Destany Himschoot

During the May term of the 2016-17 school year, I interned at Four Oaks in Cedar Rapids. In my placement, I participated in various activities and had different responsibilities each day. During my time at Four Oaks and with Iowa KidsNet, I attended meetings (some with families and some regarding the new contract with some of the administration). I also met with different families, completed some paperwork, and attended a class session full of soon to be foster/adoptive parents. In addition to these activities, I read parts of the foster care handbook, attended a support group to observe, attended the info session Four Oaks offers for families looking at starting the process to become foster/adoptive parents and learned how to write case notes. I was even able to attend a staffing meeting at a school for a child in need of an IEP, which I found very interesting and I was grateful because as a social worker and through my work experiences, I have learned to appreciate the work they do for kiddos. I also attended home studies with workers, filled out relative reference letters, and was even able to attend a meeting with my field director in downtown Cedar Rapids dealing with child abuse in the home and the parents were present for the meeting. In the office, I completed various tasks, helped an adoptive mom get her three daughters signed up for a summer camp online, sat and met with one of the workers and talked about several personal experiences she's had and how she enjoys not only working for Four Oaks but also being a foster parent herself, attended several DHS meetings and read information about IKN, Four Oaks, and IFAPA. I also attended a first home relative visit and a meeting with a foster mom, her adopted son, his probation officer, and a worker from Four Oaks.

I clean and dust common areas. I vacuum carpeted floors. I dust mop, wet mop, and burnish hard surface floors. I clean windows.

I provide direct supervision and care. I maintain communication and documentation with consumers and our service team. I also provide skilled training to consumers in numerous areas, including socialization, self-help, communication, self-care, self-advocacy, leisure and other areas defined in the consumers training plans.