back to bloging

Haven't posted in awhile because I've been sick, sick, sick. feeling better now, but still have the left overs of this cold plus seasonal alergies. nice. Truth be told I actually enjoyed not being at work, even though I was miserable.

Nothing earth shattering occured while I was sick which was nice. I had a couple of foster parents complain about their foster child's therapists. One is a newer foster parent in this area and doesn't realize that her child is with the best agency in the area. The other foster parent should know that a therapist isn't going to solve things, and her child is with the best therapist of a different agency (and has been with that therapist for like 4 years)... In both cases, what upsets me most is that if there is a problem with a professional, its good to let me know about it, but please bring it up directly with the therapist. With both of these kids we are trying to teach them to not manipulate or triangulate. Wouldn't it be good to show the kids how we do this? Both of the therapists in mind are very professional and are going to either work it out or be ok with changing therapists. I just hate being in the middle.

Celest is not doing so well. She is on respite in the middle of nowhere because her priorities are so screwed up she got suspended from school. We had a team meeting the day before and she promised she would attend every class and get caught up. But it was pretty obviouse that she wan't that committed. She might be able to go out of country for a visit with a former foster sister who is also willing to be an adoptive placement. She flat turned it down, but earlier had said that would be cool. We all think there is a boy. That seems to be what really gets her into trouble.

Greg is also still totaly screwing up. He got suspended from school again for a fight. He also has been stealing stuff again. One of the agreements for him to not go to DT last time was to work hard in therapy, which meant writing in his thearpy journal everyday. Well thats not getting done either. I just don't know what to do for him at htis point. Fortunately his foster family still is thinking about adoption.

A lady has contacted me about adopting sister. Thats great, only I think this lady is not playing with a full deck. I guess we'll see what happens. Speaking of that, I don't know if any of you have run into this, but it seems that many foster/adoptive families have issues. Maybe its just me but it seems that some foster families are "client-esk". Ever ran into the fact that it seems many therapists could use therapy themselves? In saying this I realize that doing foster care is enough to make anyone crazy, but some families seem to start out already halfway there. I'm sure any of you reading this are the normal ones :)

May already

I can't believe it is already May. Where did April go? I've been busy, but nothing too exciting, just normal caseworker kinds of things. Busy and stressful, but nothing unusual. I got a new case and main issue is truancy. Not sure it should be a child welfare case, but it is indicative of more going on in a home. In this case substance abuse seems to be part of the issue. The judge came down hard on them on the contempt hearing. It was good to see actually. The case could be pretty time consuming so I'm glad its before my favorite judge.

Suzie is having issues in her placement. I sure hope we can get her to make this work. Its difficult when a teen is bound a determined to fail. This leads me to Celest. Oh boy she is totally checking out of school. I'm glad her attitude at home is good but she is headed down and I'm out of ideas. In her mind ageing out of the system is failure, but she doesn't want to see if there are adoptive families out there. I can only imagine the feelings of rejection she has every day, and understand why she wouldn't want to set herself up for more disapointment. But its heartbreaking to see someone with so much potential waste it. Her life has literally been hell, but she has survived. She definately has issues but also has a tremendous amount of potential and strength.

Jack and Celia are headed out of state for an extended visit with maternal grandparents. ICPC didn't come through yet but I did talk to the CW in that state and she indicated that they passed the background check and initial walkthrough. The judge okayed an extended visit so hopefully that covers my but enough. Dad is still in jail, mom is doing ok in treatment and has found a house so in a month the kids should be able to do a trial home placement. Keeping my fingers crossed.

For my "L" kids adoptive mom relinquished her rights and there is a court date for adoptive dad in a couple of weeks. Hoping to get the paperwork and everything together for a July adoption to bio mom and her husband. This has been a strange case! This is one I feel good about, and I haven't really had to do anything on it. I can't believe how different those kids are. They still have work to do in therapy but have come amazingly far. Just goes to show how critical those first years are. Kids are amazingly resiliant when they were properly cared for as infants and toddlers. Even though things are going to turn out well, the picture of those kids in the hospital still haunts me. The thought that I would've never known the boy except from an obituary...

On a lighter note we are being furlowed. Not sure when it will be or how long. They are thinking 30-40 hours worth. Its not going to affect me that much, but there are a number of workers who are the sole breadwinners for their family, and live paycheck to paycheck that are going to be hard up. The foster parent rates are being reduced, and we are still out of money. I don't know whats going to end up happening.

I think I have pig flu! well I have a cough and I'm tired. Ok probably not pig flu. If I really did I wouldn't have to go to work :)