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Thursday, 09 July 2009

  • Foster Care as my mission field...

    Now, I realize now that this was a simple answer... but for some reason I could never put mission and foster care together.


    Well foster care is a secular establishment right?


    How do I pray with and talk about God to my clients?  Is that allowed?  So I sort of dismissed the whole premise of God being anything other than my personal faith and conviction.


    I was praying today, and i've been talking about lately... I want to be a radical case manager.  I want to missionally provide services to my clients (the children) and their parents.  I might be the only kind person who cares about their well-being that they have ever met.  It doesn't matter what I have been trained to think about people who are in foster care (even though I was one, I still have evil stigmas... they are hard to rid of, I'll give myself that one to work on)...

    It doesn't matter what they've done, or what they are doing now... My job is to give them hope and a positive outlook on their future.  It might not be their season to "turn their life around."  It might not ever come... but do I really want to add to everything else that has brought them to this point?

    As a follower of Christ, I want to learn how to love them unconditionally and to impact their lives in positive ways.


    two steps forward, three steps back
    Babs

Monday, 06 July 2009

  • Time to get serious

    Its time to get serious... Its time to get down to work...


    With my life, with my faith, with my work, and with my passion.


    Why am I such a slouch when it comes to getting down to work?


    What is it that is pulling me back?  I feel like I have SOOOO many doors open to me...


    but I stay in comfort...


    *sigh*

    Babs

Monday, 22 June 2009

  • Day 3: taking the training wheels off one at a time.

    Well, I can't say you can do that... because its either take them both off or keep em on.  Other wise you'd be flopping right over on your bike.  Anyway thats how it feels.


    I feel like that despite me thinking that my integration as a social worker would be slow and gradual... I'm getting a bit more than I can handle I think.  I wish I could just get a week to read all of my cases, and I wish I could take them home for some light reading.  (I understand why, I can't do that though)


    With this job, there is a perpetual to-do list.  However, its definitely a pattern, and most of the thinking part has been done for me.

    There is a handy dandy schedule that tells me when things should be in... well the major plans and case suches.  Also, there is a chart thats kind of a check off that helps me see which visits I have made and which ones I have not.  This helps a lot.  I'm sorry that my first three days of work have been a bit boring.  Its not like I can give you much detail about my cases anyway!  haha.  We'll see how this goes.  I'm really excited about the training and development piece of being a case manager.  I get to go to trainings, and my agency seems to do a good job of promoting and even encouraging them.  While at the trainings I'll be able to meet new people, and hear about what is going on in the world of Child Welfare!  I'm going to miss my insider-privilages as a youth ambassador, because above all else... knowing the up and coming resources and services that were making their way around, helped put me at ease.  They gave me tools so that I could pass it a long, and suggest better ways to care for our children.  Until I get those insider privilages again... I'm going to soak up the trainings, even if I have to pay for it myself.

    I'm also thankful that I have some insider access to database and online academic journals... This way I can independently do research and keep my game one.  This morning I was reading a journal that was describing a case.  It was fun to actually read it, because as a case study it was similar to some of the cases I've been reading.

    On a creative note, maybe in July sometime... I'm going to have some of my kids decorate my corkboard.  Its small... but its big enough to decorate and I think it could be a fun process to build trust and relationship with the youth on my caseload.

    So there you have it Day 3:

    hey feel free to let me know what you think, and what you want to hear about!

    Babs

Thursday, 18 June 2009

  • 1st day!

    I woke up, and put on the clothes I laid out the night before.  My hair wasn't cooperating, but I'll blame that on the rainy weather!  *sigh*  I stopped at wawa for breakfast, only because I didn't feel like waking everyone up with the dogs barking. 

    Then I was on my way to the HR department.  I've been surprisingly at ease while driving in Philadelphia these past few weeks.  Granted, I have not ventured out into center city, but the suburbs and other outlying areas seem to be fine if you know where you are going.  Once I figure out the road system, it will be easier even still!

    I arrived at the HR department, and it was raining, raining, raining!  *sigh*

    The adminstrator's assistant had me sit down at a table as we waited for the other new employee to arrive.  All of my now fellow coworkers said good morning and hello to me.  This is always a good sign, because it shows that there is a level of respect for people who walk in the door.  It also puts your clients at ease, because its a direct response, and its easy to respond too.  Without them having to worry about what to do next. 

    The assistant laid a full packet down in front of us, it was massive!  I never had to do such paper work for McDonald's!!!! It took us about an hour and a half to go through it, and then it was off to get my FBI finger prints done.  We went to this sort of yellow school bus graveyard.  (the buses were fine, but it kind of reminded me of a graveyard because of the weather)...

    Then I drove to my office.  I'm sure parking will be one of my daily battles, because we are on a fairly main street I guess.  Its not too busy of a street though.  The front desk lady, gave me a tour of the office... We actually have a nice place and we rent it from a church that takes place in the same building

    I made myself at home at my desk.  There are no cubicles or offices for the case managers, but I almost prefer it that way.  Then I can converse and work with my case managers easier.  I worked at a place that was all cubicles before, and it was hard for me to be social, and to connect with the other people in my work place.

    They ordered pizza in honor of me starting.  haha. I think they were more excited about the opportunity to get pizza though   haha.  I told them that I hope that I can give them more opportunities to eat pizza in the future.  haha.

    For the rest of the day, it was paper work, reading and learning about case management.  My supervisor gave me one of the cases I'd be taking on gradually, and I had a checklist to review the file.  It was hard to know what everything was.  I was also being told when reminders had to be sent out.  When paperwork had to be done.  How many visits were to be made monthly with whom, and where.  I feel as though this time management piece will be the most difficult for me, because it kind of means I have to lock in 13-14 schedules in my head (and in my calender)... and keep track of them all.  I might have to color code them.  I'm not sure how easy that will be though.  I guess I gotta go pen shopping now!  (ooooh I love office supplies!)

    I have a lot of reading to do... a lot lies on me because if I don't have certain documentation in my file, the agency could be documented and be shut off from receiving referrals for a period of time.  This isn't good, becuase then they aren't getting money from DHS, which puts us in a bind financially.  I think its a good way to keep us on our toes and accountable, but the amount of paper work and nitty gritty information is pretty much ridiculous.  My supervisor has been at his job for 10 years, so he's good at keeping us on track.

    This rain is making me very gloomy, and it was definitely hard to not be bored by the tedious work ahead of me.  I want to problem solve!  I want to meet my kids!  I want to dig in!  Thats the part I'm looking forward too! 

    I get to meet a lady who has most of my cases tomorrow... we'll get to talk over them all, and I hope to learn a lot about them.


    That was my first day in a nut shell.  There wasn't much for me to do.  One thing, I need to be weary about is how I respond to advice, and policy.  I need to hold my horses sometimes and just soak things in.  Its alright for me to just learn the ropes for a while before I go about critiquing and critisizing them.

    Have a good night!
    Babs

Wednesday, 17 June 2009

  • memoirs of a first time case manager...

    I start my new job tomorrow.  Yes, yes, yes I have a lot of filling in to do. 


    but I start as a case manager for foster kids tomorrow   VERY Fitting of what I wanted to do.  I'm pretty nervous.  Everything {clothes, bags, lunch, umbrella} is all put out and ready to go for when I wake up in the morning.  I'm hoping that everything runs very smoothly.  I do have some driving in the city to do.  {Heck, even my gas tank is a little under full}. 

    I'm going to the HR department first, and then its off to my regular office some 60 streets away.  yep!  haha.  Already the bureacracy makes things difficult to get to.  All in all, the place seems very cool, and I don't forsee any problems.  I'm not worried about problems with administration or other caseworkers though, I can hold my own.  I'm more worried about my actual case loads.  I was worried about whether or not I should disclose to my clients that I was a foster child myself.  Let me make it clear, that I was raised in a rural community, and the issues and things that I experience will never match up to the trauma and deep deprivation that city kids face.  I want to be the one who tells a child, "You matter to me, and I care where you end up."

    I was talking to a friend, and they suggested that since I'm new I should not disclose it.  I like that idea

    So, I have this grand idea of how cool it would be for me to put all of my experiences as a first time case manager down... and I have an inkling of having it published?  Do you think people would read it?  Am I a good enough and interesting enough writer?  Let me know. 

    Babs



BHuggins1020

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    • Name: Barbara
    • Country: United States
    • Metro: Hanover
    • Birthday: 10/20/1986
    • Member Since: 3/1/2005
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About Me

  • I love to explore and try new things. Everyday I am trying to learn more about God and to be his loving daughter. I'm passionate about justice and advocating for foster children. Mostly because I myself was one for 13 years. God has made me a very beautiful and talented girl. I'm goofy and am discovering that I am a target for getting picked on. haha. I'm not blond though. I am a very deep and compassionate person who's breadth of feeling and understanding places the world on her shoulders. I love saying hi and learning about new things :-) I am your average 21 year old... I like camping and rock climbing, I do art! Travelling-- I've been to England, Scotland, Norway, Spain, and Trinidad (3 years ago this was never thought possible)... My goal for xanga is be one of those people who get 20+ comments. haha. (okay now I'm being dreamy...

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Chatboard (54)

  • dianall1962
    cat soup
  • dianall1962
    OK see ya
  • youcreateyourownreality
    You're yard's georgeous Diane. You ought to be very proud and happy.
  • youcreateyourownreality
    @dianall1962 - Thanks. I thought so. Ok, I'm really gone now. We'll have to do this again!
  • youcreateyourownreality
    I didn't realize how late it is!!!! I'm gonna have to go run and make soething to eat right now. I'm starving! I'll check back later! TTyl guys. It was a blast! Ok. I'm outta here. I'm gone!
  • dianall1962
    I'll tell you It' in the front yard
  • youcreateyourownreality
    So where is that picture Barb?
  • youcreateyourownreality
    @dianall1962 - that's really awesome! Yeah, sometimes you have to deliberately 'play around' to figure things out.
  • dianall1962
    Yea ask Barb whare this is
  • youcreateyourownreality
    @BHuggins1020 - Oh! Ok! Good to know. Thanks.