Advanced Social Work | Home Away From Home

Running head: ADVANCED SOCIAL WORK
ADVANCED SOCIAL WORK
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ADVANCED SOCIAL WORK1
Home Away from Home:
As hard and exhausting as it seems to be, Jane Prescott loves her job and is very
passionate about it. Some might say she does not have a personal life because she is so
engrossed in her professional life. So, when Jane feels tired working on a case mentally, it
surly meant that the case was complicated.
Jane received a call that morning where a concerned neighbor called to report domestic
violence activities in her locality: “Yes, I heard shouting and breaking of glass...and I don’t
trust the guy at all. They have a child, he is very young, too young to see this.”
Jane received ample such calls in her career as a Child Support Case Worker in Virginia
Department of Social Services under the Division of Child Support Enforcement or DCSE for
7 years. She thought, ‘this is no different than others. I just have to go and see the home
environment, talk to the child and the mother and decide accordingly.’
Jane was scared of the man though; there were twice such incidents where she was
almost attacked by huge violent men when she went in to investigate or enforce the Child
Support services. The concerned lady did describe the man as “...huge, he is a huge man with
equally huge temper you see. The child is in danger I’m telling you. You do something.” It
took Jane full 2 minutes to calm the lady down and further 2 hours to come down to the
scene. After listening to the detailed description of the incident from this lady, Jane was not
prepared for any kind of surprises; but when the door opened, she received a shock.
At the door stood a teenage girl, with bruised lips, bruised collarbone and swollen eyes:
‘yes, she has been crying for a long time.’ But what was more important was the fact that
who was she? The lady strictly mentioned there were only three members in this family, the
mother, the man and the child of five years; then who is this new character in the story? And
for a brief moment a sickening thought filled up the mind of Jane and it passed a chill down
her spine: ‘is she the mother...’ but her thought was interrupted when she saw another woman

ADVANCED SOCIAL WORK2
at the back and a with a sigh of relief she understood there is yet another family member that
the kind and concerned lady somehow missed.
“Yes?” said the woman at the back, there was so much of resemblance with the teenage
girl and the woman that it was hard to miss the fact that they are mother and daughter.
“Good Evening! I am from Child Support Services; I believe some cops visited you
today. And I am here to investigate the matter further and we think that a child (or yet two)
might be residing amidst domestic violence.” At this precise moment, Jane heard shouting
and yelling from a man behind somewhere and before I could figure out what was what, she
saw a huge figure running with a club at his hands towards her. Thank god, she brought back
up!
The man was pinned down by the officers within few moments and taken in for inquiry
and further action. I looked at the rest of the family members expecting to see relief at the
face of the teenage girl and her mother, but nothing changed in her face. But I noticed
something different in the mother’s behavior this time; she was agitated, restless, rubbing her
nose frequently, not stable at her feet and eyes...the eyes gave away. The mother was an
addict.
Division of Child Support Enforcement
In order to support the children of Virginia regarding both financial and family issues,
Division of Child Support Enforcement works 24*7. The Department states that children who
are actively involved with their families and parents are observed to perform better in schools
and have high self-confidence and are generally known to achieve great success in life. This
is the reason that DCSE or Division of Child Support Enforcement is committed to help the
parents support their children by emphasizing more than just money (Child Support, 2020).
They offer free family engagement services which focuses on responsible parenting,