Spring Break- Week 10

This week has been crazy! I worked Wednesday and Thursday after coming back from vacation. When I walked into the office Wednesday, I was immediately whisked away to the detention center to meet two new referrals. Sophia and I were hoping to be quick since there was a meeting with the Dawn Project and a home visit soon to follow, but we found ourselves talking to the two kids for an hour. Both had very interesting cases. The male had issues that led him to injure himself. The female was in detention because that's where her bipolar, drug-dealing mom preferred her child to be--very interesting case. Anyhow, we left the center and drove to the Dawn Project meeting for the same client I attended the last meeting for. All the same women were there, and most were late as usual. The client had been doing so well bringing up her grades, building rapport with her counselor, getting into the community, and improving relations with her mom. Recently she got in a fight on the school bus with a boy that is currently under review. We rushed out of the meeting to make it to a home visit. We left a message on our way to a home where a 17 year old youth was on house arrest. When we found the place, no one was home. We left another message, but got back to the office to learn that the youth was detained for auto theft within the last half an hour. So, while we were trying to meet with him in the home, he decided to go steal a car. The rest of the afternoon was dedicated to learning about entering statistics for the database. Thursday was even more intriguing. I started my morning with some filing, grabbed an early lunch at my favorite deli between offices, and received some new referrals to begin building cases for. Not long after, Sophia and I went to a meeting that no longer required our services. We were scheduled to conduct a home study for placement for the female youth we spoke with Wednesday, however we needed more information from the youth. We went to detention and spoke with the youth about what Sophia and I were concerned about. The youth broke into tears because she fears her mother is not looking out for her best interest. Her mother does not agree with what our research determines would be the best fit for the youth outside the detention center. After meeting the youth and hearing how passionate she was about getting out of detention and into a loving home, Sophia and I drove to the home of the man the youth prefers to live with. After meeting him and seeing how much he cares about the youth's well-being, Sophia and I felt obliged to fight for the situation. Several underlying issues exist, but I hope to see the youth back at home with someone who cares about her well-being.