I am an ex child safety worker, and so is my daughter in fact 2ic of the Queensland Children's Court which meant all care and protection cases passed my desk. Since the Carmody Report things have changed slightly in that they have stopped employing anyone with a degree. They now only appoint, people who have done the four year registered social workers or psychs. The problems are where people do not want teenagers living with them.
That poor little girl had no chance. These people scream abusers to me. It got soooo difficult with the outsourcing of the placement team. There is currently a placement team already within the org, which is overloaded and lacks placements.. Somebody f'd badly. My daughter and I have never lost a child. Resources are poor and underfunded. It is clear that society could care less about children and staff. It is one dysfunctional family which mimics and mirrors the people they work for.
Off hand I know of at least 10 workers including me who have PTSD from bad decision making. This includes my ex student who acted up - and the dept thought she could supervise me??? Weird. She caused my PTSD because she didn't contact the relevant authorities and Mental health who was looking for help in tracking the man down. I shake my head. I had a bloody student with me again too!!! over 40 years working within the system and I feel neglected friendless and alone, they got it all wrong and refused me workcover, so I wrote my own affidavit and provided real evidence of the issues I had to deal with it - took them to court and won my case, the union was useless.
I could have taken it further but was so drained by the way they dealt with me, it caused me further trauma. The settlement was quite inadequate given that they underestimated the damage, and I still suffer today 12 years later. That is what good social workers end up with. My daughter has moved on to disability which is much the same too much work and resources a depleting on a massive scale. Every time it gets brought up we get shut down. What a terrible org if you can't critique it. Be warned that the average age of an employee is only 8 months. That is all they do, train people up very young people up and then lose them without batting an eyelid.
My last student was a bit limited, is now an acting as a Manager in the west, She only just passed, in my estimation because she was so rigid. That is what was they way they worked. They don't really care. Ask me if you have any questions about the department. I wanted to write a paper on it in the middle for a masters degree which was ready for completion fully supported by my supervisor at Uni, but alas I was unable to complete my degree, but am having second thoughts.
yours sincerely Gecko 100.
