[riley6]

I have "worked" with five counties. Only one, in the five plus years that I have been a fm has a sw written me and thanked me. I had a child for nine weeks and was head over heals for her. The sw knew how hard it was going to be to lose her, but her mom had worked very had and the little girl wanted to go home. It was bitter sweet for me.

A week after M left, I got a card from the sw thanking me for all the hard work I had put into loving M and that the dept was fortunate to have such a compassionate fp. I was touched!

I had another child nine months. A 12 yo wild child. Not only did the county NOT thank me, but because I had asked to have the child removed from our home for safety reasons, I was blackballed by that county. Too bad for them!

I have had over 20 kids in my home. I get tired of hearing that the sw's are underpaid and overworked. What are WE? Yes, DCFS has to deal with the judges and bios and caseplans and all the other stuff that goes with this, but don't we also? Don't we do this 24/7? How many nights are we up with a crying child? How many days of work do we miss cuz we have to go pick up a raging child from school? How much time do we spend in court just in case someone wants to hear about the child?

We do get an appreciation dinner once a year. It's nice, but a card or call once in a while thanking us and asking how we're doing would be a lot nicer.