A Social Worker's Daily Life

According to the National Association of Social Workers, social work is “a profession devoted to helping people function the best they can in their environment” and Bureau of Labor Statistics adds “Social workers help people solve and cope with problems in their everyday lives.”

There are several levels for being a License Social Worker.  One is a Bachlor's Degree. You have to have a degree in Social Work.  Every two years he has to renew his Social Worker License   The renewal you get them from taking the CEU's. You pay

 a standard fee for your license renewal.

There are also other training a Certificate programs.  They are called CEU's, Continiung Education Units.   40 CEU's is required every two years. Some are free other are not.  Some are specific like the Alcohol Addictions.  There are some for the dealing with Elderly, Connections with Clients with Trauma,  Understanding  Military Culture and many more to foster learning about helping others. 

There are many positions a Social Worker can do.  A Licensed Social Worker is exemt from billing with Insurance some may need a Masters to deal with other forms of billing.   There are differnt levels of Social Work  liconsure  Something he doesn't have time or money to do.

Working for one company that has a variety of positions and is hard to pay the taxes at the end of the year.  They don't take taxes out of a contractor paycheck.

One such position is the Crisis Team Worker which is paid by the hour and it is considered a contract employer position.  There are set hours but may pick up extra shifts for someone who can't work.   On-Call means I have a company phone and he has to be in the area. When my company calls me and then I return the calls to that person who called in,  I also have to call the place they are supposed refer to be sent too and report things and to find out if things were done properly. Also checking to see if they received that information from the hospital in my area.   Sort of a go between person. I have to keep a log of all that too.  Most of those are brought on by someonethat feels someone is mentally ill or addicted. 

The process may takes up to several days to complete due to transportation issues.   They are taken to the hospital or Sheriffs office for a hearing by the Mental Health Hygieve Commisioner.  The sheriif only is responsible for transportation. Once the Mental Hygiene Commissioner approve the petition they call the Sheriff's department a pick up order is issued.  They are at the Sheriff's custody until it's resolved. There are several others, like the Public Defender, the Psychologist, the Crisis Team Worker and the Judge, and a few others.  The person  that is writing the committment papers in the beginning needs to have full knowlege of the things that lead up to it and it has to be within 24 hour and seen by them in person.  They then have to have it notarized before the Commissioner can view it. 

 

I am also a Notary Public.  I cannot sign my own documents.  Everyone elses is fine.   After that it gets the ball rolling and then they callme out and sometimes I am with the client to write things out on the petition to take it to the Mental Hygiene Commissioner.  That is why it is called On-Call.  A normal petition and if they get commited the process last for a few hours for the main purpose of committing is to get them stable then into a program. They have Hospitals for that purpose.  They have to wait until they are stable enough to be able to be transported.  That can take some time as they have to get Medical Clearance as such as blood work and the like before they can even be transported by Law Inforcement to the facility of committment.  Some days I will get up to 3 or 4 calls that they schedule and has to go to every one. After 3 or 4 calls crisis calls which may lead to a hearing by the Hygiene Commisioner.  This last week I  had four in one day and I did not get home until 2 in the morning.  Next day I had my regular job with the Mental Health Clinic. I did that and also ended up staying and helping an elderly person in the next county untill 9 pm.  So I am not at a sit down, all in one place, or set hours kind of job.  I am everywhere they need me to be.  I also work with a hoarder and elderly person who refuses to move from her rented home, that is much like those shows you see on T.V. called Hoarders.  She isn't poor either and is mentally stable so not in any position to be committed.  

I have another program I do and had to have a Certificate to do that job as a DUI (Driving While Under the Influence), or drugs and strategies. Instructor.  That job tries to teach those who have had a ticket for drugs or alcohol the way things work and how to get them strategies to get out of drugs and alcohol use.   Many do not makes it after graduating from that training for they may relapse.  Some return to their old habits and may kill someone else in the process with their driving.  Some end up back in jail.  That program is paid on a even different scale because it is only one or two days/night a week.  It is the same rate everytime though not like the Crisis Team Worker.    

The paperwork I have to do! The Assessments are two of them, one at the beginning and the other one at the end. The paperwork has to be done and sent to DMV when it is done.  Those were kind of ending like a waiting period until they recive their license back. 

COVID-19 messed things up and is still messed up.  I was getting unempoyment three times during those last few were years.  They hired me but found they had to cut back on workers.  Something the government did to many people not just Social Workers.  Bad times when they took my part time job and a Crisis Team Workers earning and use it as my primary job earnings. Sometimes they earn a lot and sometimes very little  Even though I gets paid $50.00 a day to carry and answer the phone to the times I go out on a call which I ges paid for the time and mileage that is used on those calls.  What was going on then, which may never happen again, was that my boss went into surgery and she had to take off for a number of weeks. I worked her day shift.  

A normal day starts at 9 in the morning and ends the Social Worker day at 5 except for Friday's when it's is 8:00 in the mornings until 4:00 in the afternoon.  I go ON-CALL then  That is when I get off that shift and ends the next morning at 8:00.  On the weekends the shift for that is 8:00 in the morning until 8:00 the next morning. I work DUI on Thursday night and Saturday mornings. A very busy man I am. What can I say I trained for this type of position for years and had many other jobs with other companies in the same field.