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PTA Members:
We Love Social Workers
May 2002
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| Social worker
Deborah Cotton, right, explains how to file a Childrens Protective
Services referal to a concerned PTA member |
“We
love social workers,” was the consensus of parents, teachers and school
administrators at the California Parent Teachers Association convention
in Los Angeles, where the Heroes of Social Work exhibit
was displayed April 1 to 3.
Los Angeles social workers Deborah
Cotton, Mary Grace Blakney, and Jacob Ocampo spoke with people at the
Heroes of Social Work booth at the convention. The social workers explained
the mandated reporting regulations and the importance of calling children’s
services and handed out sheets with referral numbers. Former social worker
and National Association of Social Workers staff member Toby Hur answered
one of the most frequently asked questions, “How do I become a social
worker?”
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Kim, sociologist and school teacher
“When children are not doing well in the classroom,
many times it is because of issues outside the classroom. If you
can address those issues in a non-threatening way, then you are
able to teach them better in the classroom. I’ve seen changes in
kids in the class, higher achievement, better attitudes and better
grades, because of intervention.”
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Doris,
substitute teacher
“I
see social workers in action. I had a nine-year-old Hispanic boy
who was extremely popular, very active, and suddenly he didn’t want
to go to recess or lunch. He wanted to stay in the classroom with
me. After a couple of days he opened up to me that his mother’s
boyfriend was beating her up again and that he had called 911. I
referred him to the school psychologist. He was removed from the
home, the boyfriend ended up in jail, and the mother got help with
her drug problem. More people need to be aware of how important
social work is.”
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Jolina,
parent and school volunteer
“My son had really low self-esteem,
and he got to see a counselor through Healthy Start. Now he is doing
much better.”
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Darin,
school teacher
“I
have called CPS numerous times, and have always had good results.
I have seen kids change. I’ve seen their grades improve. They come
from a background where there are no adults who really care about
them. When they see that the school and the administration really
care, then they start caring about their education. I’ve seen kids
get cleaned up. They now come in bathed, with clean clothes that
are washed and hair that is free of lice. And that is because social
services stepped in.
“I made a report last
week, and the child has already been seen by a counselor, and seems
happier and more attentive. The parents are on notice that the teaching
staff at the school are aware of the problems at home.”
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Sonnie,
parent
“The school psychologist made
a big difference with the kids. She helped the children with low
self-esteem and the special ed children. She even helped the kids
from good, solid families. She helped my son. He’s a middle-class
child with a good mother and father. But he had trouble with the
other kids at school, and she helped him. It is hard now that the
social worker is no longer there.”
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Nattie,
works with the California PTA Health Commission
“I’ve
seen the difference Healthy Start programs can make. Families feel
they can come in to our little bungalow and talk to someone, and
a social worker will connect them to the services they need. “
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Dahlia
works
for Universal Studios education division, one of the exhibitors
at the PTA convention
“I
would like to be a social worker some day, so I can make a difference
in someone’s life. I grew up in the barrio and there were situations
where social workers would come into the building and help the children
where there was violence in the families. They would take them in
and find a safe place for them. I know, because I was one of those
kids. A social worker helped me out. I really feel like I owe him
for all he did. I’ll give back some day.”
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