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Move to Oakville an eyeâ€"opener (Continued from page 18) In 1975 Medjuck changed gears and joined the Metropolitan Toronto CAS. She only came to Oakville in 1986 when she marâ€" ried her husband Lou. Unable to adjust to commuting to Toronto (from beautiful Bronte) she signed on with the Halton CAS in 1988, a career move she has never regretted. Though she admitted to coming to Oakville with "roseâ€" colored elasses." "I thought I was coming to this lovely middleâ€"class place where nobody had any difficulties," she said. "I figured working at the CAS was going to be a piece of cake. Wronc. "Dysfunctional families live here too," she said, "though their problems may be different than those in the inner city." How has she survived so long in a business famous for its burnâ€" out ratio? Has Marilyn Medjuck truly become the "tough, hard woman" her friends sometimes think she must have become in order to deal with the pain and turmoil of child abuse and family breakâ€"up? "As years go by you learn to protect yourself," Medjuck explained, "though you never stop investing energy. You never really stop pacing the floor, worrying. It never becomes a ‘rote‘ king of thing "every family is different â€" you have to maintain your caseâ€" work : ‘skillsâ€"â€"(even as "a Supervisor). You have to figure out what is going on in the family, so you can help." The retired social worker feels it was beneficial to change posiâ€" tions every few years, sometimes within the same agency, and of course, from CAS to CAS. "At various times in my career," she admitted, "I was somewhat burnt out, but I changed jobs and that helped me maintain my equilibrium â€" develâ€" op a new outlook." Also, she said, social workers develop a kind of "Black" sense of humor, and "we learn to toughâ€" en up our expectations of the famâ€" ilies and the children we work with." It is important, as well, with the constant pressure on child care workers, that they be able to vent their emotions with their colâ€" leagues back at the agency. This does not mean that Medjuck‘s job has not ben frusâ€" trating or angered her beyond words. "I really cannot tell you how angry I become when I hear of cases, especially sexual abuse cases, which involve ‘perpetraâ€" tors‘ who hold positions of trust â€" teachers, priests, doctors, social workers. When these ‘professionâ€" als‘ fall through the cracks of our legal system and are let loose to repeat their crimes..." Her words trailed off, as if to say, the damage they do is unspeakable. Medjuck did say she has the utmost respect and admiration for the abuse investigators at Halton CAS and the Halton Police offiâ€" cers who assist in these cases. Much has changed in the child welfare business over the 32 years of _her â€"career, . noted: Philosophies, theories, laws have changed, radically. The world is a different place, _ __. During the ‘70s, the social worker said, a sixâ€"monthâ€"old baby boy in Toronto was considered "hardâ€"toâ€"place." "We have a much better idea now," she added, "of how imporâ€" tant a child‘s natural parents are to him or her. We know how important a child‘s history is. In the ‘60s and ‘70s we only kept histories in order to make the children more adoptable. Now we know that a personal history is vitally important to every child." One thing hasn‘t changed, however, no one will ever get rich or famous working in this field of public service. Still this woman has few regrets. She credited her own family, hardâ€"working, supportive parents back in Fredericton, N.B. Being a parent is a lot easier with KIDZ BIZ. We help you find out everything you need to know, from where to get baby supplies, how to entertain @ your kids, or how to find parent support groups. KIDZ BIZ makes it all easy. Simply phone our HOTLINE. l 1 it‘s a 24â€"hour a day FREE P callâ€"in line that puto a B wide range of answers at Dz your fingertips, Hotliine for PARENT S! aller number 500 receives a free gift) It will be the children, she said, the children that the CAS is left to parent â€" when families are truly beyond repair and adoption no answer â€" when children become ‘Crown Wards,‘ some in foster homes, some in treatment centres, some attempting independent livâ€" ing in group settings. "Some of these kids work so hard," Medjuck said, "to take advantage of the opportunities they do get. I have great admiraâ€" tion for them. I have seen the struggles they have to overcome â€" some horrendous experiences â€" but somehow they rise above it." for a solid base to build on, strength of character, and a down to earth sense of community. 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