Nicole Moody

Agency: Casa de los Niños

Term: Fall - 2001

I have had the pleasure of working with the kids and staff at Casa de los Niños. As our mission statement asserts, Casa is involved with "the prevention, intervention, and treatment of child abuse and neglect." The agency provides comprehensive residential shelter care for children; supportive health, education, and outreach services for parents; and advocacy on behalf of children and families. I am an assistant in the social work department. I help the case managers by filing and organizing the children's case files. I also fax social work concerns and other necessary documents to Child Protective Services (CPS) workers. A large part of my job is supervising the onsite visits among the children living in the Casa residence and their parents and other family. As a supervisor, I am there simply to observe and take objective notes of the interactions. After the visitation, we take the children back to their groups, and then write up reports for each of the kids who received a visit.

I chose to work at Casa for my internship because it is a wonderful place, with a rich history of helping any in need. The agency has been serving children and families for 27 years. Casa has been a model for 250 other crisis nurseries across the country, and has received numerous awards locally and nationwide. I wanted to be a part of a place that had such a strong foundation. Another stipulation for the agency I wanted to work at was the opportunity to work with children. Casa gave me this opportunity, and offered educational programs allowing me to learn how I can help children in crisis.

After graduation, I plan to take a year off to gain more experience working with children, and hopefully have an opportunity to work with a child psychologist. I then hope to attend the University of Texas at Austin, and receive a Doctorate of Education in Counseling Psychology. My long-term career goals include becoming a child psychologist, and opening my own practice. I am also extremely interested in studying and developing programs to treat childhood depression.

This internship has given me invaluable insight into child crisis services and the social work involved. An important word and concept I have learned since starting this internship is OBJECTIVE. I have learned how to watch people and their interactions and make objective observations. I have also learned how to be more objective when meeting new people-I have learned not to make rash judgments. With this skill, I have been increasingly able to successfully interact with a variety of people. Participating in the internship program in conjunction with taking Psychology and Family Studies and Human Development courses, I have been able to apply some of the concepts learned in class to my experiences at work. I have been able to see theories put into action, the outcome of different therapeutic techniques, and effects and inter-workings of different family systems.

My advice to a student considering this internship is simple: DO IT. This program is an irreplaceable experience. No matter what your interests are, there is an agency out there for you. I can't think of anything greater than getting experience doing something you are interested in. You also are able to become a part of a support group with the other students involved in the program. You can converse and share your triumphs and troubles with others who can directly relate. On top of all of this, you get upper-division credit! I honestly was very nervous about taking my first real step toward experience and a career in the "real world." My advice to anyone considering doing the internship is to stop thinking about it and sign up. Any reasons not to take part in such a program can easily be outweighed with the list of reasons to take part.

One of the greatest experiences I have had at Casa is when one of the children was adopted. For a little over a month, a potential foster mother and father were coming to visit one of the most adorable and lovable little boys at the residence. We all got to know the couple very well over the weeks and knew they would be great parents. Once the paperwork was completed they were finally able to take the child home. The foster mother was so excited and told us that they were going to put more paperwork through and adopt. We were all a bit sad to say goodbye to one of the kids, but were filled with joy to know he was going have a great life with wonderful parents. She also made us feel good when she said she was looking for daycares and nothing could compare to Casa. She promised us updates and is planning to volunteer with us because of her experience. What a wonderful feeling it is to know you have touched someone's life so deeply. The rewards of such a job are not always so obvious, but my experiences at Casa de los Niños have been precious.

University of Arizona | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
School of Family and Consumer Sciences | Family Studies and Human Development

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