Hats off to all the social workers out there. March is social worker month and I want to send a thank you to each and every one of you who work so hard to help out abused and neglected children!

I remember the social worker assigned to my case when I was just a little thing. As a matter of fact, I mention her in my upcoming memoir. Here’s what I wrote: “If I closed my eyes and thought about her, I could still see the kind face of that social worker: soft brown eyes and brown hair turned up in a flip, so common in those days.” 

Anyway, although I can’t remember her name, I will never forget her face. That social worker was always kind and patient with me. She made an impact on me at a time when such an influence was very important to my wellbeing. 

Just to give you some insights into what social workers are up against, I’d like to share with you some information to think about.

Did you know that the average number of cases social workers are expected to manage tend to be anywhere from 20 on up? Now, this is cases, not number of individuals a social worker must interact with.

In the United States, social workers working in child welfare are required to prepare a case plan for each child that includes, when at all possible, efforts to move toward family reunification. This means extensive work within the family and possibly siblings, which means that numbers of children involved may grow even larger.

This month, I plan to host an interview with a social worker who works on the frontlines of child welfare. I’ll keep you posted on when the interview will be available. I’m sure we will all find it very informative and interesting.

In today’s episode of Lucy’s Story, we are going to see how one social worker attempts to help improve the life of our sweet Lucy.

We begin our story with Lucy in the care of Mrs. Garrison, an emergency foster care mom. Lucy’s story, begins now.