February 2010 Caseworker of the Month
Stacey Hatte
Hamilton, Ohio
Stacey Hatte, a foster care and adoption homestudy specialist with Butler County Children Services in Ohio, is our February Caseworker of the Month. Her motivation and optimism helped a prospective foster-to-adopt mom breeze through the homestudy process.
Connie Ledford of Middletown, Ohio, who nominated Hatte for the award said, "One of the things that’s great about Stacey, aside from her being very organized and efficient, is her personality. She’s very calming. When she walks into your house you don't feel like the inspector general is coming."
Hatte, who has worked as a homestudy specialist since 2005, said being relaxed and having as sense of humor helps families open up and share things.
"When I interview people, I don't think they feel like they're being interviewed. It’s more like they're having a conversation," she said.
The entire homestudy process can take up to six months, but for Ledford it took less than four.
"Stacey was super efficient. Once I handed in paper work she was always ready with the next batch," Ledford said.
Hatte, who juggles a caseload of 20 to 25 families at any given time, said one of the keys to making a homestudy move fast is to empower the families.
"In my role, there's not a lot I can do without the families. I tell them if they work very hard in the first month it will prompt me to work hard for them," she said. "In Connie’s situation, she was very motivated and committed to the process."
Hatte credits her homestudy and interviewing skills to a mix of on-the-job experience, continued training, and the mentors she’s had along the way.
"I have a very supportive supervisor who allows me to work independently, but is also always there for me if I need help processing concerns," she said.
As for being nominated as AdoptUsKids' caseworker of the month, Hatte said she was shocked and even a little embarrassed, but it made her feel fulfilled.
"Everyone here at our agency works very, very hard. We don't hear thank you very often. It was just a good feeling to go home and know I affected someone," she said.
The nomination letter
I have read many stories of potential foster and adoptive parents who become frustrated by the homestudy process and lengthy waits for placements. I am happy to report I am not one of them. I credit that entirely to my adoption specialist Stacey Hatte with Butler County Children's Services in Ohio.
Within a couple weeks of completing my pre-service training, she made her first visit to my house. She left me with quite a stack of paperwork, which I promptly returned electronically. She then sent me another batch via email that I quickly returned.
During the entire process she was very quick to review my paperwork and ask any additional questions. She was also extremely responsive to my questions both via email and phone. She was very organized and at no time did I feel overwhelmed or confused. At each visit, she made sure to notify me of what to expect at the next visit so that I could be organized. This allowed me to have everything she needed in a timely manner. My homestudy was completed and approved much sooner then I would have expected.
Stacey continues to be very responsive to questions and always prompt in sending out copies of my homestudy for inquiries I make on AdoptUsKids. Most of the time she has it ready to go and in the mail within hours, never more then 24 hours. It's very obvious she loves what she does and is great at it. I wish everyone had Stacey as their specialist!
Connie Ledford
Middletown, Ohio
Media who would like to interview Hatte, contact us at info@adoptuskids.org or 888-200-4005.
