She Gets Cursed Out and Kicked by Kids but Loves Her Job

ByABC News
May 30, 2006, 5:34 PM

May 31, 2006 — -- Sky Tanghe, a high-energy 33-year-old, has a job that provides her low pay, long hours and many frustrations.

Yet she calls it "the most-rewarding job you could ever have."

Tanghe has been a social worker for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services in Louisville, Ky., for 10 years. Her job is protecting some of Louisville's most-fragile residents -- she calls them her "kiddos" -- among the 120,000 children under the age of 12 who have entered the foster-care system.

"To have a parent who's been addicted to drugs or alcohol for years and has had their children removed, and has seen the impact that that has had on their child and then to watch them slowly attain their sobriety and reunify with their children and to look at their children in a way that they never had before, you can't express that in words how exciting that is," she said.

Tanghe is assigned a case after abuse or neglect is reported. She's responsible for monitoring the family, offering services to family members and motivating them to change.

Like a fairy godmother, she has the ability and responsibility to give families state-funded medical and dental care, behavioral health care for the children, group counseling sessions for the family, and even bus tokens to help them get to appointments.

Tanghe currently has 19 open cases. The national average is 30, with some of the most overwhelmed counties in the nation running as much as three times that.

To be a social worker, you have to be able to manage your time and emotions well, Tanghe says.

"I feel like I have to be a little bipolar to succeed at this job," Tanghe said. "There is so much going on and emotions can change in a minute, so it's necessary to be able to compartmentalize, keep my composure, and sometimes go from bad guy to good guy in a matter of moments."

The social worker is the eyes and ears of the court, the protector of the children, and the motivator for change with the accused.