Liberal: adjective or noun- Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry.

In the past day, I have given much thought to a "conversation" that occurred last night. It certainly wasn't a new topic to me; I hear many of the same remarks in emails from other friends who are more conservative than I. Feeling much alone and wondering how to explain my stance, I began to think about why I believe as I do. I think I have come up with some answers After much discussion with both self and God, I ended up here.

Initially, I guess my first statement would be why I am a Social Worker. I am not a Social Worker because I went to college and got all these degrees and licenses so I could be one.  I was a Social Worker that went to college to get all the degrees and licenses so I could continue to do what I strongly felt my heart was telling me I must do and what my life  The core values of my profession, the code of ethics of my profession are not just words that define Social Work, but are my definition of self as well. The values of service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, integrity, competence, and the value of relationships are MY values. The ethical code of a social worker reflects MY personal ethics as well. At the end of this inner discussion, I came away with this:
I do not believe there is an "us" and "them", a worthy of succor and an unworthy of succor.
I do not see anywhere in the Bible where Jesus asked for proof of being a Jew before he fed the multitudes.
I do not see anywhere in the Bible where Jesus asked if the blind man was worthy before he made him see, whether the lame were deserving before he made them walk, if the prostitute or prisoners, the thieves, or lepers were grateful enough before he reached out his hand to them.
So, why should we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless, love the unlovable? Because that is what Jesus did and that is what Jesus told US to do.
It is not my place to determine whether someone deserves help, or if in getting help, misuse and abuse it. That place of judgment belongs to and is between my Creator and them. All I am responsible for answering is whether I have done as God would have me do.

Next I considered the comment about "waking up the "bad" parents by having CPS remove their children.  At the end of the State of Texas's FY 2008 (last year I could pull figures for), there were over 28,000 children in foster care. A foster child is moved on an average of 11 times before they "age out". Behavioral research and statistics establish the negative impact multiple moves have on a child. Their sense of security and certainty is impacted, their ability to attach is impacted, their desire for relationship is impacted. One does not have to think about this long to realize if there is such a negative impact on children whose families are transient, how much  more negative must the impact be for the child that moves alone over and over?  A new family to get used to, a new school to get used to, no place to call their own, nothing to call their own. You may not be aware of it, however most foster children are moved from one foster home to another with their things in a black plastic garbage bag. They don't even get a suitcase. Most of these children will never have a "forever" home, will never have their own parents, a sense of safety and security. Most of these children are "unadoptable". For instance, let me tell you of one of many,many children with which I once worked. I'll call him "T". He was a special needs birth. His mother, young, uneducated, an "aged out" foster care child herself was deemed unfit to care for him appropriately and he was removed from her while he was still in the incubator, grasping for life. She left the hospital alone, he stayed. After some months, he stabilized enough to be placed in foster care. For the next 18 years, "T" never spent more than 6 months in one home. On his 18th birthday, with a few months left of his senior year, his foster family placed his clothes in a plastic garbage bag and turned him out.  He had "aged out". Not a pretty, white, blue-eyed, healthy child; instead a mixed race, special needs child, not adoptable. Just like his birth mother. He and I had a conversation once in which he told me how frightening it was for him to live in his own apartment (which was being subsidized by social services), to go to work each day (a part time job because he drew disability due to his special needs). He said to me that now that he was 21, he was supposed to be a man and would really like to find a girl, but that he didn't know how because no one had ever taught him how to cook, how to keep house, manage a budget. He said, "Donna, I don't know how to love because I was never loved, so how will I ever find someone for me?" 

So, my purpose in telling that story is this: 28 thousand children just in Texas! Each of them a version in some way of "T".  Why does everyone think the answer is just have Child Protective Services take the child and that will fix it? The average length of time a social worker is a CPS worker is 6 months. Most of them are very young, just out of college. Most of them come from homes where they had no idea people like "T" existed, and most of them carry an average of between 40 and 80 children on their caseload. Just last year, the DPRS was crucified in the press for having children who had been removed from their homes, sleeping in the offices of state buildings due to no "room at the Inn". Yet, we would have CPS step in and remove a child from what although bad,  may very well be a better place than CPS can provide. I am not blaming DPRS, they do the best they can with what they have. Texas ranks 46th in the nation for funding of social service programs. CPS gets approximately 1%. Oh and by the way, the State has handed down a mandate to all state agencies to implement an across the board budget cut of 10% for the FY biennium of 2011-2013. Already underfunded, understaffed, overburdened social service agencies are going to experience further cuts and yet, CPS should take the children to give the parents a "wake up" call. 
For those of you, myself included, that came out of the "youthful drug follies" alive and not addicted, you were blessed that your brain chemistry was such that you were able to walk away. Not everyone is though. I have seen mothers who fell in love with someone that was using, eventually joined in the use and when they finally had enough and left with their kids, they hold down a 12 hr a day job to make ends meet. And yes, they buy dope, but not because they are unfit parents or lazy or worthless. They buy dope because they need to stay "well" to keep the job that pays the rent and meets some basic needs and without welfare, even that wouldn't be enough. And I can not justify denying that need.  And I will not judge her for her drug use. Treatment? Where? How? And who will watch the children while she is in treatment? And how will she afford to get a new place with no job since she lost hers when she went into treatment and that is assuming she can get into treatment in the first place. DSHS's highest priority individual that gets treatment first is an injecting drug user. And yes, I have worked doing that too, assessing who gets in and who doesn't. And I have watched injectors wait 60, 90, 120 days for a bed to come available in state funded treatment. Watched as they gave up and went back out.

In the end of all of this discussing with myself, I came away accepting that although most of my generation is of a more conservative, less tolerant mind set than I,  that is alright because they too are equally deserving as those I serve.  I will continue to argue for the oppressed, the downtrodden, the sick, the addicted, the imprisoned, the poor. I will continue to "stand for my something". I will continue to err on the side of compassion and peace and leave the judging of worthiness to the One.