25 years ago: SRS workers experiencing job stress

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Jan. 30, 1989:

  • Local social workers, interviewed for a feature article today, said high levels of stress often took their toll on new workers who got into the field with a wish to make the world a better place for families and children. Social workers at the Lawrence office of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services reported high job stress and heavy caseloads, often leading to long hours, frustration, and a feeling of hopelessness. They reported high turnover in the profession and difficulties in meeting the needs of the people they served. “I didn’t know what stress was until I hit this job,” said one unnamed worker. Janelle Banz, another social worker who worked in SRS child protective services, agreed, saying high stress would ultimately “result in the children not being protected in Douglas County…. It’s hard to accept, because someone out there might be needing you, but you don’t have the time.”
  • Kansas University Chancellor Gene Budig played host to Kansas Sens. Bob Dole and Nancy Kassebaum, both KU alumni, over the weekend when the senators stopped in Lawrence to watch the KU Jayhawks take on the Kansas State Wildcats at Allen Fieldhouse. Dole and Kassebaum shook hands and talked with some fans throughout the game. Prior to the game, Kassebaum gave a brief interview, saying that President Bush had “set a good tone in his inaugural speech” and that he had “a better understanding of the presidential-legislative relationship than Reagan.”