SEGMENT THREE: DOCUMENTATION AND GOING TO COURT

Speaker 1: The primary reasons that we hear new workers leave; the first is that the administrative duties that are required as part of this job take them away from working with children and families. They go into this work really having a passion for working with kids and working with families, and they don't realize there's that administrative component, there's prep work for court, there's reviewing paperwork with your supervisor, there's immense documentation.

Speaker 2: That's probably the biggest challenge initially when you first come into this position, I've found, is being able to prioritize, what do I need to do and when do I need to do it throughout the day? It takes a minute to get your footing and realize what you need to do first to get it all done, and accept that it will never all be done. You document everything, it's the foundation of building that case, regardless of the direction that case is going to go ultimately. Everything you're doing and documenting along the way, it's going to support that end decision for what's best for those children and that family. You document all your contact with parents, emails, phone conversations, even communication at court, you'll document on your end, and with service providers and child advocates, all the communication you have supports the work you're doing.

[NO AUDIO]
Kelli Silver
Child Welfare Worker

Kelli Silver: We are going to Marion County Juvenile Court, to the annex building. The hearing is actually a disposition, so I had to prepare a predispositional report, which we call a PDR, and essentially the parents will be ordered to engage in services, they'll formally be ordered to engage in services. In this case they've already begun engaging in services, kind of to get a head start on things. Really, both parents want their child back in the home with them, which is a good thing, as that's not always the case, so that's wonderful.

Speaker 4: One of the things that's so important any time anyone is in court, by, and large, there are some exceptions I'm sure, it's kind of a nerve racking thing because there's someone who's going to make big decisions about little people who are in their lives, and going into that and thinking, "Do I have the right evidence? Am I going to say the right things? What if I forget something? What if I freeze up? How am I going to deal with those things?" Luckily each local office has an attorney who's either stationed in the office or shares offices, so they're between maybe one or two counties.

Kelli Silver: This particular case was domestic violence between mom and dad, and there's also some allegations of some possible drug use. The child was in the presence of the parents when the domestic violence occurred and was able to ... It's a three year old child and he was able to recount exactly what he observed and it's pretty serious, pretty severe.

Speaker 5: We're deciding daily, is a child's safety issues, if children should be reunited. Should parental rights be terminated? Should parents have increased visitation? What services should work for a family? You need to bring this information to the court. I may agree or disagree with you, but I need to get that information from you. I need to get it from the CASA, I need to get it from the parents. With regard to collecting provider reports, getting provider information to the judge, it's just key.

Speaker 6: Talk to everyone involved so you feel confident in what you're going into. The attorneys are very easily accessible, so you can go speak with them and kind of staff your case briefly, even if it's just five or ten minutes a couple days before, or the morning before your court hearing, so that they can give you some advice about what you're getting into. Talk with your supervisor, staff your cases with your coworkers, and again, let the family know "When I walk into court today, the department's recommendations are going to be this and this is why. I hope that you can respect and understand that even if it's different."

A lot of times it's not. A lot of times you're partnering with families, and what you're requesting of the courts or informing the courts is not a surprise at all to the families and they're very much onboard with what you're doing.

Speaker 5: I want that information. I want you to know your case. I promise you, you come in the court, I'm gonna know the case. I'm gonna know what's in the file, what's been filed before and I'm gonna have read all the reports. The judge should not know the case better than the case worker. If you don't know the case, then ask for continuance and say, "Judge, I am not ready to go."

You can't come and just sit there and take up a spot in the courtroom and not know your case, and not have the plan "Okay, here are all the barriers." How are you addressing those barriers towards reunification? "I don't know. Nobody got back to me," it's not acceptable. I won't do a hearing unless I've read all the paper work because I want to have some information when I go into the hearing, and then you can ask questions and get additional information.

Speaker 4: Little things like dates of birth, who the parent's names are, sometimes things that we get tripped up on because "Oh, I thought we were gonna be here to talk about the facts." And then there are these, sometimes, minor details, seeming insignificant details, but we have to establish that the people that we're talking about are actually children. That has to do with your date of birth. Those are things that are important.

Kelli Silver: The judge sent the child home with mom over our objections, over guardian ad litem objection, over home base objection. Yes. It's kind of unusual to happen, but that's what happened. She just kind of let mom know that I'll be going out there very frequently. And I will, probably once a week and guardian ad litem will as well. It was agreed that we'll be putting another home base provider in.

Speaker 4: Sometimes that happens. You win some and you lose some. There's nothing more true than that in child welfare. There's somethings that we feel, "This is 100% blue." And you walk out of court, and someone else said "No, that's yellow." And you think to yourself, 'What did I do wrong?' That's not the question you should be asking yourself. The question you should be asking yourself is, is this in the child's best interest? And if you can ultimately answer that question with yes, I just disagree with it, or I disagree with the outcome for these reasons, it's okay. We're here for the child's best interest, and if the judge sees it differently, the judge sees it differently.