfare specialist is the voice and the guardian of the child. This means that you place the child in a suitable environment, supervise care through home visits, and ensure adequate medical care and schooling. It also means you make tough decisions for the child such as whether to remove him from his home.
Whether a baby is born to a drug-using mother or a child is found wandering the neighborhood, you receive the call when a child is in danger. You arrange to pick the child up and place her in a shelter or foster home where she can receive warmth, food, and comfort. Sometimes the child’s situation is temporary and she is allowed to return home. Other times, arrangements are made for her long-term care. This means interviewing potential foster and adoptive families, scheduling visitations, and representing the child in all court proceedings.
Once the child is housed in a stable environment, you ensure her continued safety and welfare by connecting her family to the resources available to them. This means you evaluate the need for food, shelter, or therapy assistance, set up appointments, and confirm that the family follows through. In this way you aid the family in providing well-rounded support for the child.
Other aspects of this job include updating client files, preparing court reports, investigating potential neglect cases, and managing volunteers.
