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Full-Text Articles in Social Work
Paperwork First, Not Work First: How Caseworkers Use Paperwork To Feel Effective, Tifany Taylor
Paperwork First, Not Work First: How Caseworkers Use Paperwork To Feel Effective, Tifany Taylor
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
A great deal of research has explored welfare agency caseworkers, especially how they use discretion. Paperwork in county welfare bureaucracies, however, is often taken-for-granted by caseworkers and researchers studying welfare. In this case study of a county welfare program in rural North Carolina, I focus on how caseworkers use paperwork through document analysis, interviews, and observation data. My findings illustrate caseworkers spend far more time on paperwork than they actually spend assisting program participants find employment. Finally, I show how caseworkers use paperwork to feel effective in a job that offers little to help clients move from welfare to work.
Legislative Casework: Where Policy And Practice Intersect, Larry Ortiz, Cindy Wirz, Kelli Semion, Ciro Rodriguez
Legislative Casework: Where Policy And Practice Intersect, Larry Ortiz, Cindy Wirz, Kelli Semion, Ciro Rodriguez
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Legislative casework is an ongoing activity in many state and federal legislative offices. Although the activity carries the implication of being a social work activity, there is little evidence from the literature, or in the field, that social workers are more than marginally employed in these positions. Reasons for the lack of professionally educated social workers in this important area of practice and politics are not clear. This paper explores the field of practice known as legislative casework, its history and purpose, and presents generalist social work examples from a Congressional district office wherein which professional social workers are employed. …