ABSTRACT
Working with clients provides excellent opportunities for learning about other people, social systems, and the self. In this chapter, I discuss my involvement with 'Jane', a 19 year old African Canadian single mother of three with whom I worked during my placement with the intake unit of a child protection agency in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Working with Jane enriched my life and contributed immensely to my learning experiences. I left England to undertake this work as part of a European-Canadian social work student exchange programme. I begin by outlining the child welfare system in Nova Scotia as I understand it and then move on to consider the work that I did with Jane. I conclude by considering alternatives ways of delivering services to vulnerable clients. All identifying names and places in this case study have been changed to respect the anonymity of the client, her social set and the agency with which I worked.
