childwelfareworker

[childwelfareworker]

Day 1

It was Friday afternoon, 3 PM.

It was my first day as a residential advisor. I was told to report to the female dorm that housed young ladies ages 12-17. I had experience working with a younger population at the previous nonprofit, but those young people eventually went home for the evening. There was no going home. This facility WAS their home.

I walked into the cottage and it was complete chaos as the young ladies had just arrived home from school and were all over the place. Some in the dining area eating their snacks. Some in and out of their rooms conversing. Some talking to the Program Manager about their behavior levels and inquiring if they would be attending the outing that night. I spoke to the first adult I saw and introduced myself. I was taken to the Program Manager's office and introduced to her. She appeared to be engaged in several conversations at once attempting to give her attention to every young lady that was in her office. She excused them and gave me a brief run down for the day. She was getting ready to leave for the afternoon and the weekend but she informed me that I would be responsible for transporting a young lady to a church. She was going to be attending a weekend camp for foster youth. She stated that she would be the only one attending. Now that I think about it-- I wonder why she would be the only one attending if ALL of them were foster youth?

The young lady I was supposed to be working with was running late and due to traffic we had to leave immediately. I waited for the young lady to gather her things. Her pace gave me the impression that she was not thrilled about going.

Once we got into the van I allowed her time to settle in before I started speaking with her. This group home didn't allow electronics so if I was able to grasp it, I could have her full blown attention. She sang along to a few songs on the radio and she actually sounded pretty good. I had already been told her name, but I introduced myself to her and informed her that I would be working on the weekends. I asked her what grade she was in and if she enjoyed school. I was easily able to build rapport with her, but I didn't want to press her about her family history and what brought her into state custody. I asked her was she excited about camp and she stated that she wasn't, but also didn't want to sit in the group home all weekend because she wasn't on level to go on any outings.

We arrived at the church and she became withdrawn, but attached to my hip. We checked in and I realized I didn't know any of her information, and she had completely shut down. I used my cell phone to call the center to get her information. They asked about her medication and I was informed that it was in her duffle bag. I retrieved her medication and was shocked to see how much medication she had. I would later learn that she was diagnosed with manic bipolar, ADHD, ODD, and depression. Once she was registered she was informed to wait around in the lobby until they were ready to do orientation. I asked her if she wanted me to wait with her and she did. We lounged for approximately an hour and then the staff started registration. I stayed with her until she boarded the bus. I told her to have fun as it was her first time and camp and to make a lot of memories. I encouraged her to be open to trying new things and to just enjoy being a kid, even if it is for a weekend.

I went back to the facility and was introduced to the rest of the girls.

On Sunday, I was directed to pick the young lady up at the church. Apparently, she didn't have the best reputation amongst the staff and they weren't exactly excited about her returning to the facility.

She had the biggest smile when she stepped off the bus and saw me. She ran over and gave me the biggest hug. She immediately started showing me everything that she made at camp and admitted that she had a great time. Her favorite part was creating a "life book". She was explaining that she would have to add the pictures to the life book later but she was excited about the progress that she had made on it.

She started to share her life story. She told me that she was originally from NY and her family moved down south. She stated that she was a twin and that she could not seem to get along with her mother. She stated that she was deemed an unruly child and was placed in state custody. She could be described as a bully (which was surprising-- she was tiny), and had an issue with authoritative figures. She was a sophomore in high school and made decent grades. She wanted to be a pediatrician when she grew up. She had the same zodiac sign as my mentee and they had a lot of the same characteristics. She quickly became one of my favorites.

When she arrived back to the facility, I understood why the staff wasn't enthused about her returning.

[childwelfareworker]

I feel this in my soul

[childwelfareworker]

Breaking into the Field

Even in high school, I always knew that I wanted to work with people which was kind of weird because I was extremely anti-social, but I loved helping people.

Growing up I wanted to be a pediatrician, but quickly realized I didn't like math, science, or even school for that matter. That dream was quickly replaced with wanting to be a public defender.

I went to college for Criminal Justice and realized, again, the amount of school that was required to be a lawyer. Made it to my senior year in college and still had no idea what I wanted to do.

I was late applying for an internship and was kind of just thrown into a non-profit; however, I was grateful that the nonprofit aligned with something I grew to become interested in.

I, along with about 20 other college kids, was responsible for chaperoning field trips for children to go and visit their incarcerated mothers. During this internship I met my mentee and she was about 10 years old. This was approximately 15 years ago and we have been stuck at the hip ever since.

I completed the internship, graduated undergrad, and was offered a part-time position as the program coordinator. I stayed with the company for approximately 1 year before I realized why the nonprofit couldn't keep employees.

I left that agency and pursued by Master's degree (look at me going BACK to school). After obtaining my master's degree, I started working at a group home that housed youth ages 12-21 years old. I was just beginning my career as a child welfare worker, and man has it been a wild ride.