Child Welfare/Family Services Personnel

Individuals who work in organizations that are concerned with adoption, children's protective services, foster care, parenting support and other services that ensure the welfare of children and their families. They may investigate home conditions to protect children from harmful environments; evaluate foster and home environmental factors and the personal characteristics of potential adoptive or foster parents to determine their suitability for that role; place and take responsibility for children and their well-being in foster or adoptive homes, institutions and medical treatment centres; counsel children and parents, guardians, foster parents or institution staff concerning a child's adjustment to the foster home situation; and/or counsel adoptive parents pending legal adoption. They may also aid parents with child rearing problems, counsel children and youth who have difficulty adjusting socially; advise parents on how to care for children with disabilities, arrange for homemaker services during a parent's illness and provide service to unmarried parents including care during pregnancy and planning for the child. If children have serious problems in school, child welfare workers may consult with parents, teachers and counsellors to identify underlying causes and develop plans for treatment.