What's mildly irritating you today?

[monster]

Delivery Status Notification (Failure)

the goddamn address is good! Gits!

[plthijinx]

Originally Posted by Griff

I used to look at it that way until I watched them bend over backwards trying to help horrible people/parents improve their home life. Where I am they virtually never remove so we get to watch slow motion train wrecks punctuated by extreme violence. People love those welfare checks so they'll fight for their them er their kids. The home interventions are all contracted out so there is another financial incentive to keep them in the home. By the end of this insane year, I'll have a firmer grasp of what they do, attempt to do, and don't do.

back BP (before prison) I was on a jury for a week in a capital murder case. guy beat the hellyons out of his 2 year old boy. left him to suffer for 3 days before he died. cps had visited numerous times. they would call and set up appointments to visit which i think is wrong. they should do surprise visits imo. he was supposedly living at his mothers so when said appointment was made he would go to mom's and prep the place to make it look hospitable when in fact he and his g/f were living in a trashed out apartment. i still shudder to this day from remembering the pictures provided by the prosecution. i know and understand cps has a huge caseload especially in the densely populated cities however i think there is a lot of room for improvement.

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Cover your ass, Griff, cover your ass, and remember you can't do that from the middle.

wise words indeed.

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Or you could consult a really good lawyer. Esp if they could make a case using the said vid as proof you were wrongly incarcerated. Just because the cops saw it doesn't mean much. They may just not want to deal with it. If this woman is a menace then she must be stopped and this may help build a case against her in the long run. I might tuck it away, but I do not think I would get rid of it.

right on. that's what i'd like to do with the vid. hell the houston police will never admit that they're wrong. if i can find a lawyer that would take the case they can have the wrongful compensation that innocent prisoners get when proven innocent. i just want my name cleared.

Originally Posted by Griff

My focus is getting the kids to a place where they can perform in the classroom. I didn't drop a dime on anyone. Some brought the police into their own lives the rest have apparently pissed off neighbors, relatives, and landlords. We monitor the kids physical health on a daily basis and note problems. The most dangerous parents to deal with also have long rap sheets and other troubled kids in the district so they can try to make my life miserable but in the end they won't get much love from the system.

not to mention the mental issues that these people have. some of these people just can't help it. IQ's of 80 - 85 or lower. i'm not trying to be funny here but this kinda is, the other day we had a birthday party booked at work. these people couldn't drive a go kart worth a shit! i'm stressing the importance of using the brake pedal when exiting the track and this one lady, when i was seating the next ride, said "they can't help it. their parents are cousins" and not from the married related side.

[plthijinx]

my short term memory. in many cases. finding posts for one and for another trying to remember learnt words in other languages. see, where i work my number one job is the customers' safety. sometime they don't understand because they don't speak english. (yeah i know, but that's another topic). anyway so when i see that someone does not understand what i'm saying over the PA system because they don't understand the language (we say the rules to ride before everyone is sent out on the track) then i will do my best to translate into spanish the rules albeit cut up and choppy i get the point across. now i'm trying to expand my skillz and broaden what i explain to them. usar precaution saldinero su lina or something like that is what one of my coworkers told me to say (he works in the shop, not the track) and this is what i get from google translate: "tenga cuidado al salir de su carril" either way, my short term memory sucks. anyone got a sledgehammer?

[Griff]

Originally Posted by plthijinx

back BP (before prison) I was on a jury for a week in a capital murder case. guy beat the hellyons out of his 2 year old boy. left him to suffer for 3 days before he died. cps had visited numerous times. they would call and set up appointments to visit which i think is wrong. they should do surprise visits imo. he was supposedly living at his mothers so when said appointment was made he would go to mom's and prep the place to make it look hospitable when in fact he and his g/f were living in a trashed out apartment. i still shudder to this day from remembering the pictures provided by the prosecution. i know and understand cps has a huge caseload especially in the densely populated cities however i think there is a lot of room for improvement.

Like any other government gig, you've got a lot of rules to block decision making and responsibility shirkers following those rules.They do make surprise visits here which must help some. I'm firmly in the welfare check = mandatory birth control camp now and I'm sure I'll come up with some more solid reactionary policy ideas before I'm done. BTW New York State just ended the more babies equals bigger checks game, so people are thinking about this nonsense anyway.

[plthijinx]

Originally Posted by Griff

snip...... BTW New York State just ended the more babies equals bigger checks game, so people are thinking about this nonsense anyway.

they need that here in texas.

[DanaC]

We've had some horrible cases over here in recent years, of little ones who've been completely let down by social services (child protection). The most well-known are Victoria Climbie and 'Baby P'.

In both cases, multiple failures across the different official organisations led to the deaths of these children. In the Climbie case what came through was a profound lack of inter departmental communication, and overwillingness on the part of the social workers involved, to take the carer's words at face value. There were very clear systemic failures, as well as clear professional failures at an individual level. This carried across both the child protection services, and other external agencies and individuals such as the child's family doctor, the local police and so on. It provoked a review of the whole care and social work system, which attempted to put in place measures to ensure this wouldn't happen again.

Jump forward a few years to 'Baby P' (again a high profile case which essentially crystalised more wide reaching failures) and we again see a terrifying willingness on the part of the case worker to listen to the child's mother; a family doctor who faled to diagnose multiple breaks and contusions and instead thought the child a bit poorly, a lack of proper communication between the different agencies involved.

Another fairly high profile case in the last year was from my neigbouring borough.

Our own authority has also been implicated in child protection failures, though in this case the result was not death.

One of the probloems with child protection in recent years, is a shift in how we look at family abuse. It used to be that if a child was thought to be in danger, the very first act by the authorities was to remove said child and place them in either specialist foster care, or a children's home. There were a number of problems with this system.

Firstly the court hearings which deal with these cases are extremely difficult to navigate, held behind closed doors and cannot be appealed against. The word of a social worker who'd made a snap decision based on not very much held far more weight than anything else which could be brought in as evidence. This was open to abuse and in many cases children were wrongly taken from non-abusive parents.

Secondly, the emotional and educational damage done to children when they enter the care system is profound. The statistics for educational achievement and later success and happiness for children who have spent several years, in the care system are horrifying. The nature of the care system is such that many children live in constant insecurity, moving from one home to another, from one carer to another, and sometimes facing abuse from the 'carers' who've been entrusted with them.

They are far more likely to be involved in crime and far more likely for early criminal activity to be treated as such, than children still with their families. For instance: if a child has a temper tantrum and throws plates at the wall, a parent is highly unlikely to call the police, or report it to an authority. But, if a child in a children's home does this, it is an 'incident' and is recorded as such. If a youngster from the estate is involved in a minor fracas on the street it is unlikely that this will be recorded as a crime; more likely is that they will be returned to their parents with a warning. If a child from the care system is in a similar situation it is recorded. They are already in the system, and it is woefully easy for them to drift from the child protection side of the system into the youth offending side of the system.

Emotional development has also been shown to be severely damaged by long term care.

Running alongside this, are relatively recent studies done on children in the care system and their families, which show that in a majority of cases, early intervention and preventative work can keep families together and in most cases where that is done the children fare much better. This increases the social work toolbox, so to speak, with temporary removals and supervised reintegration being very common. An emphasis on 'whole family' interventions has changed the culture of social work, and in many cases been very useful. In a lot of abuse cases, the abusers are not lost causes, and can be helped to fulfil their potential as parents. Coping strategies, anger management, psychological counselling and basic parenting advice, along with assistance in managing finances and other very mundane matters which have a huge impact on a familiy's ability to cope.

The problem is the pendulum has swung way too far in that direction. The mantra of keeping families together and children out of care homes has become such a profound part of social work that children who are very much in danger end up left with parents who cannot be trusted to care for them.

The whole thing is then exacerbated by the target-driven and fragmented culture of the agencies. Case workers don't stay with a child right through (like they used to). Now it's all about the Team Around the Child: sounds great, but loses that one on one relationship which often mitigated the damage of the care system. Everyone is focused on hitting their targets (percentage of reports followed up within 48 hours, percentage of children waiting more than 6 weeks for a case worker, percentage of children taken into residential care etc). Social workers have been under increasing pressure not to remove children unless they absolutely have to. This leads to the agencies waiting too long before they do so.

In amongst all of this some individuals have fucked up. As with any other profession, there are some numpties. There are people who have had a bad week and missed something bloody obvious because they're distracted by their own issues etc etc etc. carries accross the care system, the police, the GP, the accident and emergency doctors etc.

What's needed is a better balance between the desire to keep children with their families and the need for some of them to be removed. What's also needed is a better flow of information between the different agencies, a clearer line of responsibility and a greater understanding amongst related professionals (family doctors for example). Add to that the need for social work to be given a greater level of respect within the system. Much like teachers, social workers have been subject to a kind of cultural witch hunt. many of the errors which lead to children being injured or killed are systemic errors rather than being the fault of an individual. But social workers have been made to carry the can entirely. Nor are they well-paid compared to other professions with similar requirements in terms of educational level and qualifications. They seem to be a profession under siege. Under paid, over worked, high stress levels, high dropout levels, very high levels of work related depression and related illness.

[Shawnee123]

5 FEET OF SNOW STARTING AT MIDNIGHT.

Oh, um...

3 FEET OF SNOW STARTING AT 4 A.M.

Well, wait...

3-5 INCHES OF SNOW STARTING SOMETIME IN THE MORNING.

It's the fickle snow I hate: sent home early or not, it will take me about 2 hours to get home, I'm sure.

Snow or get off the pot, Mother Nature, you beeatch!

[Undertoad]

4-8 in starting around 6pm here. That's mildly irritating.

J took the Cellar car to work because it's better in snow than her car!

[DanaC]

I love the idea of a 'Cellar car'. In my mind's eye it's a bit like the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo.

[Shawnee123]

True Dana, I love that!

There could always be a snow day tomorrow! Yeah, I know I'm spoiled and a lot of folks don't have the option, but I chose this profession for more than one reason, you know.

My old place hardly ever closed. Here, it's more reasonable, but they can't justify closing on what is SUPPOSED to happen. I just hate those drives home. If it gets bad I'll just take some vacay or personal time and leave early. gotta use some anyway, and classes started last week so we have "crazy time reprieve."

[monster]

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

5 FEET OF SNOW STARTING AT MIDNIGHT.

Oh, um...

3 FEET OF SNOW STARTING AT 4 A.M.

Well, wait...

3-5 INCHES OF SNOW STARTING SOMETIME IN THE MORNING.

It's the fickle snow I hate: sent home early or not, it will take me about 2 hours to get home, I'm sure.

Snow or get off the pot, Mother Nature, you beeatch!

Ch'yeah. I was just saying to my friend if they keep downgrading it like this it's probably be snowing upward by the time the storm actually hits. That bloody east coast has stolen all our snow!

[Shawnee123]

We're getting tons right now. I should stop looking out my window, but I'm really apprehensive about getting home. Seriously, I will leave early. Everyone can whine about their 5 minute drive home, but I am not getting stuck and spending the night here. Nor am I waiting until rush hour so I can get run over by some snot-nose in daddy's 4 x4 or whoever they just made a trucker. Not in my little car. No. Way.

[monster]

Not a flake here. I keep thinking about clearing the garage to get the cars in and then i think fuck it, it ain't gonna snow, i'mm'a sit here and chat with my buddies and poke a few trolls.....

[Lamplighter]

Dana, what an excellent discussion of governmental responsibility... and the behavior of pendulums.
It convinced me you know your agency's mission, and how it is working in the real world.

Was this written just for the Cellar, or is it something of a report within your agency ?

I think your last was part is quite true here in the US too.
Certainly SW's get bad publicity on both ends of the decision spectrum.

But social workers have been made to carry the can entirely.
Nor are they well-paid compared to other professions with similar
requirements in terms of educational level and qualifications.
They seem to be a profession under siege.
Under paid, over worked, high stress levels, high dropout levels,
very high levels of work related depression and related illness.

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by monster

Not a flake here. I keep thinking about clearing the garage to get the cars in and then i think fuck it, it ain't gonna snow, i'mm'a sit here and chat with my buddies and poke a few trolls.....

OK, when the Air Force Base is closing...