A job of dedication and compassion, that is the work of a social worker and with March being Social Workers Month, Nebraska’s Department of Human Services child welfare division says they are committed to helping communities strive for better.

Department of Health and Human Services - Service Area Administrator, Lara Swerczek, says she enjoys helping children and families.

"When I first got into this role many years ago, it was because I wanted to work with children and ultimately found that my passion was helping families as well," Swerczek said.

There are important skills that these heroes develop. They must be able to listen to families to help them improve their well-being. they say their goal is to provide tools to people so they can break the systematic cycle of dependency.

“I have learned and grown into my career just understanding the plights that families face in Nebraska such as poverty, lack of access to resources, lack of social connection, equity, and inclusion issues,” said the official.

But the job is not easy, and it takes real commitment and perseverance.

Child and Family Service Specialist, Ashlin Kawa says, “It takes a lot of patience. You are not gonna get everything right, and you are going to make mistakes; but just try to be honest with that family and tell them, I’m here to work with you.”

According to the Nebraska Department of Human Health and Services, 785 children have been served in the Northern area of the state alone; the data comes from a report last updated on February 21st.

“Here in our field, we focus primarily on child welfare, and in our own division, we have adult protective services to make sure they are safe. there are so many areas in social service,” emphasized Swerczek.

And in the era of COVID-19 social workers have to learn to adapt to the needs of their clients, moving to virtual platforms and making other changes.

Swerczek says that her Department continues to work face to face to ensure the safety of children, “between the quarantine and the social restrictions, we saw a lot of isolation and the associated mental health issues that came along with that.”

And although community and private partnerships help to create positive changes for children; these social workers say there’s still a lot of work to do for communities to thrive. “What I think that still needed is just more education and understanding of the social work field in general,” said Zwerczek; while Kawa added, "I’ll just say to trust in our help. At the end of the day that’s why we are here to do.”