In 1921, this scene from The Kid, brings tears to eyes everywhere.

Chaplin’s Tramp character is the adoptive father of an abandoned baby, raising him five years on the streets before things start to go awry.

The enemy here is the system. The Tramp does a stand-up job caring for the kid the best he can in nearly abject poverty. Yet, forces are constantly trying to separate them. For a social work major, this film is a fist clincher.

Let’s get one thing out of the way; social workers do not take children away from their parents. This job, DFACS as it is called in Georgia, does not require a social work degree, and it is certainly not what many social workers aspire to do. The goal, in any case, is to protect children from abuse and neglect. Ideally, children are held temporarily while social workers provide necessary resources and therapy for the parents and the child. The ultimate goal is called “reunification”. The child would be reunified with the parent, both having the skills and communication necessary to live in a decent quality of life. The goal is the skip-happy ending of The Kid; child and biological mother are reunited, and the Tramp gets to live with them in a luxurious home.

Though Chaplin’s slapstick waltz through the streets is lighthearted and lovely, it mirrors a very dismal reality. Poverty and children are as intertwined in the U.S. as they are in rural countries of Africa or some gang studded South American cities. You can virtually “adopt” a big-eyed, bloat-bellied child in Africa right from the convenience of your cell phone; money you will not miss will go towards their education and basic needs. This idea is fine, but the execution perpetuates the illusion that children are only poor in “‘other” places. The child poverty rate for Metro Atlanta is greater than 25 %. And in some parts of Georgia it is greater than 40% (Child Poverty Rates in 2012, according to patchworknation.org). It walks hand in hand with the stigma associated with the current foster care system. Media portrays foster care as a system that cannot win. In the public’s eyes, it fails to rescue children from horrific mistreatment while also stealing children from capable mothers. In a 2013 article from the New York Times, four children are taken from a mother and “plunged into the vortex of the foster care system”. In this article, the “revolving cast” of “unresponsive” social workers fail to express the goal of reunification. A troubled mother loses her children, does not receive therapy or attention from the system, and her children are adopted successfully by another family. In 2014, another article details the terrible abuse and death of a young boy. The boy was involved in an open social work case. Here, as in many other sensationalized tragedies, questions are raised. * How does this happen?

As in Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid, the system raises its disheveled head as the enemy. The Tramp loves the child; treats him as best he can. Yet, they live in less than ideal conditions and the child becomes ill. What is to be done?

Enter the ethics and basic mantras of social work.
1. Everyone matters
2. Do what is best for the client

These are not static phrases. Their meanings and relevancies shift according to each case. Everyone incudes the reckless undocumented teen who is one theft away from a dead end life. Best places equal priority on emotional status, physical health, education, and community.

Social work and the best answer involve very complex solutions. Each case is different. Stigmas and media move popular opinion towards anger for the system. Everyone matters, and yet you cannot reach 100% success. This is my future career. It involves a lot of acceptance and creative thinking. As I watch The Kid, I smile, laugh, and yet tilt my head at its implications even today. Social work itself is the result of social issues wide and deep across nations. Social work is also viewed as a social issue in itself. Flawed as it is, it is present. Its presence alone helps me straighten my back when I say “I am in school for social work.” Charity? No. Law? No. It is an Asset of society, imperfect as it may be.

 

 

*http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/07/nyregion/the-girls-who-havent-come-home.html?ref=topics

*http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/11/nyregion/before-his-death-boy-faced-weeks-of-abuse-officials-say.html