A Day In The Life of An Assessing Social Worker

A Day in the Life of Kirstie as an Assessing Social Worker

Ever wondered what a foster care assessor actually does all day?

Well, imagine being part detective, part therapist, part storyteller, and occasionally part professional tea drinker.

A typical day often begins with a home visit, where I spend time getting to know people in the caregiver pipeline as they work toward becoming approved matua whāngai.

We chat about everything from their motivation to foster, their parenting experience, family relationships, childhood memories, life challenges, and what they had for dinner last night (okay, maybe not always that last one).

Over the course of several visits, I gather information about their lives, strengths, and support networks, while trying to remember who owns which dog, cat or unusually named goldfish.

When I’m not out and about, I’m busy following up reference checks, responding to emails, and tackling the day-to-day admin that keeps the assessment process moving. Behind every home visit is a surprising amount of coordination and organisation to ensure each assessment progresses smoothly.

Then comes the writing. Armed with pages of notes, I transform hours of conversation into a comprehensive assessment report. Think less “quick email” and more “novel-length biography with references.” The report is then presented to a panel, who review the information and make recommendations about approval.

While there is certainly plenty of report writing involved, one of the most rewarding parts of the role is having the privilege of hearing people’s life stories. Every applicant brings a unique journey, and it’s a real honour to be trusted with those experiences and to learn what has inspired them to open their hearts and homes to children.

So, in summary: I spend my days listening to incredible life stories, meeting wonderful people in their homes, conducting reference checks, juggling admin, drinking a lot of tea, and writing reports long enough to make my keyboard question its life choices.