Dcf Reflection

The department of Children and Families (DCF) is a strength-based agency that works to protect children from neglect and abuse. Working with families to build a rapport after removing the child could be challenging for a worker. It is essential to use the proper skills to build a working relationship by building rapport; gaining trust and caring for your clients. Working with children requires sensitivity, empathy, compassion and a love for children. Throughout my internship I realized just how empathic I am with my clients and also how to set professional boundaries. As an intern at DCF, I’ve gained a greater understanding about what it means to work with families in the child welfare system.
Sometimes the department is required to make a challenging decision to remove a child from a household and be placed into stable custody. If in drastic measures a child needs to be removed, the department first considers a family/kinship placement. The department works towards strengthening families and focuses more on reunification than permanency placement. Unfortunately, I have a case in which the department did an emergency removal after mother was found overdosed on Percocet or heroin. Mother is being charged alleging neglect of her …show more content…
I believe I have made considerable improvement since I began in May and I have gained numerous skills. It takes a great deal of dedication and hard work to ensure that these children are able to grow and thrive in their environments. Although I recognize I don’t have very much experience and I am still learning, I feel confident in the process. I understand that along the way I will make mistakes because this is a learning process. The feedback that I acquire from my mentor, supervisor, colleagues and professors help me tremendously. I now feel more confident with my work and I believe I will be prepared next year to fulfill my role as a DCF