May 2010 Caseworker of the Month
Pam Briggs
Salem, Oregon
Pam Briggs, a child welfare social service specialist with the Oregon Department of Human Services, is our May Caseworker of the Month. Her outside-the-box approach to recruitment was instrumental in placing a three-year-old boy with multiple disabilities who will never have the ability to live on his own.
The adoptive mother of Colorado who nominated Briggs for the award was a wheelchair user herself at the time of his adoption. Given all his physical and developmental needs, the odds were stacked against her.
“Pam crusaded for the best interest of my son, fighting for both him and me,” she said.
Briggs said she used every recruitment tool at her disposal to find the right family for the boy.
“I have been a caseworker for 26 years. Recruitment for high special needs children can sometimes be frustrating with only minimal responses. When you’re working with these kids, you have to get information about them out there and flood the market to really increase your chances of finding a family,” Briggs said.
In addition to being photolisted on AdoptUsKids, where the adoptive mother found him, the boy was also featured in newspapers, as a Wednesday’s Child, on local photolisting websites and in newsletters.
The adoptive mother was one of three families chosen to be interviewed by an adoption committee who would ultimately decide the best placement for the boy.
“Oregon’s process is that a committee of three people who are experienced in the field of adoption and not related to the case make the decision about the placement. The committee gets three possible families and then makes the decision for the match, which is a really effective model because you get new sets of eyes,” Briggs said.
For the adoptive mother, this meant having to convince people who didn’t know her that she was able to care for a child with special needs.
“Pam was ahead of the game. She gave me great ideas on how to show this committee I had the ability to parent a special needs child despite my own disabilities,” the mother said.
The centerpiece behind the strategy to convince the committee was to film the mother taking care her friends’ children, one of whom had similar disabilities. The video also showed how she got around on a daily basis and how her home was already prepared to accommodate a child with disabilities.
“By the time you’re done watching the video there was no question she had the ability to care for a child with those kinds of needs,” Briggs said.
In addition to using multiple recruitment tools for children with special needs, Briggs said it’s also important for caseworkers to keep an open mind about the type of family that will be a good match for a child.
“It’s really easy to get caught up in the two-parent, at-home mom ideal that people have. We just have to look beyond that. There are families who might not fit that mold of the perfect family, but can meet the needs of the child,” she said.
In October 2001, Briggs flew with the boy to the mother’s home in Colorado.
“I will always remember the day we placed him with her. It was as if he knew this was where he truly belonged,” Briggs said. “There’s some innate thing that just seems to happen when kids know this is a family committed to them.”
In response to being nominated as AdoptUsKids’ caseworker of the month, Briggs said, “It’s just really an honor to be recognized in this way for something that you do and care about.
“Hopefully sharing this particular story will really allow people to think outside the box when they’re thinking about potential adoptive families.”
The nomination letter
My son has multiple cognitive and developmental disabilities to the point that he won't be able to live on his own as an adult. Yet, that didn't stop Pam Briggs of the Oregon Department of Human Services from crusading for the best interest of my son.
I live in Colorado, and when I went to Oregon Pam had everything set up. She left no questions that I might have as far as the depth of my son’s difficulties and the positive aspects as well. I ate dinner with him and his foster family after spending a few days with them and submerging myself in his routines. His foster mom gave me nearly three years worth of information, and I also met with his various therapists and pediatrician. They shared his past experiences with them and their thoughts on his future. I saw Pam's excitement and heard the proudness in her voice when she would point out things like how he would roll across the floor to get things, or reach and learn how to open and close a magnetic door on a cabinet. Her excitement was exhilarating to me and contagious.
At the time I adopted my son, I used only a power wheelchair. Thanks to modern science and good therapists, I can now use leg braces and often nothing at all. Kids who were being adopted in the county my son lived in went to "committee" to select the best parent(s) possible. But because I used a wheelchair, the committee was going to eliminate me, assuming I could not do it. They were going to choose for my son to live in permanent foster care instead.
Pam was ahead of the game. She knew this already and knew the best thing for my son was a loving and supportive environment. Pam gave me great ideas on how to show this committee differently, as far as a disabled parent’s ability to parent. She led me through the twisty turn paths that she knew the committee was going to take me on.
One of the ideas Pam had was for me to make a video, showing how my son would be cared for in my home, and if possible, me caring for another child with disabilities. So I did just that. I showed all the preparations in my home, even though it was not a sure bet he'd come. Then I filmed me taking two disabled children of a close friend to the park and a host of other daily activities. Not only did this win over the committee, they asked if they could use it to train other workers on the ability of disabled parents!
Without the diligent work Pam gave, fighting for both of us, I would not have a very special son I love dearly. Though she worked with us more than eight years ago, she left a strong indent in my memory and feeling of gratitude I can never repay.
Media who would like to interview Briggs, contact us at info@adoptuskids.org or 888-200-4005.
