An analysis of Mariposa County Department of Human Services Child Welfare Department, and the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust

1. Mission and Goals
The Child Welfare Services Ongoing Case Management Unit strives to:
- preserve and empower families,
- encourage self sufficiency of families and youth through supportive
services,
- facilitate reunification when children are removed,
- ensure the safety, permanence, and well being of all children, youth, and
transitioning young adults in our community,
- serve the needs and mandates of the Juvenile Court, and
- provide ongoing support to the foster parents in our community.
Did you know?
Mariposa means butterfly

2. Community of Mariposa
•
The geographic community of Mariposa county is a mostly mountainous area, but
catches a small part of the Central Valley as well. It is also home to some of
Yosemite National Park.
•The median income level in Mariposa County is $49,174
•The demographic groups from 2012 US Census is 90.6% White and 3.2% American
Indian/Alaska Native.
The population-at-risk are children who have been abused or who
are at risk of being abused.

3. Community of Mariposa Continued
How do our clients get to the agency?
• by car, either their own vehicle or they get rides from friends or relatives.
•Most of the time, however, we go to them. Wherever it is most convenient for the
client to meet, we get there or give them rides ourselves.
Involvement in the community
• Mariposa Safe Families
•Independent Living Program
•First 5
•ICES (Infant Child Enrichment Services)
•Mountain Crisis Services
•CASA
•Ethos
•THP-Plus

4. Services Provided
•Emergency Response – First phase of involvement, investigative services provided to
determine further involvement of social workers and the court system.
•Family Maintenance- social workers work with families to overcome challenges
while children remain in the home.
•Family Reunification- when children are detained, services are provided that enable
family to reunify. At the same time, the social worker builds an alternate plan should
children not be able to return home.
•Permanency Planning- the search for a permanent placement if children cannot return
to their home. Adoption and legal guardianship are some options.
•The Independent Living Program- current and former youth who have been in
foster care are eligible from ages 15 ½ to 18, and Aftercare Services are available for
those ages 18 to 21. This program focuses on skill building and document retrieval for
children who have been in foster care at these ages. The kids can earn money and gain
a lot of knowledge through the classes that are offered, and be empowered to be in
control of their lives from this point on.

5. John Lawless
Interim Director
Nancy Bell
Deputy Director of Social Services
Susan Arlington
SW Supervisor- Child Welfare Services
Shane Bonner
SS Aide
Chrissie Doss
SW IV
- A state funded agency that answers to a
board of directors, and subsequently the
(Interim) Director, which then filters down
to Nancy Bell, then Susan Arlington.
Ruth Her
SW IV
Charles Peugh
SW IV

6. Social Work Values
• The social workers at this agency
are committed to serving and
empowering this community. As an
intern, I see social workers giving
people tools to do for themselves.
They believe in helping but not
doing the work for the client. The
power is in the hands of those being
served to do for themselves with
the help of the social workers.
Cultural Competence
• Understanding the client and their
background is an important part of
building a case plan. Each case plan is
individualized by the caseworker and
the client together, in order to best fit
the needs of the client and the
requirements of the justice system.
The Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers
states that the primary mission of the social work profession is to
enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all
people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of
people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. I believe that
this happens at this agency, to the best of the abilities of the social
workers here. It is visible in the case workers that I follow when I see how
they focus on the client at hand and deal with each case at it comes, in an
unbiased manner.

7. International Agency: Belfast Health and
Social Care Trust
• This is an agency that delivers a multitude of services to hundreds of thousand of
people per year in Belfast and specialist services to the people of Northern Ireland.
Belfast City Hospital is a 900-bed modern
university teaching hospital providing local
acute services and key regional specialties.

8. Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
*There are other hospitals that are part of the
Trust, but I am focusing on Belfast City
Hospital*
Belfast City Hospital
Community
Home Care
I am focusing on the Social
Work Department of the Trust,
and within that,
Family and Childcare Services
Hospital Care
Social Work
Learning Disability Services
Mental Health Services
Family and Child Care Services
Physical Disability
Older Peoples Services

9. The Belfast Trust provides services to the support of children, young people and their families.
They work with and empower families so that children can have a safe, nurturing environment
to thrive within.
The Trust offers a range of services to families where children may not thrive and reach their
full potential without some help – this includes children in need of protection. The Trust is also
responsible for children who cannot remain with their own families and who are under the care
of the Trust.
(from http://www.belfasttrust.hscni.net/services/FamilyChildCare.htm )
Services Provided
•Adoption (What we do in Permanency Planning)
•Early Years Services- provides information to parents about the range of daycare services
available in Belfast and offer training for day care providers.
•Family Support Services (Family Maintenance and Family Reunification)
•Child Protection (Family Maintenance and Family Reunification)
Services for looked After Children:
•Foster Care (Family Maintenance and Family Reunification)
•Residential Care (Foster Family Agencies and Group homes)
•Services for young people who have left care (Similar to the ILP Program and
Aftercare services)
•Out of hours social work services (Emergency Response)
•Children’s Disability Services (This agency utilizes our resources all over Mariposa
county when we come in contact with children who have disabilities. On staff we do have some
interpreters, however we do not have a department that is devoted to Disability Services)

10. Operations:
•Services are provided in much
the same way as Mariposa, with
an Emergency Response team as
well as referrals.
Empowering people is the key!
• The social workers work hand-inhand with other agencies and groups
to empower families and to give
children the opportunity to thrive
within their environment.
• Discovering networks and building
bridges between people and their
families, communities, and
organizations.
“Underlying all social work in the Belfast Trust is the
understanding that choice, autonomy and independence are
important to everyone, especially the most vulnerable.”

11. By: Kaitlin Pasma
For more information, visit:
http://www.belfasttrust.hscni.net/services/FamilyChildCare.htm
http://www.mariposacounty.org/index.aspx?nid=275