THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 22, 1995 TAG: 9501200262
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Kaleidoscope: The Virginia Beach Social Services Department
SOURCE: BY DANIEL M. STONE
LENGTH: Long : 191 lines
The Department of Social Services plays a critical role in the city's effort to meet the multifaceted needs of its citizens.
In these very unsettling times of family disintegration, restructured jobs, unemployment due to corporate downsizing and/or military cutbacks, more and more citizens find themselves with limited resources, little emotional support and a loss of purpose and direction. These difficult times produce more and more stress, which, unfortunately, is channeled into violence, abuse, alienation and isolation. As a result, the Virginia Beach Department of Social Services is often called upon to provide the temporary financial assistance, therapeutic intervention, protection and support needed to those individuals and families in crisis.
The Virginia Beach Department of Social Services is currently organized into three divisions. Two are client/service oriented, and one is focused primarily on internal customer support and administration.
The Financial Assistance Division has three major programs: Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Food Stamps and Medicaid. Since 1986, we have seen a 257 percent increase in requests for financial assistance; thus, more than 29,000 families apply for some type of short-term financial assistance annually; currently, more than 22,000 are receiving assistance. The AFDC caseload is the smallest in our city, followed by food stamps and Medicaid.
The two major programs within the Services Division are Child Welfare and Support Services. Child Welfare covers investigation, treatment, prevention and foster care. These programs are the largest, and often the most controversial, complex and challenging of any programs administered by the department. More than 21 social workers and supervisors respond to about 444 reports of suspected child abuse each month. Investigators must go into homes, schools and neighborhoods to talk with children who have reportedly been abused and with the adults who have allegedly abused them. A disposition must be made within 45 days regarding each case.
If abuse is confirmed, the abuser or family is referred to a Family Center worker, who immediately develops a treatment plan and establishes goals for the abuser or family to ensure that the child can safely remain at home or that the child can be returned home to a safe environment if the child has been temporarily removed and placed in foster care. This action plan is presented in juvenile court as a requirement of federal/state law and regulation.
The major Support Services programs are Day Care/Employment Services, Court Mediation, Adult Protective Services and Resources Development. The Day Care Program is viewed as a support service for AFDC or food-stamp recipients who are participating in on-the-job training, attending school or employed in low-income positions. Approximately 1,000 children are currently supported by Day Care subsidies, and approximately 800 families are involved in some effort toward employment.
Custody mediation is a program that could potentially impact any Virginia Beach citizen. During divorce proceedings that involve custody disputes, families may find themselves referred by the court to the mediation unit for resolution of these disputes. During the 1993 fiscal year, these certified mediators provided mediation services and home studies for almost 500 families, with over 450 families reaching successful agreements.
The mediation unit provides a necessary service to the community, taking a significant number of cases out of the court system, saving money and, most important, maintaining a relationship between parents and children. Through successful mediation processes, parents ultimately acknowledge that their children are the most important part of their lives; thus satisfactory agreements regarding custody, support and visitation can be more readily reached.
Adult Protective Services is one of the fastest-growing programs in the department. Workers respond to numerous complaints of adult abuse and exploitation. They also conduct nursing-home screenings and send companions into homes to prevent premature nursing-home admissions.
One of the most exciting programs in the department is operated by the Resource Development Unit. Over 105 churches cooperate with the department to provide resources such as food, clothing and shelter for many Virginia Beach citizens in need. Through the Interfaith Church Advisory Council and private donations, citizens are helped with rent, utilities, mediation and other special needs which would not otherwise be available through federal and state programs.
Through the Homeless Intervention and Homeless Emergency Program, assistance is provided to families and individuals to help prevent homelessness by assisting with rent and/or mortgage payments.
WORKFARE: The department recognizes that welfare is not a viable long-term option.
On Oct. 13, 1988, President Reagan signed the Family Support Act of 1988, or Public Law 100-485. Title II of the act established the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) program. Title III of the act provides child care, medical assistance and other services in support of employment, education and training activities.
Prior to this, several work programs were available to states, such as the Work Incentive Demonstration Program (WIN), the Community Work Experience Program (CWEP), Title IV-A Job Search, and Work Supplementation. In 1983, Virginia implemented statewide a combination of all these programs called Employment Services Program (ESP). The ESP/JOBS program became operational statewide in Virginia on Oct. 1, 1990.
The Virginia Beach Department of Social Services administers an ESP designed to assist public-welfare recipients in achieving financial independence. The goal of this mandatory program is to assist participants in obtaining employment and achieving wages and benefits that are sufficient to eliminate the need for public assistance. This is done through the provision of comprehensive serv-ices.
Statistical evidence indicates that an overwhelming majority of welfare recipients would prefer to be employed rather than receiving welfare assistance. However, past and present life circumstances and experiences often make it difficult for individuals to obtain and maintain employment.
ESP recognizes that welfare is not a viable long-term option. However, it also recognizes that in order to effectively assist an individual to achieve independence, the forces that act to immobilize the individual must be identified. The current approach to ESP/JOBS in our agency is the structure of an integrated service delivery system where the social workers address many of the family's needs, including day care and transportation.
Our goal is to utilize a holistic approach to address issues that prevent individuals and families from becoming self-supporting and self-sufficient. The purpose of the program is to strengthen and broaden the employment skills of participants, often through additional education or training.
Individuals are assigned to an Employment Services activity following an in-depth needs assessment by a professional social worker. These needs might include day care, transportation, parenting classes, counseling, medical/dental care, financial planning/counseling, referral for educational testing and/or referral to the Department of Rehabilitation Services. Throughout the process, participants receive the same message from agency social workers and support staff: Personal success and independence are possible!
Participants who have little or no paid employment history often participate in a 20-hour-per-week Work Experience Program. This places them in a public or private, non-profit job site. In this job site, hopefully, they will acquire job skills, develop acceptable work habits and obtain a reference for future employment.
During the fiscal year July 1993 to June 1994, the Employment Services Program of the Virginia Beach Department of Social Services served 822 participants, 226 of whom obtained employment at an average wage of $5.01 per hour. Forty-four participants were placed on work-experience job sites in the public or private non-profit sector. The fiscal year '94-'95 projections call for a greater emphasis on work experience, with an expected rise in placements to 119.
The Virginia Beach Employment Services Program operates from a philosophical base which embraces and encourages personal independence. Participants are offered an array of group activities to address self-esteem issues, goal setting, resume writing, interviewing techniques, and financial planning, to name a few. Participants attend a structured group job search with professional social workers and a secretarial staff at their dis-posal.
In 1994 alone, we more than doubled our work-experience field placements for those individuals not ready for the job market; in '95, we will significantly increase the number in our Work Experience Program. Thus, ``workfare'' is already a reality in Virginia Beach.
HIV/AIDS: Social workers have expanded their already high caseloads to accommodate this new population.
Whenever there is a social problem or special need, the Department of Social Services is always there trying to find resources to deal with it. During this past year, the phenomenal increase in the number of -HIV/AIDS cases has had a significant impact on already heavy caseloads.
The HIV/AIDS-affected population has multiple needs that unfortunately cannot be met through usual methods and resources. Thanks to a recent grant from the Virginia Beach Foundation, the department is able to provide special dietary foods and medication for some HIV/AIDS victims. Otherwise, these needs are being met through a time-consuming patchwork of various community resources coupled with creative management of these resources.
Although there is not a formal program in the department to work with this ever-growing population, social workers cannot turn their backs on people in need. They have expanded their already high caseloads to accommodate this new population. By virtue of professional ethics and practices, social workers do not judge people or their lifestyles. How individuals became infected is not important. What can be done to relieve their pain and suffering is where energies must be concentrated.
AIDS affects the entire family. It is one of the three main causes of death in both men and women ages 25 to 44 in the United States. AIDS is also one of the top 10 causes of death in children ages 1 to 4. But HIV/AIDS does not recognize the boundaries of socioeconomic class, ethnicity, race, and does not depend on sexual preference.
In Virginia Beach, the statistics are a cause for concern. As of December 1994, there are 556 reported HIV/AIDS-diagnosed men and women in the 20-to-39 age group, and 125 aged 40 and over. A breakdown reveals that of the 681 HIV/AIDS diagnosed citizens, 145 are women and 21 are children.
AIDS victims and their families require a great deal of support since the nature of the disease, and the stigmas that have been attached to it, add an extra burden. The need exists to raise public awareness to the fact that HIV/AIDS can touch anyone in any family. We must all remember that AIDS is not selective. It is not who you are but what you do that puts you at risk. MEMO: The difficult job of social worker has recently prompted both
headlines and controversy. Editorial Page Editor Beth Barber invited Dan
Stone, director of Social Services, to explain how his department
approaches its tasks. This is the second of two articles.
ILLUSTRATION: B/W illustration
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH SOCIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT SERIES by CNB