My Journey Into Social Work

Hi Friends! Welcome back! Let’s talk about my journey into social work!!

My journey into social work was one filled with hope! I could finally help people! Isn’t that what social workers do!? They help the most vulnerable, right?! I could have a job filled with purpose.

I was attending the University of Georgia School of Social Work and working as a staff member at a group home for girls ages 12 and up.

I enjoyed my job!! My schedule was busy! I went to school full-time Monday through Friday and worked a 72-hour shift at the group home from Friday through Monday! This schedule allowed me to really get to know the girls. I could see their growth!!

At first, group home life was simple. The group home had a small group of girls, and everyone seemed to get along. This changed not long after I began working there!

I would like to point out that group home life is not a normal childhood.

I grew up in a home that provided love and nurture. I had both parents, and I knew I was loved! I knew that I had someone to call if I was ever in trouble.

This was not the case in a group home. It was survival mode!

I had never experienced so much chaos in all my 33 years!! I had never even been in a fight, and here, fights were rampant on a daily basis! I had never experienced a child running away, and that happened daily as well! Most people think runaways happen at night, but runaways often happen during the day when a child is triggered by another child or staff member.

I had no idea so many foster youth ran away! I had never heard this discussed on the radio. Nor did I ever receive an Amber Alert about a foster youth running away! And now it was happening all the time, and sometimes... they didn’t return!

Why was it such a secret!? Shouldn’t the American people know so they can help locate these children?

Runaways became so frequent that I began making mental notes of what the children were wearing the minute I arrived at work! I was becoming more familiar with the routines, and I needed to be able to describe a youth’s clothing if they ran away.

I also began noticing that many of the children coming through the group home had experienced sexual abuse, had been victims of sex trafficking, or were on psychotropic medication.

This is when I realized that the United States had a sex trafficking problem! I will get more into the trafficking aspect later on!!

I also didn’t realize that so many foster children were on psychotropic medication. I assumed maybe one or two children would be on medication, but this was nearly every child who came through. And because I worked at a group home, we had children from all over Georgia.

As staff, we would make note of the children’s behaviors while on medication. The side effects varied depending on the medication and the child. And it often seemed like they never got the dosage or combination quite right because it was a guessing game that the psychiatrist adjusted at each monthly visit.

So imagine having 10 to 12 girls in one home from all different backgrounds, taking different medications that could make them aggressive or suicidal, all while living in survival mode!! It was a recipe for chaos!

And I was mentally, physically, and spiritually drained after each shift.

I remember being thankful to step away and rest before my next shift, but the children... they didn’t get a break!!

This is just the beginning of my journey!

God Bless!

Until next time ❤️

Sylvia