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Burke County foster-care social worker describes high-stakes daily work as county seeks more placements and support
Summary
DSS staff told Burke County commissioners on Sept. 2 that 186 children are in foster care and described staffing and case-load improvements, while a foster-care social worker provided a first‑hand account of the job’s demands and recent emergency placement work.
At a Sept. 2 Burke County Board of Commissioners pre-agenda meeting, social services staff presented monthly operations and a foster-care overview; foster-care social worker Garrett Smith described the day-to-day realities of working with children in care and adoption processes.
Corey Fisher Wellman, director of Burke County Department of Social Services (DSS), opened the monthly report and highlighted staffing and caseload numbers. When the report was prepared the department had 11 openings with 4 offers pending, translating to an approximate vacancy rate of 3.5% once offers were finalized. Fisher Wellman said the department’s CPS (child protective services) reporting averages about 65 reports a month, with screening-out practices closing about 60% of initial reports. He noted a prior spike in caseloads (a high of 306 in…
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