Lunch With CASA: Carson City social workers bite down on life at Bleu Café

Simple pleasures, like nibbling on homemade French fries dipped in killer ranch dressing, are what social workers at the Nevada Division of Child and Family Services Carson City District Office look forward to most in the thick of daily stressors.

That’s the reason why four of them — Hailey Cornelia, Mia Kuzens, Andrea Valenzuela and Jessica Carstens — sat down with CASA of Carson City at Bleu Café during the lunch hour.

Bleu Café fare — including French fries and creamy ranch dressing — provided the perfect allure for this Lunch With CASA segment.

“My coworkers and I often come here and claim it as our favorite restaurant,” Social Worker Hailey Cornelia said. “I love the ranch dressing for the French fries!”

Others, like District Office Manager Andrea Valenzuela, see the restaurant’s quaint ambiance as an ideal getaway from the office.

“It’s like a comfy little spot to come and eat,” Valenzuela said. “The food has always been wonderful and the service has always been great.”

CASA of Carson shared some down time with Valenzuela, Cornelia, Kuzens and Carstens to learn more about them.

Below are questions posed by youth in the Carson City community, and the social workers' responses.

ALLISON: HOW DO I BECOME A SOCIAL WORKER?

Mia: You need to have a degree in social work, so you have to go to college and apply to a social work program. There’s usually an internship involved, too, in which you gain field experience for a year. There are also licensing exams — one for bachelor’s degree students and a different one for graduate work — that you need to pass, depending on how far you want to go in this field.

Andrea: Once you become licensed, you’re responsible for continuing education hours. Every two years, we are required to have a certain amount of continuing education, which includes classes on ethics, suicide awareness and other topics decided upon by the licensing board. Licenses must be renewed every year.

NICOLE: DID YOU PLAN ON THIS CAREER PATH?

Hailey: I knew when I was in middle school that I wanted to be a social worker. I actually read the book, “My Sister’s Keeper,” and really liked the character, who was a guardian ad litem. I discovered that most people who do that job are social workers. I decided then that I wanted to do that kind of work.

Mia: I began college taking a lot of psychology, which was my major at first. Then I decided I wanted to be more hands on and actually be more active in helping others. So, I changed my major to social work. I’ve always wanted to help people, so it just felt like the best option for me to do that.

Andrea: This was not part of my original plan. I have always had a thing for helping others. I grew up being told all of the time that I couldn’t save the world, but I was determined to try. When I went back to school, I had prepared to go into the nursing program. But then at the last minute, I decided it wasn’t a fit and I wasn’t doing it for the right reasons. I wanted to help people more than I would have in the nursing field and social work became a natural fit.

TY: WHAT DO YOU DO EXACTLY?

Hailey: I describe a child welfare social worker as someone who wants to positively influence the lives of children and families. Our first priority is always going to be child safety, but we also want to promote family preservation and ensure that a family has a foundation for success in the future.

Mia: We really strive to get children back with their parents and build on the family model. We spend every day keeping in contact with families, asking them what they need and trying to lift them up so that they can use the services available to them and get better for their children.

Andrea: The idea of child welfare is that we ensure the safety of children. We strive for safe, healthy and thriving children in our community. Our job is to work ourselves out of a job. We identify problems that a family is having and how we can help them to correct those, so that we can be out of their lives and they won’t need our intervention in the future.

ALEX: WAS IT HARD TO DO THE SCHOOLING FOR THIS CAREER PATH?

Hailey: It’s not difficult to participate in the schoolwork. Social work school teaches you a different way of thinking and viewing the world. Once you learn that, the schoolwork that comes with it isn’t difficult.
Mia: Once I got into the actual core social work classes, it became very easy for me to go through the classes. There are a lot of interesting electives that have to be taken.

Andrea: If you’re interested in human behavior, relationships and families, it’s not difficult, because you’ll find that you become very engaged in what you are learning about. It’s a different kind of learning. You learn how to interact with people. Schooling teaches you a lot about empathy and dealing with the human element.

ZYLER: DO YOU ENJOY YOUR JOB, AND WHY?

Hailey: Choosing this profession and remaining in it means that you enjoy it, because it is a very difficult job. It comes not only with daily stressors, but also emotional stress. To remain in it means that you love what you do. Some days can be more difficult than others, but overall, each and every day, there’s something enjoyable found in the job as well as small successes to be counted.

Mia: You find something every day that makes you happy, even if it just one little thing. You really do have to love this job to stay in it. Sometimes it can be extremely overwhelming and feel like the hardest thing in the world, but then you have that one small, happy thing that keeps you going and makes everything else all better and worth it.

Andrea: I love this field and I love this job. I feel like it’s my calling and what I was meant to do. It is very stressful, fast paced at times, but also very rewarding as well. You get to see real change happen for families and that is the most incredible thing.

ANONYMOUS: WHAT DOES A NORMAL DAY LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?

Hailey: There is no normal day for us. As soon as we get to the office, we have appointments scheduled and things we have to do. But all of that usually gets disrupted. Sometimes we get off work late at night or even the next day. The majority of our days consist of interacting with people, as well as case noting and documenting every single contact.

Mia: I do a lot of parental visitations and ensure that those take place. We also have to go to court a lot in our jobs, too. We are interacting constantly with people.

Andrea: As a manager, a normal day for me includes reviewing and signing off on reports, as well as helping social workers with their cases. But then on other days, you don’t really have a plan that you are able to stick to. We deal with things as they happen, like emergency situations involving law enforcement or something happens on a case where a child needs to be moved. Every day is different and an adventure.

Jessica: As a supervisor, my typical day includes checking in with my workers to see how they are doing, both on a personal and work level, what they’ve got happening and where they might need support.

ALLY: WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE THE BEST PART OF YOUR DAY?

Mia: The best part of my day is being able to interact with the children on my caseload. I love seeing how happy they are and how well they are doing. A lot of the kids are just a lot of fun to hang out with.

Andrea: Throughout the day, there are several moments when we share a lot of humor. That’s very critical in this field to have a sense of humor in your day. There’s a lot of stress, and we all need that balance. Whenever you get the opportunity to joke around, share a laugh or something positive, that’s something to look forward to.

Jessica: The best part of my day is discussing progress in cases. When everything is actually going well on a case, it’s reassuring in our jobs to talk about those things, report them to the court, and use those positives to encourage the family to keep going.

ANONYMOUS: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE SILLIEST THINGS THAT HAVE EVER HAPPENED IN THE OFFICE?

Mia: We get really silly when we do our door decorating contests.

Hailey: There is one particular social worker, a man, who cooks really great food. But it’s so good that nobody believes he’s the one who cooks it. Someone in our office once accused him of bringing in food that his mom made. So now, for the past several years, we always compliment his mother’s cooking when he brings in a dish to share.

Andrea: He’s quite the trooper, too. He totally just lets us pick on him. He comes to our baby showers with all these women. He’s a lot of fun and has a good time with us.

Jessica: We have little in-house competitions at times, like playing bingo, that are a lot of fun.

ROBERT: WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE BEFORE YOU GREW UP?

Mia: I wanted to be a therapist for a really long time.

Hailey: When I was six, I wanted to be a lawyer.

Andrea: I wanted to be a veterinarian and work with animals.

Jessica: I always wanted to work with teenagers, and I was actually preparing to go into the field of juvenile probation when my college academic adviser suggested I try social work.

OMAR: IS YOUR WORK INTERESTING, AND WHY?

Mia: Every moment is interesting. You never know what’s going to happen next. Something can pop up at any moment. The job keeps you on your toes. There’s never a dull moment.

Andrea: I don’t know if I can imagine a more interesting job than working in child welfare. No two days are ever the same. There are so many different emotions that go into doing our job. From being excited that a case is closing because a family gets things together and successfully reunifies, to even elements of danger at times in the field. When we go into a home, we don’t always know the situation that we’re walking into.

Jessica: I used to have a sign in my office that read, “I could use a little boredom right now,” because this job is anything but boring. There’s always something going on and pressure to get things done. Just when you think you’ve seen everything, there’s something new that comes up that you haven’t seen before.

MORGANA: WHAT MAKES DOING THIS JOB WORTH IT TO YOU?

Mia: Seeing the families reunite and the children get back together with their parents is the best part of this job.

Hailey: For me, knowing that a child is safe at the end of the day is what makes my job worth it.

Andrea: One of my favorite experiences in my job is seeing people start with nothing at the very bottom, and by the end of the case, they are in a completely different place. We get to see miracles every day.

Jessica: Establishing permanency for a child is what makes the job worthwhile to me. Seeing them find success, have opportunities to go to college, and create a future for themselves makes this worth it all.

ANONYMOUS: IF YOU WERE STRANDED ON A DESERT ISLAND WITH ONLY ONE TYPE OF FOOD TO EAT, WHAT WOULD THAT BE?

Mia: Steak!

Hailey: New York Cheesecake!

Andrea: Cheese. I would need some cheese. I think I’d die without it!

Jessica: Probably bread or pasta.

ANONYMOUS: IF YOU COULD HAVE ONE SUPERPOWER, WHAT WOULD THAT BE AND WHY?

Mia: I would want to be able to read minds. I think it would be good to know what people are actually thinking, so I can work with them where they’re really at and not what they are pretending to be.

Hailey: I would be invisible, so that I could observe the world around me without others knowing I’m observing them! If I was invisible, I could see if my clients are being honest with me.

Andrea: I would want healing powers, so when I reach out to people, I can heal them.

Jessica: I’d want to be able to stop or slow down time, just so I can get caught up and do everything I want to accomplish. I could be in two places at once, so I don’t miss out on anything!

ANONYMOUS: WHAT IS SOMETHING ABOUT YOU THAT FEW OTHER PEOPLE KNOW?

Hailey: I have the same music interests as most of the teenagers and pre-teens on my caseload. I listen to a lot of rap.

Mia: I play video games a lot, and I like to use that to connect with my younger clients. Some of my favorites include the Assassins Creed games.

Andrea: On my down time, I like to think I’m an animal rescuer. I’ve taken animals like geese and magpies to the vet. I tend to pick up injured animals and take them to the vet.

Jessica: I play billiards and shoot pool.

The Nevada Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) has jurisdiction over child welfare cases in Nevada’s 15 rural counties, while providing statewide support and services to assist children and families in crisis.

A crucial supportive service for these children is giving them a safe place to stay during a crisis, and DCFS works with foster families to fulfill and meet this need.

“Everyday children throughout rural Nevada leave their homes because their family is in crisis,” DCFS stated.

Unfortunately, a critical shortage of foster homes exists in rural counties statewide, resulting in foster placement well outside of a child’s home community.

“Many of these children are forced to leave their communities to be placed in another where there is an available foster home,” DCFS said.

Be the village for children and families in crisis. Please consider becoming a foster parent in your community and help a child in need. Contact Lori Nichols at (775) 684-1967 for more information. Also visit dcfs.nv.gov on the Web or find DCFS on Facebook @NevadaDCFS.

We’d love to hear from children and their families in the community. Email us at casacclunch@gmail.com with questions for our guests.

Please remember the questions should be the sort you would ask a person when you want to know them better. We will not field questions related to child welfare cases, and we prefer limited questions about the professions of those we interview. All questions submitted will be screened and selected for taste and appropriateness.

CASA of Carson City is a local non-profit organization that provides volunteer guardian ad litem services to child welfare clients in Carson City and Storey County. Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) are the voices of children who cannot speak for themselves in family and juvenile court. As dedicated community volunteers, they advocate for the best interests of these children.

For more information on CASA of Carson City and to learn about becoming a volunteer guardian ad litem, visit @CASAofCC on Facebook, email casaofcc@earthlink.net, or call (775) 882-6776.

CASA of Carson City holds information hours periodically throughout the year, so please check the organization’s Facebook events calendar and www.carsonnow.org for upcoming dates. On Wednesday, Feb. 12, 5:30 p.m. there is an information hour and meet and greet planned at the CASA office, 1539 East 5th Street, Same parking lot as the Juvenile Court on the corner of 5th Street and Saliman.