 We've all witnessed the effects of funding cuts and staff shortages in the child welfare system. Families in our cases aren't getting the timely services they need, and visitation has become limited... when it happens at all. Let's be honest: some days it feels like we're all just standing around a dumpster fire, wondering who's going to bring the marshmallows. It would be easy to let that discourage us. But here's what I want to remind you: even in the hardest seasons, you are still making a difference. Every single day. Take a moment and think of one thing you've done that made a real difference, no matter how small. Something that still gives you that warm, tingly feeling in your heart when you think about it. I bet you can name more than one. I'll go first. One of the kiddos in one of my cases loves to skateboard. He let me know he'd broken his skateboard and wanted another one; luckily, we had one in the office. I dropped it off to him while he was visiting his grandmother, and she told me she'd never seen him smile like that when someone came to the house. It was just a small thing that didn't move the case forward; it didn't give that child permanency, but it gave him a moment when he genuinely smiled. That's the weight of what I was able to do, and it's the same weight behind whatever you just thought of. It's easy to lose sight of these sparks when we're staring into the dumpster fire of everything we wish were different. But every small thing, a case that moves forward, a parent who grows a little more capable, a kid who has one easier moment because of you, is a spark. And sparks catch. So the next time the system feels like it's actively trying to burn itself down, remember your sparks. Let them fuel you toward the next one. Because those sparks are already adding up into something bigger than any single hard day. Into a fire of good, one we started on purpose, burning bright enough to outshine the dumpster fire around us. About the Author
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