Week 11

Tuesday and Wednesday of this week really brought a lot of open cases together for me. The first day, I researched 5 clients and created files. I did some copying and faxing in the afternoon. I also attended a couple meetings with probation to discuss agreements/disagreements on dispositions of clients. I was familiar with one of the cases which can be referred to as 'Mimi.' This youth is another one of those 'sad cases' where no one can do much of anything in the line of what the youth wants because the family is searching for stability. At the meeting, it was decided that Mimi should have a short-term placement option before being placed in a home where Dawn services can be in place. The home study we did investigated a man that the youth formerly knew as Dad until a couple years ago. Youth's biological dad is in a nursing home at age 36, and Mom is bipolar. I really hope the youth will be placed at the location of our home study, but many involved parties have apprehensions about such a placement because the homeowner (whom only Sophia and I have met) seems 'creepy.' Wednesday, my immediate supervisor was out of the office, so of course the fax machine had to run out of ink. Lela and I struggled to locate an unused toner cartridge to replace it with. Then, I tried to find an electronic copy of a form which led me to help Lela obtain electronic copies of forms she needed. The success rate of such an activity has yet to be determined. Lela and I also met a new client in detention. He was only 12, but tough enough to talk without using any diction. He was restless, difficult to understand, and fresh out of 5th grade. He did a lot of complaining about the food in detention. Then I found five dollars.
Integration question:
HBSE: How might your assessment of a client differ from that of another person on your team, such as a nurse, doctor, or teacher? I've already noticed how my evaluation of a home study compares to the impressions a probation officer gets from a client. Every one has a story, and every one has a different take on black and white documents proclaiming anything from prison sentences to church affiliations. I may have met with a client who cried to me and passionately expressed his/her hopes for disposition while the only person another team member has done is seen the client's name on a piece of paper and talked to his/her mom on the phone. We both show up at the meeting, but other members might be quicker to assume the worst when they know very little about the client's defense which doesn't always matter to every member of the team. I quickly realized how important it is to have different sources when peicing together a story. However, the system is under-staffed and overloaded with bad situations.