Topic 11: Questions for Class Discussion with DCF Worker! {by 12/12}
This week (12/12) we will have a guest speaker with 25+ years of experience working as a DCF worker. Thus, for this discussion blog simply list three questions that you would like to ask her. The purpose of this exercise is to simply “prime” your mind for class discussion with our DCF guest speaker. Your original post should be posted by the beginning of class 12/12. Replies are not required for this blog.
Dr. Adam M Volungis 
Dec 08, 2013 @ 20:32:44
1. Are there specific situations that come up often that are difficult to make a decision about (i.e., situations where abuse or neglect of the child is more difficult to determine than other situations)? What do you do in those cases?
2. If you could change one agency policy that you feel interferes with your ability to do the best job you can for families, what would it be and why?
3. As mental health workers, what do you think is most important for us to know or understand about DCF?
Dec 09, 2013 @ 18:49:21
1) Do you feel that DCF rules and regulations have changed for the better or for the worse over the past 10 years and why?
2) What are some key pieces of information that would be important to inform a parent that is being investigated by DCF?
3) How often when reports are investigated does the DCF worker find that the report is false upon having more information?
Dec 09, 2013 @ 19:24:58
1. What has kept you in the field for so long? Why?
2. Can you describe one case that you worked on that you would consider to be your biggest success.
3. What is one thing that you think mental health workers can do differently to help out DCF? Why?
Dec 09, 2013 @ 23:10:46
1) Let’s say that you had a child that was a previous subject of abuse from her mother, but now she is living primarily with her grandmother. Abuse is still occurring to the child by the mother because the grandmother is allowing mom and daughter to spend time together. Is grandmother just as much to blame for the abuse of the child or can she gain sole custody of the child if she promises to have the child remain with her and only her?
2) Can a child be removed solely on verbal abuse alone?
3) I hear of families being filed on multiple times from different sources, but every time they get filed on it gets screened out. Could you possible explain some reasons why this would occur?
Dec 09, 2013 @ 23:59:25
1. What do you think are some common misconceptions that mental health workers have about DCF and why?
2. What do you think is the hardest situation you’ve had to deal with or decision you’ve had to make in your career?
3. If you had to go back and do it over again, do you think you would choose the same career path? why or why not?
Dec 10, 2013 @ 17:03:15
1. Can you explain an example of one of the biggest obstacles/challenges that you have encountered during your years working for DCF?
2. What changes both positive and negative have you experienced when DSS transformed to DCF?
3. What do you consider the most rewarding aspect of working for DCF?
Dec 11, 2013 @ 17:31:46
(1) Several of the teenagers I have worked with in a residential setting have reported that their parents “kicked them out.” However, it is unclear in many of these cases if the teenagers ran away or if their parents told them they were not longer allowed to live at the home. Can a mental health professional file a report if a minor states that he or she has been kicked out of the house? Since these situations are not always clear-cut, is there a sort of system that helps guide these family dynamics/problems?
(2) How do you handle situations in which you discover that a child is homeless? What are some services that DCF can provide or set up for the family?
(3) As a clinical intern working at a therapetuic school, I have observed and filed a few reports for DCF. Are the majority of the reports you receive filed from professionals in the school system or is there another setting in which you receive frequent reports?
Dec 12, 2013 @ 01:28:03
1. I admire the work social service personnel do especially among difficult homes but I feel as though if I ever entered this career I would want to take every child I ran into home with me! When you visit particular homes frequently within neighborhoods of low socioeconomic levels or poverty, do you become attached to the children? Do you ever wish you could foster or adopt the children you work with?
2. I personally refer to myself as “being in touch with my emotions”. Luckily it hasn’t yet come out in my work with children. Have your emotions ever gotten the best of you in your work with children and families? What did you do? How did your clients react?
3. Sometimes I feel buried under the notes required for the clients I work with at my internship. What is your typical caseload like? Does it ever get overwhelming? What do you do to handle it all?
Dec 12, 2013 @ 09:13:15
1)What is involved with removing a child from the home (either placing the child in foster care or terminating parental rights?
2) How do mental health providers play a role in DCF involvement?
3)How do you manage to coordinate care for the families you serve?
Dec 12, 2013 @ 12:33:10
1) Do you find DCF to be as difficult of a job as most people say it is?
2) What do you find to be the best part of your job? The worst?
3) What would be your advice for someone who wanted to start working for DCF?
Dec 12, 2013 @ 14:31:47
1. Pleas explain in detail the process of supporting or unsupporting a 51A.
2. Why do some children remain in the home and other children get removed when parents are abusing substances?
3. What do you do when you have to reunify a family and think it will not end positively?
Dec 12, 2013 @ 15:50:10
1. What happens when a parent refuses to allow DCF in their home?
2. What are a couple of the major changes you have experienced throughout your years working for DCF?
3. After an initial visit or assessment supports involvement of DCF, what are the next steps taken?
Dec 12, 2013 @ 16:05:42
1. What is the most difficult case you have had to deal with?
2. What made it different from others?
3. Have you ever felt afraid or threatened with a client?
4. Do you think it’s appropriate for a person who does home visits to carry a concealed weapon?