Pathway to Social Work

Good day my fellow bloggers,

First and foremost I would like to state this first week of school has been very stressful…maybe I just been out of practice with summer and all.

So let’s get to it…

Social work definitely found me.  I like to say it all started when I was laid off and I moved back home (well where my mother lived).  I was working for Intel Corporation for six years and when jobs where being transferred to other place; I got a nice severance package and took a year off.  When it was time to look for work I could not find a job so I moved to Crescent City. 

Before I moved I applied for a job with the county was not the first pick for the job and was called stating I did not get the job.  Fortunately for me the person they hired did not work out and I was called back for an interview and I got the job!  I started out as a legal clerk for child welfare.  Well, that is the official title of the job but I basically did anything they really asked of me.  Boyfriend just moved from Nebraska to be with me (Yes we met online, we are now married for six years and have two wonderful kids) he was unable to find a job in this rural area.  We decided to move to Eureka for better employment options for him.   I do have an AA in business and it was easy for me to find a job.  I found a job with a construction company.  Two days after I left Child Welfare I was begging for my old job back. =(

No luck getting the job back.  I decided to quit my job and look for something else.  We moved back to Crescent City and I became an assistant manager for US Bank in Crescent City.  Well two years later and vigilant scoping of jobs with Del Norte County specifically in Child Welfare I was hired back as the legal clerk (with a huge pay cut which I was willing to take to go back to a job I loved).

I worked as a legal clerk for six months and then they opened a job as a training social worker (specifically for me to get case management experience) in Adult Protective Services.   I worked in APS/In home supportive services (IHSS) for three years.  Moved up the ladder and have obtained Social Worker III status.

Then one day I went to a meeting where Humboldt State was presenting a new program called Pathways.  Pathways is grant program where they will pay for people currently working for Child Welfare or people that are working for a Tribal government to go back to school with a commitment in the end.  Similar to CALswec program that was spoke about in our orientation earlier this week.  I had to choose between staying with APS or moving to CPS and receive a college education that I could not afford on my own due to family obligations.  I moved to Child Welfare for the betterment in my professional career.

Currently I have worked for the last year and a half in Child Welfare as a social worker in the ongoing court unit with a wide array of cases, from reunification services, to family maintenance cases, or guardianships. I absolutely love my job.  The best part of being a social worker is empowering families and becoming their cheerleader and giving them hope. Without hope we have nothing…