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March is National Social Work Month: Ruth Oliver

Mar Fri, 2023, See more: Staff Spotlight

Ruth Oliver is from Miami, Florida. She chose Social Work because she wanted to help people. When she was in high school, she volunteered with her church group to work at the Redlands Christian Migrant Center in Miami. She was impressed with the social workers that worked there. She later attended Florida State University and earned her degree in Social Work.

Ruth’s first job was as the social worker at Wesley House Day Care Center in Key West, Florida. The center received Federal and State funding due to the low income children and families they served. It was required for them to have a social worker on staff to provide assistance and documentation. Ruth also ran the after school and the summer program for the school age children. Ruth has worked in the industry for forty years. She worked in Developmental Services with disabled adults and children in Miami.  When she moved to Tallahassee, she worked at the DCF Abuse Hotline for 10 years and the DCF Helpdesk for 13 years.

Ruth’s current role is the Data Systems Training Coordinator. She’s a security officer for the Agency and sends out daily and weekly reports to case managers and supervisors to assist them in tracking home and virtual visits, Safety Plans, parent visits. She also assists workers with using FSFN, fixing FSFN Placement errors and Home Studies. Her most vital skill is experience. She has been working in FSFN for 13 years. Most issues Ruth has seen at least once and she can use work arounds or stratagies that have been used in the past. Her favorite part of her job is helping case managers and other staff use FSFN. “I also enjoy teaching them one on one how to navigate FSFN and the tricks I have learned.”

Ruth’s advice to new social workers: “Nothing you do or learn is wasted.  Everything you are learning right now you will use later in your life so pay attention and take notes.”

Thank you for your dedication to our team, Ruth.   

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