I was looking over this blog after a long time and I was thinking that I would have to stop writing now because I am not actively advocating or working as a case manager because of important personal reasons. However I realized by sharing these very stories I am educating the public about the controversies inside the criminal justice system and Child Services Department.
I want to talk a little about why I was fired from my job and why everyone I was hired with QUIT. This is hard to share because it is personal but it needs to be shared. I was fired for not completing paperwork officially but that is not the real reason. The truth is I was only 3 months into 4 months of training for case management. The mental health system I worked for worked directly with the department of Child Services (DCS). After one month of training I was given a full case load and I worked as an intense family case manager.
To be clear, I was fired for caring to much, asking to many questions, and wanting to change things that were not working. The other people quit right away due to the supervisors cold dramatic responses to very serious case problems involving children.
I had 12 cases and I was supposed to see them all at least 2 times a week. Some of them I seen several times due to emergencies and others I could not get in touch with no matter how hard I tried. I seen children from ages 0 – 25 years old. Every single one of them had a serious disorder that caused behavior problems.
In almost every case the problem was not the child but the parents. The typical child I seen had been in multiple foster families and had not formed a natural bond to any adult because of the short stays. When I was fired I had worked very close to these families for 2 -3 months. The children had gotten to know me and trusted me. When I was fired I was not aloud to say goodbye and many of the families called me very confused as to why I was not making appointments weeks after I was gone.
Children who had been traumatically ripped from home to home are being introduced to case manager after case manager and therapist after therapist. The system that is supposed to be helping them is really traumatizing them more.
When a child does not form a secure attachment they do not socialize properly and they have a considerate amount of anxiety. These children are more likely to grow up to be criminals and prostitutes because the sstem traumatized them over and over. Case managers are supposed to be the communicator between all professionals involved but the DCS system went through three case managers on one case that I had for 2 months!
People who are to poor to afford transportation are expected to be at multiple therapy, DCS, and rehabilitative meetings so that they can prove they are trying. The problem is that with all the appointments and stress DCS brings these parents are more likely to fail after DCS is involved then before.
The point is that even though the parents make a mistake, after DCS is involved the children and family will suffer because case managers are to overworked to actually help the family in the way they need it. he child is the one who suffers.
The solution is to hire more case managers and lessen the load of cases. However, the pay should stay the same and parents should get rehabilitation programs that come to their house instead of ones they need transportation to. Also, parents should get help for drug addictions instead of jail time that separates them from their kids.
The state of Indiana and the counties have been sued where I live but the case managers lost. The laws are being broken and no one cares!
Take it from someone on the front lines of social warfare!
Please LIKE and SUBSCRIBE
THANK YOU 🙂
Child Advocate Blog 