For Child Welfare Caseworkers ·
What you'll accomplish
By the end of this guide, you'll have ChatGPT set up to help you find specific community resources for complex family needs — acting as a smart search assistant that helps you identify the right resource categories, know what questions to ask providers, and document your referral process.
What you'll need
Create a Google Doc called "Resource Reference — [Your County]." This will be your personal resource library that you build over time, with AI helping you find what you need.
Open ChatGPT. Start with this setup:
"I'm a child welfare caseworker in [county/city name, state]. I frequently need to find community resources for families. I'll describe what a family needs and you'll help me figure out: (1) what type of resource to look for, (2) what organizations typically provide it in my area, (3) key questions to ask when I call. Ready?"
What you should see: ChatGPT confirms it understands and is ready.
Describe the family's need specifically — the more detail you give, the better the results.
Example: "I need to find trauma-focused therapy for an 8-year-old child who witnessed domestic violence. The family speaks Somali. They're on Medicaid. They need evening appointments because the foster parent works during the day. What should I look for?"
What you should see: A list of resource types to search for, plus questions to ask providers.
Ask ChatGPT: "What specific terms should I search on Google to find these resources in [your county]? Give me 5 search queries."
Then use those search queries in Google — you'll find specific organizations much faster than searching generically.
What you should see: 5 specific search queries like "trauma-focused CBT Somali speaking therapist [county] Medicaid" that will surface actual providers.
When you find a good resource, use ChatGPT to help you document it quickly: "Help me write a one-paragraph description of this resource for my reference file: [describe the resource type, who it serves, key contact info format]."
Copy that into your Google Doc under the appropriate category (Mental Health, Substance Abuse, Housing, etc.)
Once you've identified a resource and made the referral, use ChatGPT to document it:
"Write a brief case note documenting that I made a referral to [type of agency] for [family member] for [service type] on [date]. I spoke with [contact title, not name] who confirmed they accept [insurance type] and the family can expect [what was communicated]."
Mental health resources:
Find me resources for [age]-year-old child needing [type of therapy] in [county].
Insurance: [type]. Language needed: [language]. Other requirements: [list].
Substance abuse treatment:
Find outpatient substance abuse treatment for an adult in [county]. Requirements:
[insurance, language, schedule]. What to look for and questions to ask?
Domestic violence services:
Find DV services for a mother with [ages] children who needs to leave [city].
She speaks [language]. What types of services exist and what questions should I ask?
Housing assistance:
What types of emergency housing assistance exist for a family of [X] with [income/
employment situation] facing eviction in [county]? What should I search for?
Document a referral:
Write a case note documenting a referral I made today to [type of service] for
[family member role, not name] for [service]. Contact was [title], confirmed
[key info discussed]. Next step: [what family needs to do].