Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Please, everyone, join me in my outrage!
JJ called this morning to say that he's only allowed to come up and visit on Saturday and Sunday. It seems his case worker didn't bother to check with anyone before giving the okay for the every-day-during-Easter-break visits. The supervisor doesn't want him to come more than two days...why? I have no idea. And, of course, she's out of the office today. So now, he's sitting there, for the next three days, staring at the walls. In the Acopian center, which holds 48 boys, there are only six that didn't go on home visits for the vacation. So, he and five other boys (who are probably equally pissed off) get to spend three days with nothing at all to do. Guess where that's going to lead? I am so pissed now that I could honestly throttle someone. Oh, but the good news is that we're allowed to visit him between 7:15 and 8:15 each of the other days. Big freakin whoop! I asked him if anything had happened in the last couple of days to lead to this change, and he said no, that it had been a great couple of days...he was being especially careful so he wouldn't get any punishments that would ruin his Easter vacation. I feel like I have to do something, but I can't think of anything I can do.
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7 comments:
This center sounds like they are more interested in creating juvenile deliquents than helping these kids improve their situations.
We went to visit him last night...luckily the staff that actually works in the Acopian is pretty laid back this week, since there are only six kids all together. We were able to go out of a walk, then we went over to the gym, where Keith and JJ played against two other kids in basketball. The kids were impressed with how well Keith played. "Pretty good for an old guy", I heard a couple of them saying. JJ did a very level headed thing and went to the supervisor of the Acopian and asked her to please see if she could contact the supervisor of the kids and see if she could grant him more days. She added Friday. So, now we can have him for three out of six days. But, it's better than nothing. He said that some of the staff there are taking him out fishing today, which he absolutely loves. His spirits didn't seem as down as they were earlier - I think he may actually be proud of himself for getting that extra day added.
Do you think that the social services would make more effort to help things work out of you were a black famiyl or JJ was a white kid?
I only ask because try as I might I can see no reason at all why they should be making things so difficult for a nice family to take a troubled kid out of a crap environment and give him a chance.I am actually getting pissed off about it and it's got nothing to do with me.
I doubt that's it, Mum, since most of the families around here are white, and most of the kids at the home are black. I think they're just trying to "punish him" for the van incident.
I doubt that's it, Mum, since most of the families around here are white, and most of the kids at the home are black. I think they're just trying to "punish him" for the van incident.
Hey Schell , that fishing trip brought to mind the fishing trip in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's nest . A great time was had by all . Schell , it seems to me we only hear one side of the story here. It might be and likely is a serious pain in the ass to run a place like that home particularly as far as discipline goes . I don't know anything about it and I could be wrong but I have to give the people credit who work there for even being involved in such a thing as trying to take care of the kids who are rejected by the part of society they come from. I sure as hell wouldn't want to do it . As I said perhaps I'm wrong and they are absolute ogres right out of a Dickens novel but in any case try to see things from their perspective . To them you are likely no more then a basically wealthy white aging busy body trying to be some kind of super star savoir of a ghetto kid . You get your "kid" and off you go while they are still stuck with maintaining order with the rest of the boys . Just a different way of seeing things Schell. Allan
Meme, our system is just screwed up. There are 10,000 mobile homes sitting in rural Arkansas--placed there by FEMA for hurricane victims. But the homes can't be used in a flood plain...that's the sort of reatrded logic our social services run by. Do the wrong things for random bureaucratic reasons and then sit on it.
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