Have you wondered what a typical day of work is like for a social worker in Child Protective Services (CPS)?
Thanks to Brock Venture*, who has been in the field for 15 years, and kindly agreed to be interviewed, this post will provide you with an idea of what social work in child welfare is like.
You will also have the opportunity to learn what types of questions you might expect on an interview for a CPS position.
Brock, let’s start with a bit of background. Could you tell us what is your current position? And what does this entail?
Currently I am a CPS Screening supervisor in a large East Coast City. I am part of a team of three supervisors, and we supervise 15 staff members (Screeners). To be a supervisor you need to be a licensed MSW.
Our staff are considered caseworkers- some are BSWs, some are MSWs without license, some simply have a BA in a human service discipline. We are what is referred to as the “Child Abuse Hotline.” We take in phone calls, letters, e-mails, walk-ins regarding allegations of child maltreatment.
We gather the information, often while performing crisis intervention as many of callers are very escalated and upset. We then have to assess and process the information and take a course of action- Is it an immediate emergency, and we need to call 911 and get a priority CPS response?
Does it even meet threshold for CPS investigation? Do they simply need services via Family Preservation, or just community referrals? Is it information to a worker on an active case? Or do we just document the call and screen it out? Lots of internal decisions to make, too- does it go to the Sex Abuse unit? Or the Committed Child (kids in foster care) unit?
This means we also have to do background checks, search for open cases, look at criminal records, etc. We are also an information clearing house for community and interally- since we route all new referrals, we have to know how the system works, who to talk to, who runs what, etc.
So we get calls regarding internal processes all the time. Our callers are the entire community- other professionals, cops, neighbors, spouses, kids themselves, etc. The service is 24-7, I help run the day shift.
What is a typical day like for you at your job?
Busy!! We average over 100 contacts per day, and despite having a staff of 15 due to leave, sick days, etc, we have on average about 10 staff in on any given day.
As a supervisor I have to monitor the calls and staff performance via a call center computer system, (how many calls each worker takes, how long are they on break, etc), review, proofread, and approve all referrals in our data system, consult with workers to make referral decisions.
Also, I consult with upper management especially in regards to child deaths and media involved cases, consult with internal supervisors and workers regarding process questions, intervene with angry clients, first line of contact for all client complaints, and handle routine personnel issues as well such as sick leave requests, time sheets, performance reviews, etc.
So it can be quite hectic- but the good thing about Screening is you can leave it at work at the end of the day. No ongoing cases to work or monitor- just lots of decisions right up front, lots of information sharing, then you get to go home and not worry about the case, as someone else is working it.
Are social workers typically provided with good training at CPS?
Depends much upon the agency! In Maryland, all DSS child welfare workers have to attend a mandatory Child Welfare Academy, which I believe runs for 6 weeks now.
It is useful, but more generalist in training. The bulk of what you learn is OTJ [on the job], so after Academy, your experience can vary quite a great deal locality to locality, even supervisor to supervisor.
What are the aspects of your work that you enjoy the most?
I love being able to educate and assist clients, internally as well as community. In Screening you get to explain how the system works, and arrange for a smoother interaction between systems- which is not as easy as it sounds!!
Screening is where the intervention starts – and I take pride in being able to have staff that set a good tone for the services we will be providing.
What are the parts of your work that you find most challenging? And what are the strategies that you employ to cope those challenges?
Challenge is in keeping up with numbers and stats for upper management while maintaining high quality work. Shorter hold times, less dropped calls, etc are always big priorities. But you don’t want that at the expense of rush job assessments, curt service, missing crucial details, etc.
Frequent meetings as group and individuals, brainstorming sessions, listening to workers about their challenges, devising streamlining systems from ground up – that is what helps.
Could you share a typical case example with a client?
With child in school:
“Hello, I’m Mr. Venture, a social worker with Child Protective Services.
Do you know what a social worker is? Do you know what CPS is? (engage in a quick conversation about that).
My job is to make sure kids are safe in their homes with whoever is taking care of them. Someone was worried about you, and I was asked to come make sure you’re OK.
I’m going to ask you alot of questions- if you don’t want to answer, or don’t know the answer, that’s OK. You also don’t have to talk to me if you don’t want to.”
After conversing about that- sometimes a kid does leave, usually an older teen with much experience with CPS. Sometimes younger kids want the guidance counselor or teacher to sit in- that’s OK, too.
Typical questions: Who do you live with, how old are they, their names, where do you live, who usually watches you and your siblings, what do you eat at home, how often, who cooks it, who feeds the baby, what’s the longest you’ve been left alone and what happens when you get into trouble.
Also, what’s a typical day like for you, what’s the best thing about your family, the worst things, are you ever scared at home, what makes you scared, have you ever been hurt really bad, how did that happen, do you visit people like relatives alot, who are they, are there any adults besides your parents that care for your, etc.
It really helps to have multiple siblings in investigations that are verbal so you can cross-reference information. You also have to gauge age and developmental level with asking questions.
“WHO CALLED YOU !!! DID YOU TAKE MY KIDS!!!” are often the typical first responses.
“I’m sorry, we aren’t allowed to tell you who called- but I can tell you what was called in. And please understand- that doesn’t mean I believe it, I just have to make sure everyone safe, and if some of it is true we work together to make sure things are OK.
And I have not taken your children- I did already speak to them in school today, and based on what they said I have no reason to take them. I just need to talk to you so you know what was said about you, what your rights are, and what CPS is going to do to so we can help you and get out of your hair.
You don’ have to talk to me, you’re welcome to call an attorney if you want- but I really do just want to resolve this quickly and safely for all of us.”
Moving onto another topic, could you share with us a few targeted questions that only a social worker interviewing for a child welfare position might expect to encounter?
- “Have you ever had any experiences yourself that may affect how you interact with abused children? If so, please explain.”
- “How do you feel you would handle clients getting very angry with you, even threatening you?”
- “How do you feel about physical discipline?”
- “How would you handle enforcing a law you disagree with?”
- “How would you handle allowing clients to engage in legal behavior that may not be in the best interest of themselves or child, but you cannot legally stop them?”
- “Describe your time management skills, and your ability to multi-task.” (That last one is HUGE!)
And what types of questions might a social worker seeking a supervisory role in child welfare anticipate?
- “How would you address a staff member that is suffering from obvious burn out?”
- “What would you do to assist a staff member who is continually behind in their paperwork?”
- “All at same time- You have to attend a management meeting, a worker just called you with a crisis from the field, and a Priority case to assign was just placed on your desk. How do you prioritize and handle these tasks?” (this really happens alot in Child Welfare, too!)
- “How would you handle a client calling to complain about alleged unethical behavior by your worker?”
Finally, what advice would you offer social workers interested in entering the arena of social welfare?
- ALWAYS be respectful to clients, and NEVER talk down to them. This means – be very polite, introduce yourself and your role, spend alot of time explaining the intervention, client’s rights, and even more so- listening to them; ask for permission to enter home, check things out, speak to people- even if you have to legal right to do it without consent.
- Ask for permission to enter home, check things out, speak to people– even if you have to legal right to do it without consent. Asking for permission first goes a long, long way to building trust and gaining a better understanding of situation.
- On a home visit – don’t use “clinical babble”- talk to people in plain English (or whatever language you need to us and are able to speak). “Clinical babble,” that is using assessment and psych terms with people, tends to alienate clients, and creates a power differential.
- If you ever believe you are in danger – LEAVE IMMEDIATELY. You can always come back with cops. But only if you are still alive – Child welfare workers have been murdered on the job by clients.
- And lastly – DO NO HARM. You can’t save everyone, but you can make sure you don’t further any more damage to them via your behavior.
Thanks so much, Brock, for providing us with this detailed introduction into child protective services social work!
What questions/comments come to your mind about social work in child welfare services?
Note: *Brock Venture chose to use a pseudonym so as to have to total freedom in responding to these questions.
wonderful… thanks for sharing
It was my pleasure, Rabia.
I’m most grateful to Brock for sharing all this valuable information.
Thanks so much for your kind feedback 🙂
The blog was very helpful, especially the part about possible interview questions! I have an interview with CYFD coming up soon. I also appreciate the insight about what to expect when conducting home visits and meeting with children in the school environment. I have to admit that I am most concerned with my ability to defuse uncomfortable situations. I can only imagine how upsetting it would be for a parent to handle this type of situation. Overall, I found the blog very useful and intriguing. Something I would have wanted to hear more about are possible ethical dilemmas that a CPS social worker may encounter.
Hi Katherine,
Thanks so much for taking the time to share your detailed feedback and thoughts about the interview.
I’m so glad that you have found this post helpful. It sounds like it was very timely in terms of where you are at in your career. I’m wishing you the best of luck on your upcoming interview with Children, Youth and Families Dept!
You’ve raised some good questions. I will alert Brock that you’ve left a message so that he may respond.
Never talking down to our clients is so important. We have to remember that we would want to be treated with dignity and respect if WE were the client. Additionally, using acronyms and agency lingo can be very confusing for clients. I have to constantly remind myself that our clients usually have no idea what an FTM, FGC, GAL or UA means. Good blog with great information! Thanks so much!
Hi Dawn,
Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your kind and detailed feedback.
Yes, I totally agree with you that treating our clients with dignity and respect is paramount. And yes, it is most important to use normal English with our clients to ensure their comprehension and their feeling of comfort with us and the agency.
In fact, as per NASW code of ethics, “Social workers should use accurate and respectful language in all communications to and about clients.” and “In instances when clients are not literate or have difficulty understanding the primary language used in the practice setting, social workers should take steps to ensure clients’ comprehension.”
Re the acronyms you shared, I have to confess that I don’t know what some of them represent… I guess you have to be working the field of child welfare to be familiar with them 🙂
This site is giving me a hard time posting!! In response to Ethical Dilemnas, (Katherine’s question)- they occur frequently in CPS! CPS can be difficult for social workers, as the primary duty is law enforcement and investigation- you must keep kids safe, and ensure via investigation they are safe. This means many things are done adversarially- children are interviewed without parental knowledge, medical records and mental health records obtained without consent, trash is gone through, you get cops to beat down door, you file court orders to order testing, treatment, and child removal, etc. The difference between “helper” and “enforcer/detective” makes many social workers uncomfortable. Some other dilemnas occur– what do you do when the family is clearly dysfunctional, they are causing emotional harm to their children, but you have to close your case because they aren’t doing anything illegal? What do you do when you know the clients are very nice, likeable people, trying their hardest, but they lack the ability to care for their kids due to mental illness or cognitive limitations, and you must remove them? And many, many more — can’t really think of them all, but in CPS you often face very hard choices, many damned if you do, damned if you don’t!
Thanks so much, Brock for your detailed response to Katherine’s query regarding ethical dilemmas that social workers typically face in child protective services. You shared some truly difficult situations!
(I’m sorry that this platform gave you trouble.)
Hi Dorlee,
I have an interview tomorrow with DCF for a Social Worker position. DCF is the Department of Children and Families in CT, basically Child Protective Services. I was wondering if you have any sample situational questions that they may ask me in the interview. For example, what would you do if a client did this? Or how would you react if a client did this?
This is the list of example of duties for the position:
Example of Duties:
Performs a variety of highly skilled case work services for children and youth; maintains medical, physical, social and psychological histories; counsels families, children and youth both individually and in groups; investigates, evaluates and makes recommendations for Juvenile Court on all petitions alleging neglect or abuse of children; recruits and selects foster and adoptive homes for placement of children; consults with psychologists, psychiatrists and other staff to develop and administer treatment plans; consults with community groups to determine appropriate referrals and develop community resources; may supervise volunteer workers in conjunction with department volunteer services programs; performs related duties as required.
Any help would be appreciated!
Hi Abigail,
Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to consult with Brock in this regard before you needed a response. (Both I and whomever I would reach out to would typically need at least a few days.)
How did your interview go? Were you in fact asked some behavioral type questions? And if so, could you please share the ones you were asked?
Thanks!
No worries Dorlee! I think the interview went okay overall- they said I would hear in the next two weeks or so, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed! They asked me about my experience and why I chose social work, my ability to multi-task and prioritize, how I have handled difficult situations in the past with clients, how would I would try to include/ reach out to negligent fathers to make them a part of the DCF process, and asked me to talk about the importance of cultural competency.
Hi Abigail,
I’m so happy to hear that your interview went well! And thanks so much for sharing the interview questions you were asked. This will be of tremendous help to all the other social workers looking for a position 🙂
Wishing you the best of luck,
Dorlee
Wow this caseworker sounds nothing like the ones here. They took my 8 month only son on false allegations by my insane MIL. My caseworker won’t respond to me, ignored my information about religious/ethical beliefs and diet, didn’t let me know where my child was or that he had an emergency requiring ER care, I never got to attend a doctors visit or meet the foster “mother” or see the home, my child was sick and filthy, they have no dangerous info on my all my drug screens including hair have ALL been negative, I passed my psych with flying colors, my child was described at the “happiest and healthiest” babies they had ever seen, “no signs or marks of abuse”, I breastfed him from birth until they took him, I supplemented with organic foods (no dyes no corn syrup, etc) when he got old enough before they took him and fed him whatever “from the table” because he would “eat anything”, he had crusted diaper rash all up his back, fluid crusted in his hair and clothes and face, no shoes, bug bites, and it was my pedophile MIL who reported us, the same one they wanted to place my son with, the one who raped his father his whole life threatened to murder (chop into tiny little pieces) me, and poison my dog, and stole all my belongings down to my metformin and wedding ring , and forged her name on our car and is suing us for that, but my caseworker and GAL side with her and take gifts for my son from her
Now she is fight the jurisdiction of our protection order and it is on hold
I fear she is going to murder us in the night
she already broken into our previous home at 2am through a window!
I fear she will kidnap me son who is now out of fostercare and with family in a different state 10 hours away (and near her!)
We have been approved for an ICPC by our state, all the agencies, etc, but the lawyer for DHR where my son is will not agree to the final step, and lied saying she would.
we are ALL in danger
MY son should have never been taken from me.
Not to toot my own horn, but I am one of the best mothers I’ve met.
I stayed at home and cared for him night and day, I had hyperemesis during my pregnancy and almost died many times trying to keep us alive (my insurance would not approve my medication needed to keep water down even), I broke my pelvis giving natural birth to him no pain medication so he would not be harmed, I had the best expensive ob and doulas, the best books and toys, birthing classes, etc
I have done everything in my power for him and would over and over to protect my son
he is my love my heart my miracle my world
I was told I would never have kids
I will NEVER give up
It sounds like you’ve had and are going through a terribly painful and frightening experience. I’m feeling for you.
Unfortunately, the lovely social worker who had interviewed for this article is not currently available to respond but if that should change, I’ll definitely let her know about your situation in case she has any advice for you.
In the interim, I hope you are able to find better legal/social services to assist.
Best,
Dorlee
I have an interview for a CPS worker position on Saturday, I was wondering if I can get some possible interview questions that may be asked?
Aside from the questions Brock shared in this interview, you may find some applicable ones in this post 40 Interview Questions Every Social Worker Needs to Know.
thank you