The mission of the MISSOURI CHILDREN’S DIVISION is to partner with families, communities, and government to protect children from abuse and neglect and to assure safety, permanency, and well-being for Missouri’s children.

Goals of Services:  

• Child Protective Services: to protect children who are identified as victims of abuse and neglect.
• Family Centered Services: to improve and maintain the family unit for the well-being of the children.
• Intensive In-Home Services: to offer an opportunity for families to remain safely together averting the out-of-home placement of children whenever possible, protect children through  the enhancement of family capabilities and provide services that assist families in crisis management and restore families to an acceptable level of functioning.
• Adoption Services: to establish permanency and stability in children’s living situations and ensure that the continuity of family relationships and connects will be preserved for children.
• Independent Living Skills: to equip youth in foster care with the skills needed to function as productive adults once they are released from alternative care. 

THE FIELD EXPERIENCE FOR THE BSW CANDIDATE: Opportunities for BSW students placed at the Children’s Division are:

• Shadowing investigators on child abuse and neglect family assessments
• Supervising parent/child visits at the office
• Observing independent living classes
• Accompanying workers/supervisors to community meetings
• Observing interviews at the Network Against Sexual Violence
• Attending behavior staffings for foster children
• Case management of safekeeping cases ( intact families who need assistance)
• Accompanying permanency planning workers on home visits with foster children/families
• Completing home study on a family wanting to adopt a child
• Participating in staff meetings
• Attending CQI (Continuous Quality Improvement) meetings with staff
• Being assigned a foster child to visit twice per month and document
• Attend adoption staffing meetings
• Transport children to counseling or to school as needed.
• Experience being an intake worker
• Attending Juvenile Court sessions

WHAT STUDENTS SAY:

"The Scott County Children's Division was a positive learning experience for me.  I received one-on-one supervision.  I received a lot of suppport and guidance all during my field education."

"I had an excellent experience in my field placement at the Scott County Children's Division.  Many times I felt as if I did not know what I was doing but there was always someone there for me to ask and I believe that helped me learn quicker. I cannot say enough positive things about the other workers.  The workers care about their clients and go out of their way to help. The cohesiveness of this large office was surprising to me as I observed how well people got along. I was given the freedom I needed to explore and learn while I had the supervision to pull me back on the correct path if needed."

"My field expereince at Sikeston MCD was challanging and rewarding at the same time. I had the opportunity to work with different clients and connect them with resources to better assist their family situations. I learned a lot about community resources and networking with collegues. I had a great field instructor. My co-workers were very helpful in assisting me. I also got to work with professionals outside of the agency such juvenile officers, teachers, and counselors. Overall my placement was excellent becasue I got to see social work at the micro, mezzo and macro levels. If you have a heart for child welfare, I recommend Sikeston MCD as an excellent place to go to gain a real social work experience."

"Working at the Sikeston MCD has been a very rewarding and challenging experience. I'ver learned so many skills that will be useful to me in future social work practice. My supervisor and co-workers were always willing to help or provide guidance whenever I needed it. I would highly recommend the Sikeston MCD to any student looking for a quality field placement working with this population."

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