WORKLIFE PAGES
...being some chronicles relating to what I do for money in this world...
work, drive, sleep, work (and working towards time for life) just when I thought I had a day off, I'm called in for an extra day... great for the budget (after a modest 56 hour last week, this week is looking like at least 75 hours... I'm learning that they wave a red flag at about 100 hours for a two week period and freak out along about 120 hours, so getting more 120 hours for two weeks is a challenge here... this leads the budget director to keep waving the resume out there in case a better position comes along... but for now, I take what I can get), pooped for this body (sleep isn't easy with my current living situations... hopefully that will change by the end of April)... as for the job, the system sucks (to put it mildly)... not nearly enough professional staff and not enough staff who actually understand the importance of being on the same page... the lack of organization and abundance of inconsistency makes the prognosis for the program's success very poor... it's supposed to be a transistional program... from what I've seen and heard in the past couple of months, more kids are being transitioned into more restrictive settings than into less restrictive settings... not a good report card... it matters little to the administrators who appear to focus primarily on finances, which creates an environment for hopelessness and disillusionment for staff and clients alike... good staff leave hoping for greener pastures (more positive and effective programs) and mediocre staff interested in babysitting or staff that have trouble functioning in organized team environments remain... so sad... I mean, the essential ingredient of any successful therapy program is consistency of approach from all staff... that is painfully lacking in the place as some take a boot camp approach and others take a much more compassionate approach... since some kids have learning disabilities and other kids have psychological disorders, boot camp is not effective for these kids... you don't get a kid with learning disabilities to learn by ordering them to learn... unfortunately, threats of negative consequences, confrontations, and focusing on the negative behaviors is the way some (including teachers) approach the job... we shall see what I can do in my position... I'm torn between wanting to take day shifts that allow me to confront the system and try to change it for the better and taking night shifts that pay more money... for now, necessity makes the decision... perhaps down the road when I am more stable and when I have more job security (like at least off probation, huh?) I'll arrange some carefully calculated confrontations designed to bring the flaws in the system to light... hopefully there are enough staff who want a successful system even if it costs more or means some staff have to change their attitudes and approaches to the job and kids... training definitely needs to improve across the board... anyway, it's time for work... instead of sleeping I caught up on a bit of mail (just you guys who've written me about these journals)... today is a waste day, a second day of orientation that is going to be quite redundant after two months of working in the place, but it was cancelled when I started due to an audit that was going on then... I'll try to stay awake to be polite and all J while I sense I'll maintain at least some contact with the kids and the program (it's just the way I am ya know), I'm still very open to better offers J LOOK OVER MY RESUME SEND JOB LEAD HELP WORKLIFE INDEX MORE WORKLIFE THE SAME-TIME MENU BAR - FOR EACH GARDEN AROUND THIS SAME TIME NEW KIT WORKLIFE LIFETIME JOURNAL HEARTBEAT WANTS E-GROUPS GARDENS FRONT DOOR MAINGATE BACK DOOR WINDOW WHAT'S NEW WANT LIST WORKLIFE LIFETIMES KIT JOURNALS HEARTBEATS FAREWELL  EMAIL
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