Personal Narrative: A Career As A Social Worker

An experience that I will make me an effective social worker is volunteering at York County Children’s Advocacy Center (YCAC). The YCAC’s main focus is to assure that victims of child abuse are not re-victimized by systems who are supposed to protect them. In the center they have a group of team members who receive referrals from agencies such as Children and Youth to conduct forensic interviews and medical examination as needed. The center also provides Pet therapy for the children who come in for interviews. The Pet (Dog) helps the children feel more secure and comfortable while waiting to be interview. Prior to volunteering at YCAC I never had the experience of working so closely with victims of child abuse, sexual abuse or even abuse at schools. Most of my experiences were interacting with children at my church doing fun activities, reading, playing and simply having fun.
At the YCAC it is a completely different experience some of the children are either very shy, they show fear or just very quiet. Although as volunteers we are not allowed to participate in the interview due to the confidentiality of the victims, we do get the chance to interact with the
It is up to the social worker to become aware of the different populations and the differences in cultures. Working in the hospital has provided me with the opportunity to associate with groups of different religions, race, ethnicities and gender. I’ve always been a person who doesn’t express her opinions to others due to the fear of making someone feel uncomfortable; but within me I always questions medical decisions that others make due to their religious belief. I never understood how someone can deny a service that will potentially save their family members life. This is all a cause of being ignorant to their beliefs and not taking the time to