Child protection worker says she was traumatized by what she witnessed on the job

In an unprecedented interview that pulled back the curtain on working conditions in New Brunswick's child protection services, 31-year-old Jacqueline McKnight described how the job made her sick with fear and despair. 

"I have seen human suffering beyond imagination," said McKnight, who went on leave in February, three years into a vocation she considered a calling. 

"In terms of injuries, maltreatment, human behaviour … we have seen it all, we have smelled it all. We have touched it all. And those things do not leave you when you clock out."

McKnight said she was constantly fearful for the health and safety of children on her watch because there were almost always too many cases to manage.  

She also feared for her own safety, because parents who resented her involvement sometimes lashed out. 

"I enter peoples' lives on their worst days, so I understand why they get upset," she said. "I understand why they're angry and take it out on us."

McKnight went to work for the Department of Social Development in the western part of the province in January 2018, the same month she graduated with a bachelor's degree in social work from St. Thomas University. 

On her seventh day on the job, she had to remove two very young siblings from their home because of extreme neglect. She then had to testify in court.

"That was the crash course of all crash courses," she said. 

About six months into her job and still not fully trained on systems such as the database, McKnight was given more responsibilities, including consulting with co-workers on how to manage high-risk situations. 

She said the files were incredibly complex and "piling up fast." 

"I was feeling it. I was feeling the crunch. I was feeling like I had to be in two places at once."

McKnight said if her region had been fully staffed, it would have meant two teams of six social workers with a supervisor for each team — for a total of about 14 people.

But she said the office sometimes ran on half that, because of job vacancies, staff shortages, staff burnout and people on leave for burnout.