In honor of Social Work Month, our own Tammy Gream has put together some thoughts regarding her career and what helping others means in her life. Thank you Tammy, for your passion and sharing your experience.
I have always been passionate about working with children and their families in some capacity. I learned quickly through my life experiences that social work was a natural fit for me. Being a social worker in the Infant Toddler Services department at Rainbows is an amazing opportunity that brings me a sense of joy and fulfillment every day. The biggest portion of my “job” is to help families with the intake process and getting services established in the home.
My department receives referrals from many different sources. Social workers have the opportunity to be the first ones to make contact with the family and begin establishing a relationship between Rainbows and the parents. Not only do we get to explain how Infant Toddler Services work, and all the many great services the family is eligible for, we get to be the first person to hear their story about their child, with no judgment. During the intake process, we start to gather a lot of information and the child and their family.
Now the boring part, I enter it all into myEvolv! It is the social worker’s job to make sure the evaluation team has all the information they need ahead of time to ensure that the evaluation process is a smooth as possible for the family. Another great part of my job is sitting in a family’s home, on the floor, and interacting with the child. Showing parents all the wonderful things their child is doing, while listening to their concerns (because really, they are the expert of their child), and completing the evaluation to help determine eligibility of services.
- By Tammy Gream, Sedgwick County Infant Toddler Services Social Worker
