This paper is a reflective commentary that highlights some of the issues that impacted upon my thinking and perspectives as a social worker working in the child, youth and family sector. The paper takes the form of a narrative with some accounts of incidents that were memorable and challenged the ways I thought about myself and issues we face in the sector. My concerns are that, while there are many aspects of the work done in this sector in the past that we don't want to repeat, there are also features of service delivery that we overlook in the contemporary tendency to want quick solutions and pursue trends. The conclusions I have come to include the need for community-based, co-located services for parents and children who need supports and out-of-home care responses (OOHC).