Supervisory Experience Social Service Setting

Supervisory Experience Social Service Setting

Supervision experience

Type of supervisor being critiqued and type of services delivered under the supervisor

Although we might all like to think that love alone can raise a child, the sad reality is that it also takes a considerable amount of money. This is why the state provides services and acts as an advocate for parents who wish to obtain or ensure continued child support for their children. I shadowed a Child Support Services supervisor primarily involved in promoting the involvement of both parents in the raising of a minor. The areas under her oversight included offering paternity testing, as well as giving advice to parents as to the correct legal procedures to go about obtaining financial and legal support. As a supervisor she was responsible for determining what course of action was appropriate for each child and parent, spanning from obtaining or adjusting child support and medical support, as well as locating an absent parent and establishing paternity when this was in dispute in a manner that could affect a pending court case. These services were provided at no cost to the custodial parent.

The supervisor showed commanding leadership in her capacity, especially when acting as an advocate for mothers trying to extract payment 'deadbeat' dads. Unfortunately, because it cannot be assumed that all parents are willing and eager to provide support for their children, in this division of social services supervisors need to take a strong role to ensure that all necessary steps are taken to protect children's rights to basic care and the rights of the custodial parent who is owed child support. The attitude of the leader was often a kind of 'I have seen it all' attitude, reflecting her long-term experience in the field, despite the fact that she was relatively young (in her 30s).

Profile chose this supervisor because she was a relatively young, Hispanic female with a similar demographic profile as me. As well as possessing an MSW in social work, she had also worked as a paralegal, and had experience previously working in various legal arms of the Texas state and local government. Although she was not a lawyer she had a great deal of experience with lawyers and the legal profession. This was necessary to the work she did because legal injunctions and court orders are frequently required to find parents who have left the state and are not paying child support. Because of the sensitive legal matters she had to address, I was not always able to listen to all of the various conferences and discussions she engaged in on a typical work day. Privacy is a critical aspect of family support services, but particularly matters that involve the law.

Despite the legal ramifications of much of her duties, her social worker background was clearly critical to the work she performed. Divorce is often a messy emotional as well as legal matter, and divorced women were often uncertain about the amount of time and energy they wanted to devote to securing child support payments. Women who had separated from abusive spouses were also uncertain as to how much time and energy they wished to devote to a relationship they wanted to forget, regardless of the possibilities of financial remuneration. Recent immigrants brought different cultural assumptions to the correct roles of different parents. Some women felt that they had failed as parents, because they were no longer living with their child's father. In the Hispanic community that made up much of the supervisor's work, very often women blamed themselves for their children's and their problems making ends 'meet.' They felt that their main role in life was to be a good mother, and if their lives did not live up to these expectations, it was difficult for them to pressure the fathers of their children, even when they were owed support. My supervisor often expressed frustration at what she called a limiting role of female selfhood for Hispanic women. A final barrier endemic to this population was a fear of the authorities, even amongst women who had lived in America for a long period of time. When searching for a 'dead beat dad' mothers, wives, and people within the local community were often unwilling to provide information, for fear that it was being used for punitive purposes. Because of her personal, cultural heritage and awareness, this supervisor was able to overcome these barriers, at least, better than many others serving in her capacity.