Health And Social Care Observation Paper

Words: 831
Pages: 4

As a practicing social worker in rural West Virginia, services are limited. Finding clients a foster home without any behaviors or mental/physical health issues can be challenging. For children and teenagers who have mental/physical and/or behavioral issues, it is even harder to find a foster home for them. Many times, looking for services to fit those children’s or teenager’s needs can be challenging are resulted in looking at out-of-state placements. When the service is available for a client, the waiting lists can be weeks to months long. Many times, emergency shelters have been that beacon of hope for many child protective service and youth service workers in times of finding a bed for a night or weekend after a suspected removal, and no …show more content…
This is especially true of youth service and child protective service clients that may have mental health or behaviors that are waiting treatment. With emergency shelters, such as Davis, providing beds for these children and teenagers that could have any range of physical and mental health and issues. When one resident leaves, another takes their place within one to two days normally. There have been many residents that I really have enjoyed my time with, and some not as much. Just in my short time at the Davis Child Shelter, I have met and interacted with teenagers that had a wide spectrum of mental, physical, behavioral, and educational needs; as well as, different personalities, temperaments, hobbies, interests, and various other …show more content…
Churches, community centers, friends, family, nonprofit, and others in the community are examples of informal services. Community is one strength that many places in rural Appalachia have left to call their own. While services from The Department of Health and Human Resources are beneficial for clients and families, they are not long-term treatment or resources. Unless the client and/or family has insurance to continue services, many of the formal services end when the case dies. Once a case in closed, the informal services is all that is left for many families. It is important for social workers to be able to help find and use informal services with their clients, and make them just as important as formal services, especially when that client’s or family’s case is coming to a close. Community based treatment, like the wraparound model, have been show to keep 89 percent of children and teens in the home within the community after 6 months of service, and 83 percent after a year (West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources,