April 16, 2012 - Cabarrus County

The hours of operation listed on the Cabarrus County Department of SocialServices are Monday through Friday, 8 A.M. until 5 P.M. However, it is notuncommon for social workers and investigators to work beyond those listed hours toensure that the needs of families and children are met.Some examples of the level of commitment and dedication from the social workersand investigators in the Child Welfare Services Division are listed below:Child Protection Services (Intake and Assessments)Recently two investigators spent the entire night at a local police departmentassessing the needs of a family/children. The investigators purchased clothing andfood while simultaneously working to identify appropriate placements for thechildren in the family.Foster CareA social worker willingly spent several hours constructing a gen-o-gram regarding acase that involved several sets of parents and caregivers. The gen-o-gram helped thecourt and the Guardian Ad Litem Program to understand the relationshipconnections between the children, parents and caregivers.A social worker has consistently provided fruit, water and snacks during Child andFamily Team Meetings. This social worker has also provided complete meals forChild and Family Team Meetings that are held after 4 P.M. The social worker paysfor these snacks and meals predominately out of her/his own expenses.LINKSThe social worker has worked week-ends and after hours to provide innovativeexperiences and life skills for older children in foster care. Many of the children infoster care do not have the necessary social skills needed to function appropriatelyin society. As a result, an etiquette class will be offered for the month of January2012 as a LINKS event.In Home ServicesThe social workers that provide these services typically work around a family’sschedule. Many families are able to remain in tact due to the long unconventionalhours of work, services and methodologies that are provided by the social workers.Intensive Family Preservation ServicesThe social workers that provide these services are also able to keep many families intact due to the amount of time and services that are provided.Derrick Heath (Program Manager) best described the time and commitmentprovided by Child Welfare Services as the following:“…..this is not a nine to five job. This is a start to finish job.”Attachment number 1I-1Page 241