Foster & Adoption MInistry: A Caseworker's Story

Written by Brianna Ramos, published March 2022.

Hi! I am Brianna Ramos, a Kinship Home Assessor at OCOK (Our Community Our Kids), a foster/adoption agency in Fort Worth, (under the umbrella of ACH Child and Family Services). I am also a member of the Foster & Adoption Ministry at The Paradox.

A Worker Within the “System”  

I began working at a foster care and adoption agency right after college. Looking back though, I realize that God planted small seeds in my heart to serve vulnerable children and families using a series of experiences throughout my life. These experiences–a biological cousin becoming a legal sibling, a conference speaker sharing about her orphan care organization, a church becoming a “village” by supporting families who were fostering–would stir my desire to pursue a career serving vulnerable populations, and ultimately with foster care. 

A Glimpse of My Journey

I stumbled through my first steps on this career path after college in Illinois. I was hired to be a Foster Care Caseworker, but when I arrived for my first day on the job I was told I would instead be an Intact Family Caseworker. Though I was initially frustrated, it later became clear that this was the exact path God wanted me on to increase my passion for supporting biological (immediate and extended) families. 

In that position I worked with families receiving support from Child Protective Services (CPS), where the child(ren) were not legally removed from the home. A couple of moves and life decisions later, I ended up in Fort Worth as a CPS Investigator. Now I am a Kinship Home Assessor for a foster care/adoption agency, continuing my support for biological families involved with the foster care system. A “kinship family” refers to biological family member(s) or other close relations that desire to have a family member (currently in foster care) placed in their home. I type 20-30 page home studies that give a full picture: the background, history, expectations, strengths, and concerns of a potential kinship family.

Not all “caseworker” jobs are the same but typically they require a lot of home/child/family visits and a lot of documentation. As an investigator, I always said about 65% of my job was home visits and 65% of my job was documentation.  This is where the “overworked” stereotype surrounding casework comes into view. Most Investigators have 30+ cases and are expected to complete their work within 40 hours, which as you can guess, is impossible. 

Many of my personal and professional experiences seemed to be a great glimpse into anything but the “happy” side of foster care/adoption. So much tension. So much sadness. So much heartbreak. Seasons that, honestly, are still hard to see what God did in and through them. Seasons where you have to just trust and know that since God has always been faithful, He always will be. 

Thus, I thank God that there is hope for:

Ally* - who said she finally feels safe, now having a stable, loving home with her aunt.

Mya* and Asia* - whose mom was able to receive needed financial support and mental health services so they would not have to enter the foster care system.

Jacob* - who was removed from his home, but the foster mom (and her whole village) supported the biological mom as she got sober and had her son returned to her care.

Xavier* and Sarah*- who are loved and pursued by both their foster and birth families. 

I also have to trust in the Lord’s sovereignty that there is also hope for the many children whose situations are complex and uncertain:

Aniya* and Liv*- who feel in limbo between their foster “home” and father’s “home”.

Derrick*- who wonders if he will ever have a permanent place to even call home.

And the hundreds of thousands of other children with similar stories and desires. 

Alex*- who loves his grandpa and even asked CPS staff upon his removal if he was going to “Peepaw’s,” but is too young to understand he might not ever “go home” to mom and dad.

There is an “ending” in my professional role with every child and family, but their stories go on, assumedly with continued joy as well as hardship.  Often, it is hard not to wonder and worry how it is going or how it “ended,” but I trust God with their stories because He knows them far better than I ever could. Thus, I trust that God will continue to be faithful in the lives of the children I work with everyday. 

It takes a village

Working in the social services/social work field is notorious for being unsustainable. Workers are often balancing their passion for serving children and families with the exhaustion of being overworked. This is a field of work filled with sorrow, but lined with hope. You can listen, then remind workers why they do what they do, and give them grace and comfort when they are questioning when God might have a “next” planned for them. These can all be similar feelings of sorrow, passion, and exhaustion for biological and foster/adoptive families.

As a caseworker, it is encouraging to see the community work as a team to become this needed village. The need is FAR from “fulfilled” at the job/role of a caseworker. It takes neighbors, family members, churches, and parents stepping up to be the “safe house” that every child deserves. This is like fuel that helps us persevere. So what might you consider? Can you open your home to a child in foster care? Can you link arms with biological parents, to support them, as they pursue reunification with their child? Can you give tangible support to a family that is fostering; a meal, a gift card, a toy, bedding? Can you provide respite care for a foster child, or become a “certified babysitter” for a foster child to allow a foster parent in your City Group or across Fort Worth those snippets of time to rest and recharge? Can you love your neighbor and pray for them, becoming a solid support for them and their children? Whether you can provide biological families, foster/adoptive families, or foster care workers with food, tangible items, prayer, a listening ear, or babysitting, this is how we truly become a village. The foster system needs the Church; the Church that relies on, that holds fast to, and that is needy for Jesus. 

It is messy, it is broken. This is foster care.

But hold fast amidst the joy, pain, and brokenness, because Jesus is the ultimate “Safe house”, Redeemer, Protector, and Hope. 

This is foster care with Jesus. 

*The children’s names were changed to ensure confidentiality. 

For more information on how to become a foster/adoptive family, how to support a foster/adoptive family, or receive updates from the Paradox Foster & Adoption Ministry, reach out to fam@theparadoxchurch.com!