Shane Vervain is working on his master’s in social work online from Lewiston; he studied social work as an undergraduate at Lewis-Clark State College there.
He said that while he was more interested in medical social work as an undergrad, child welfare has brought a gratifying mix of varied skills to learn and practice. For the past two years after starting as a case manager, he has worked as a safety assessor, trying to connect families with resources before intervention becomes necessary. This is his first term with the Title IV-E program.
“I like my job,” he said. “It’s stressful sometimes, that is a given, but the nice part is, when I do change a child’s life and their generational trauma is changed, the child saying, or the parent saying, “Thank you for helping me,” is the part that I like the most.”
The Title IV-E program, he said, is a surefire path to solid and varied experience and a career, particularly in rural settings.
“Honestly, taking a year of your time to engage with the service sets a really good foundation to learn more skills,” he said.