Long time, no blog

So it is a YEAR after my last blog. really, what does that say about me? That I am BUSY. Grad school and work = no life. And then there's the kitties. In between this blog and the last one I have started working at Feline Rescue shelter in St. Paul, where I work as a cat adopter. You want a cat? I can hook you up.

I have struggled with blogging and work, and blogging, and privacy and blogging since the beginning. Now that we are mere days away from the giant state take-over (oh wait! you don't know about the giant state take-over, do you!!!) I decided it was OK to blog. I'll just be thoughtful and careful. You know, like I always am. Stop laughing.

So the big state take over. I know right? we ARE the state. but now a different state agency will be in charge of Guardians. What happened was this. Very smart legal people met and talked about how a party to the lawsuit (that's us) should not be ultimately managed by the finder of facts (that's the Judges). Being in the Judicial branch is an inherent conflict of interest for us. So we are now going to be managed by a BOARD of really smart legal people. Who aren't judges. But what about the money? Who is going to pay us?

The is that kids don't vote, and funding for children is even less popular than funding for criminals (ask the Public defenders about their budget sometime). So what they (the smart people) decided was that we would still get funding through the judicial branch but it would be "passed through" to our Board who would make all the decisions. I told you they were smart.

SO the board has been hired, and now they will plan to meet, and then they will plan to hire an executive director for the state GAL program. And then the magic happens and we figure out what our new work life is going to be like.

In the meantime, I will get back to blogging about the GAL program here in Hennepin. The next subject will be "God-damned media bastards" and disclosure of information about underaged victims. Pleas feel free to comment.

Happy Halloween!!!

Today's thoughts are about boundaries. What you can share with clients, what you can't, what we put out into the world. One of my teen clients asked to "friend" me on facebook. I said HELL NO that's 18 kinds of inappropriate, but the question is out there- we are all very visible in the internet.

Said client is going to be dismissed soon, what then? I still say no, because there will always be a power differential in our relationship, but I also don't want my work life and my home life so intertwined.

So what about the blog? Since I am putting myself "out there" so to speak does it still matter? I think that the work we do is really important, and we do not have enough forums to discuss it. I also think that there is something about advocacy work that lends itself to this medium, with certain limitations.

And what about Halloween? :) YEAH, that's what it's all about. I didn't dress up today, but I am wearing orange and black and have a LOVELY tiara that Kellie bought me for my birthday a couple years ago. It has a spider on it, and it's really quite attractive. You can't go wrong with a good Tiara.

Blogging a fine line...

As a newbie social worker (student) I am very conscious of things like data privacy. Plus I totally don't want to get fired. :)

Why blog? Well, I have noticed a lack of community space to discuss the big picture issues in our "system". I also think it is important to speak out about issues as we see them. Am I doing this for work? No. For school? No. For the kids? HELL YEAH. Oh and because I am a shameless self-promoter and frustrated writer.

Plus some of the stuff we see is so bizarre, so crazy, you can't make it up. Oh, but I can't tell you about that because it might violate data privacy. hahahaha

Like I said, walk a fine line.

What can I tell you about? The seafood bisque (soup) at the hospital cafeteria is so awesome. It is the best soup in the whole world, full of creamy shrimpy fishy goodness. We don't have to go outside to get food (it's cold and wet out there). So we lurk through the steam tunnels like GAL troglodytes heading upstream towards the light and life and sustenance that is the HCMC cafeteria. I kid you not, the food there is the bomb.

I can tell you about the GAL state wide program. What happens when you take everything that you think you know about the work you do, stick it in a box, shake it and then dump it upside down? That is what the state GAL program is going through right now. Will we still have volunteers advocating for kids? YEAH. That's all we know. It may even be enough.

equality

How do we tell the LGBT youth that we are working with that they can grow up to be anyone they want? They can't be. Don't ask don't tell in the military, inability to conduct a normal teen romance without being looked at as some kind of deviant...The simple act of choosing a mate and growing a life together. "No, I'm sorry, not for you- you are gay". Ridiculous and unacceptable in 2009.

blogging up is hard to do...

OK, so all those brilliant and witty things I have been blogging about apparently didn't get posted. WHY? because I am a gen X technophobe, that's why.

I THINK I have it all figured out now.

I love that new Guardian smell in the air. 9 parts enthusiasm to 1 part they don't know what they are getting into. Here's a shout out to all the newbie volunteers form our class, love you guys.

OK, one day of separation anxiety, and now we are on to the new class. sheesh, give me some time to grieve already!

It is seriously time for the county to start opening on kids who really need help. How many stories have we heard about kids in family court or delinquencies that should have been chips kids? TOO many that's how many. even one is too many.

Almost time to move on

I had a YTC (youth in transition) conference today for my oldest client. She is starting college on Monday, and soon we will be dismissing court jurisdiction. She doesn't yet realize that when we dismiss, I get dismissed too. She's ready, she can totally advocate for herself now, and she's grown so much. I keep telling myself that normal teens don't have Guardians and workers and lawyers. It is time for her to start the normal healthy rest of her life. It's really hard though. I know we do this for the kids, but 2 years is a long time to be together. I am going to miss having dinner, and all our talks. I LOVE the endless teen optimism and energy. I am dreading the next meeting where I need to point out to her that I am going to be gone from her life soon. I think this is going to be a really hard conversation.

Having a blog is like a new pair of shoes. Well you can't wear it. Or tie it. OK it's not like a new pair of shoes. It is really intimidating to think of all the things that I can write here, and can't think of yet.