As a CPS worker, I'll be saving or rescuing children from parents who don't care about them or don't love them. .
Reality.
You will certainly be providing much needed services to vulnerable families and you will be working with families whose children cannot safely remain in the home. However, for the most part, the parents whose children are removed by CPS do love and care about their children; they simply do not have the resources, supports, energy, understanding, or coping skills necessary to be able to meet their children's needs. Additionally, while you may remove some children from their homes, not all children want this intervention nor are all children happier after being removed. The children removed by CPS generally love their parents and many of them still want to be able to live with their parents. While it may be necessary to remove some children from their homes, the majority of the children with whom you will work will not consider themselves rescued or saved when they are placed in out-of-home care. Your primary goal on most cases, either as an investigator or on-going worker, will be to promote a family's over-all well-being by both preserving the family and ensuring the safety of the children in family. .
Myth.
As a CPS worker, I will only be working with the children who have been abused or neglected. .
Reality: Whether you work as an investigator or on-going worker, you will likely spend as much if not more time working with the parents who abused or neglected their children as you will with the children who have been abused and/or neglected. .
Myth.
I will be doing therapy with children or parents. .
Reality.
You will primarily function in the role of a case manager. While you will need crisis intervention skills, engagement skills, assessment skills, motivational skills, and intervention skills, you will not be providing therapy, per say. The children and families on your caseload who need therapy will be referred to therapists for this purpose.