黑料正能量

Social worker Heidi Hochstetler 鈥�03聽arrived at 黑料正能量 not knowing what 鈥渟ocial services鈥� were. On cross-cultural in Tanzania as a sophomore, however, the native of rural Holmes County, Ohio, grew close to trip leader and then-professor of social work Nancy Fisher, who told her about the field 鈥� and said that Hochstetler had 鈥渋t.鈥�

鈥淚 was a social worker at heart, which is something that no one can learn or be trained in,鈥� Hochstetler remembers Fisher telling her. 鈥淎fter 16 years in the field, I think 鈥榠t鈥� is an unwavering belief that people can change and become better. Now, I can recognize 鈥榠t,鈥� too, both in my colleagues and new employees. You have to have that belief to carry with you. This is hard, difficult work walking alongside people who are sometimes having the worst times in their life.鈥�

Both child welfare advocates at the nonprofit agency Turning Points for Children, Hochstetler and colleague聽Scott Eldredge 鈥�82聽have long outlasted the average social work career length of just over seven years. Sustained by their commitment to children and their belief in the power of human potential, they鈥檙e providing important leadership in a new era for the city.

Eldredge was indelibly shaped by growing up in a Christian group home for young people with a variety of challenges managed by his parents. 鈥淟iving in service to others was a commitment first modeled by my parents,鈥� he said. While at 黑料正能量 and after graduating, he worked with troubled teens in a variety of contexts, including alternative schools, residential treatment homes and wilderness programs.

Eldredge鈥檚 37-year career is marked by an almost entrepreneurial zeal for administration, beginning with his first part-time position. 鈥淭hey gave me the state regs and said, 鈥業f you can create a new foster care program and get funding for it, you鈥檒l have a full-time job.鈥欌�� Eldredge did this 鈥� the program eventually provided care for 638 children in community settings 鈥� and more, adding specialities of treatment foster care and adoption.

After 14 years at that agency, he moved to a second agency to start and direct their child welfare division, eventually becoming part of the senior leadership team and director of family services. In 1987, at the height of the AIDS crisis, just a few months before Princess Diana was photographed shaking an AIDS patient鈥檚 hand without wearing gloves, Eldredge founded a nonprofit that became the leading provider of medical foster care for HIV positive children in southeast Pennsylvania. While working a full-time job, he also served as executive director, supervising a staff of 62 that supported more than 330 children in need.

More recently, Eldredge鈥檚 administrative skills have contributed to the city鈥檚 social services reforms, implemented after the 2007 horrific death by neglect of disabled teenager Danieal Kelly. Under the public-private partnership, the city was divided into 10 neighborhood-based regions and private agencies are contracted to provide child welfare management services.

Eldredge and Hochstetler now direct two of these Community Umbrella Agency (CUA) regions. Each supervises approximately 115-135 case workers and other staff who provide integrated, comprehensive services to about 2,500 children and their families in crisis.

Eldredge鈥檚 CUA 9 was recently ranked first on the Department of Human Services鈥� annual 鈥渟corecard,鈥� which measures success through positive outcomes for clients and their families. Hochstetler was a case management director in CUA 3, ranked third among the 10 areas, until her promotion earlier this year to take over and help improve CUA 10.

Though the work is challenging, relationships with the children they serve, with foster and adoptive parents, and with the case managers and staff they supervise give them both strength and hope.

Eldredge鈥檚 service isn鈥檛 just professional; it鈥檚 also personal. He and his wife聽Alice Moyer Eldredge 鈥�81, a school nurse, have fostered 12 children, some with urgent medical needs. 鈥淥ur years as foster parents were a powerful experience for our family, including my own three daughters. I have learned so much and been affirmed by my time with other foster and adoptive parents,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ow encouraging and training new social workers is a new reward.鈥�

In her new administrative position since January, Hochstetler also spends more time 鈥渆mpowering other professionals in their own development.鈥� That work is well informed by her 16 years of experience working and advocating within the welfare system.

One of Hochstetler鈥檚 former clients, now 20, reconnected with her after a long search. As an eight-year-old, he had known her only by her first name. He lives several states away, but calls weekly and plans to visit soon. 鈥淗e considers me to be family because of the things I went through with him in his childhood as his case worker. That feels incredible and makes me want to do this work for the rest of my life.鈥�