Implications of Seidl's paper for child care practice

Abstract

The idea of communi ty oriented residential care programs, as presented by Seidl, involves total institutional staff participation and therefore has tremendous implications for child care workers. In general, the lay image of the child care worker is that of babysitter. Too often even the most commonly used communi ty resources, such as schools, tend to view child care workers as custodians only; seldom is the child care staff contacted regarding schoolrelated problems. Clearly the school administration bypasses the child care staff in favor of someone they think is better equipped to handle the problem. Community oriented residential care programs would provide the much needed recognition of child care workers as essential members of the t reatment staff. Not only would they be used more effectively, but the work would also be more rewarding. Furthermore, as they participate in inst i tut ion-community cooperative programs, their image would take on professional status, which in turn would attract better-qualified individuals to the field of child care practice. This is a shift in the overall view of the role of the child care worker, but in keeping with the thrust toward professionalization. It is important to remember that the concept of using community resources is a diagnostic decision geared to an individual child's needs and used in addition to regular casework services. Obviously, considerable sophistication on the part of the staff is necessary; it is not the kind of work just anyone can do. Therefore it requires child care workers with particular skills and knowledge in selecting the appropriate services for a particular child. Foremost, staff must have a true sense of self-confidence, particularly in functioning independently outside the structure of the institution with various other disciplines. In addition, they must be articulate in matters of institutional policies and procedures; they must be able to evaluate social situations objectively, make judgments, and define and handle crisis situations.