rantings from the front lines of social services
Monday, January 31, 2005
irony
One of the clients had a T-shirt that said this:
"We, the willing,
led by the unknowing,
are doing the impossible for the ungrateful.
We have done so much
with so little
for so long,
we are now qualified
to do anything
with nothing."
Isn't that ironic?
Monday, January 24, 2005
manipulative much?
Whenever one of our clients reports suicidal ideation or intention (in other words, they say they're going to kill themselves) we have to do an individual session with them, and fill out a bunch of paperwork. This is a CYA liability thing, but it's annoying as hell.
Sometimes, the clients pick up on the fact that they can get special attention if they make a credible claim of suicide. We have one such client now.
"I just don't know what to do," she says to the group.
"That is something that you're going to need to think about," I say, trying to wrap up the session so I can go home. "We're at the end of the hour. Let's talk more about this tomorrow," I say.
"I just... I'mgoingtokillmyself," she blurts out in an instant--she knows the magic words.
And just like that, I'm stuck at the agency for another hour, filling out papers and talking to this woman, who no more wants to kill herself than I do.
Thursday, January 20, 2005
education
I know that most, if not all, of my clients are severely under-educated. But sometimes the things they say dumbfound me. Today, a client referred to someone as an "anti-positive influence" in her life. Of course, being the good echoing counselor that I am, I had to talk about "anti-positive" influences for the rest of the damn session.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
no news is good news
This morning, while I was drving to work, I heard a story about a house fire that killed 3 people. The fire was intentionally set by a woman who was angry at her boyfriend/crack dealer.
I wonder if people in other types of work listen to the news, hear a story about a recent violent crime, and then pray quietly, "God, please don't let that be one of mine."
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
secrets
One thing that constantly amazes me is that the clients here seem to think that the staff don't communicate with one another. They will say one thing to one staff, and another thing to another staff, and be suprised when one of us points out that they have been inconsistent.
The most recent example:
"I never broke no laws," he told me in group.
Later, another counselor says to me: "Did ******* tell you he just got out of prison?"
"No, I respond."
"Yeah," she continues. "He did 10 years for a bank robbery."
Friday, January 07, 2005
resolutions
We're talking about New Year's Resolutions in group.
"Who has a resolution they'd like to share?" I ask.
"I do," says one client. "I want to lose some weight."
This client is an ex-crack-using prostitute. This means that she's about 100 lbs, max.
"How much weight would you like to lose?" I ask.
"What? Why are you talking to me? I didn't say nothin' about losing weight. You crazy?" she responds.
Indeed. I'm the crazy one.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
new year, but same old clients
I'm discharging planning with a client.
"Where are you going to live after you leave here?" I ask.
"I found an apartment," she says.
"How much is the rent?" I ask. (This is a standard question--you'll see why.)
"$550 a month," she says.
"It says here [indicating her file] that you get only $564 a month from your disability check," I point out.
"Yup. It's a good thing I found that place, because I couldn't afford much more than that!" she says, proudly.
Back to "Life Skills Class" with you, my dear.
