Vocational Activities in the third week

Dana High School and ATS (Alternatives to Suspension)

Today we met a special man, Mike, with a special job. Mike works for the City Hall and has a little office inside of the Dana High School. His specialty is early intervention and support towards (at risk) youth. The students of Dana High and students from other High schools in the area can visit Mike for support. Mike is an ex addict (clean for 30 years) and supports students with drugs and alcohol abuse, support the families/ parents and provide experience learning camps (together with Rotary).

The school itself has got no budget for this kind of care, because interfering of the city hall its possible. 

Mike gave us a tour around Dana High. This is a high school with lots of possibilities for students (creativity and sports). It is a public school.

One thing that surprised me was the melt pot of different students with different possibilities. Dana high is a school for regular students, students who need special attention and students with severe special needs (mentally and psychically handicapped) in the back of the building. Students can volunteer themselves for the buddy-project and help there colleague-students who need more support and care.

Mike told us that all the special education has been cut down and the schools had to accommodate the special education without extra money. Dana High got three academic psychiatrists that are focused on the special education. Regular students can’t apply these academics because they have to focus on the special need students.

Mike told us there is a big drug problem. Last month there was a girl that toke an overdose and died. There are a lot of students doing drugs (marihuana, meth and xtc) and a lot who think they need drugs (Ritalin) for a better concentration.

If the school is worried about some students they ask Mike to observer them for a while and make contact with there families.

After the tour we went to the project ‘Alternatives To Suspension (ATS)’

At the ATS are students who got suspended from there school or got kicked out. Mike visits this project every day and does a group meeting with them.

We were invited in this meeting, it was an incredible experience. Mike introduces himself to the students that did not know him and asked the students there name, age and the reason they are with the ATS. The reasons the students were there where very different, some where from an experimental puberty behavior, others from stupidity and some very disturbing behavior.

Mike is not a counselor and told the students they can call him and visit him if they need them. He was very confronting and motivated towards the students.

There are three social workers (with professional clinical background)  that lead this program.

Unfortunately there was not enough time for interviews with these professionals. I am emailing with one of them because o have a lot of questions about the assumptions and treatment of these students.      

Creativity:

It’s a good thing that students with (severe) special needs are in an environment as normal as possible and that students can help each other from a volunteer base (no extra grades). School created a reasonable alternative for the ridicules decision the county or government made by cut down special education facilities.    

Boys Town

My second vocational visit this week was at Boys Town in Trabuco Canyon in Orange County. Boys Town is a residential care facility for children and adolescents who need treatment, have to learn social skills and guidance in being more independence. Boys Town works with the family and guiders of the children and adolescents.

In Boys Town there are several cottages ‘treatment family homes’. I visited a treatment home for female adolescents. In these homes lives a family (man and a woman) who are trained to give treatment and educate the girls who live there. There is another care worker active inside the home. These girls go to school (picked up by the care worker). The ‘parents’ are 24 hour available.

The treatment:

-          The same faces they see

-          Role modeling by ‘parents’ for the girls and there family

-          Social competency method *(rewarding cards and goals)

-          Normal as possible environmental possibilities.

-          Daily routine

The girls can live here as long as they need. For some its temporarily and for others sometimes years. Boys Town is mostly the final station of the youth care.

Boys Town is a state funded organization.       

Different from the other organization Boys Town provide there care and cure towards court mandated children, orphans, private funded children and volunteer based children. The last target group is possible because Boys Town does there placements within a balance. They don’t get any money for the volunteered children but they get extra money for the private funded children, this way its in balance. The government only funds the court mandated children and orphans.

I met these professional, friendly, strong ad sweet ‘parents’ of the treatment house, they have an amazing job that deserves a lot of respect. There heart and soul is with these girls.

After this interesting experience it was time for some critical questions.

The executive director of Boys Town confirmed my theory. He confirmed that there is a grey area within the care and cure for children. He told me an example of a boy who got treatment from a care organization, did a lot better so the court removed the measure through which the court involvement stopped and he had no case manager anymore. His parents didn’t  want to have anything to do with him, he had no criminal history. Officially he was not qualified for help what so ever (the grey area). This boy considered to accuse his father of abuse or to commit a criminal crime so he could come into the system and get the help he needs.

What is the idea of the government about children and adolescents who needs protection, guidance, care and/or cure.

Is it the idea that these at risk children have to be removed from the streets because of inconvenience for society or that these at risk children need care, cure and or guidance they deserve. Its not that black and white of course but on the other hand;   

If the government thinks the future of a child is important and the development of children with special needs (in every way) they would fund it.  

All the extra facilities and treatments are possible because of involvement of volunteers, something we can learn from in the Netherlands.