Families

Next Steps

| 12:45 PM

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Ruff asked the mother about possible family placement options for the baby.  What about her father?

Families

The Interview

| 12:40 PM

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“I’m going to need to ask you a lot of questions,” Ruff said stoically.

“Whatever I need to do to get him back.”

Families

Assigned a Case

| 12:35 PM

Reading Time: 2 minutes

On a recent workday, a new case came across Protective Services Worker Tom Ruff’s desk. A first-time mother’s newborn boy tested positive for meth at the hospital, and the mother admitted to using the drug during her pregnancy, according to the front-line social worker’s report.

Families

Path Toward Reunification

| 12:20 PM

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Tom Ruff, a child protective services social worker, generally has 15 days after a first court hearing to figure out more facts, identify more family placement options for the child who was taken out of the home and help make a plan for the next steps.

Families

The County and the Court

| 11:23 AM

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Tom Ruff is a child protective services social worker who works in the North Central Region’s Court Intervention unit. That means he typically gets involved in cases once a front-line social worker investigating a report to the County’s Child Abuse Hotline has already visited the home and found evidence of abuse or neglect, prompting the County or law enforcement to remove children to protect them.

Families

Protecting Kids, Finding Facts

| 11:19 AM

Reading Time: 2 minutes

There are things that happen to children no one wants to imagine. But delving into child abuse and neglect is, of course, the daily work of the County’s child protective services workers.