I see where you're coming from.

It's been my experience that the rank and file social workers honestly want to see their cases do well. But in America, there is so much bureaucracy and shifts in focus about what people can do, that most social workers get fed up and become part of the machine.

A quick IRS story

Our unit is supposed to help another unit sort out the mail that comes in. By sorting out the mail, we go through each case and pull them up on computer. We figure out a status and then separate. This isn't our main job, but it is one that anyone can do. Very often we come across cases that we can fix with a couple of key strokes, but because our system is so disorganized, we who can fix it, have to send it to someone else who specializes in that stuff. Part of that process is putting in a command code that will make sure nothing bad happens to the case for 9 weeks. Because once we ship it off to the next guy,it could stay on the shelf for 9 weeks before someone sees it.

And did I mention that the IRS was trying to slow down the modernization effort?

I'm sure the same kind of organization misfocus happens on much broader levels with social workers.

peace
k. orr