Sacramento County, CA
11/05/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/05/2024 11:15
Beyond the Call: Dedicated to Child Welfare
Sacramento County's Department of Child, Family and Adult Services is full of staff who are dedicated to not just the work they do - but also looking ahead to how they can help serve people in the future. Melanie Perez, a Program Planner with DCFAS' Quality Management Administrative Services Team, is instrumental in shaping the next generation of social workers. This month, Sacramento County's Department of Child, Family and Adult Services is highlighting Melanie as part of the Beyond the Call series.
"Primarily we are in charge of doing all the recruitment and hiring for our human services social worker positions for child protective services. And we also then do the training for the social workers when they come in," Melanie explains.
Melanie began serving her community long before entering her current position. Melanie's career in social services began in 2006, rooted in her desire to make a meaningful impact on families. Before joining Sacramento County, she worked as a special education teacher, focusing on children with emotional trauma. In 2016, Melanie shifted her focus to training and recruitment.
"One of the main things that I love about training is seeing the new social workers come in and just really having that initial passion for it. They're very new, they don't know what quite to expect yet with CPS [Child Protective Services], and so we work a lot with kind of dispelling some myths about what CPS might be," Melanie said.
Melanie said that there are some misconceptions about CPS that she wants people to know about. She wants people to know that CPS does not solely exist to remove children from their homes.
"Our whole goal and mission is to strengthen families and really help support them out of whatever stage that they're in. And sometimes, unfortunately, that does mean that we have to remove a child, but we really work hard to make sure that that's the last thing that we would have to do for a family, because that's traumatic for everybody," Melanie explains.
Through her training sessions, Melanie emphasizes the importance of understanding the complexities of family dynamics and the supportive role that social workers play. She believes that by educating new recruits, they can better address public misconceptions and help families better navigate Child Protective Services.
"I love working for Sacramento County because I love being able to be a part of the change that happens in my community," Melanie said.
Throughout the year, the County will continue to explore different roles within DCFAS, share how workers use their personal experience to better serve those in need, and teach people about the ongoing efforts employees make to better serve Sacramento County.