Well, I've had worse days. Really. Today was writing up of interviews and the truth was I struggled to remember some visits that I did last week. The details were blurry. Somehow when I am I listening to a child's account of what has happened, I don't want to be writing notes, I want to be listening. At the time I don't think I can possibly forget, but today showed that I can and I do.
After an inner struggle, not wanting to lose face, I asked my colleague who was there also to help me remember. She also had not made notes, for the same reason, not wanting to put a child off telling her story by writing it down as she spoke.
But together we put something resembling her story together and I did it on my own for 2 other children's accounts. The trouble is, they don't tend to be all that coherent, or easy to follow. It made me realize, I am there as an authority, a representative of the Local Authority. I do need to get things right. It's a bit of a dilemma though and with my training as a counsellor, and years of experience in that, it's not always easy to be as probing as I need to be.
Comments all around about the job, one person back on duty today after being off sick last week. She said it was just because she hadn't been looking after herself properly. And it was both great and terrible to hear C....say that he did not take work home, have a mobile and that long term work is more stressful as they do everything, Child Protection, Core Assessments, Court work! His view was that in intake everything we do leads to a completion of our work, everything a person in long term work does, creates more work. He also said, jokingly he likes intake as he doesn't like people...and that in LAC and other long term work he had a terrible time as he did everything. He thinks that Chairs like to create long lists of things to do to keep people busy but when they had done them all, and it hasn't helped, they don't know what to do.
So in the 4th week of the job we finally have a 5 minute chat and I feel I have begun to get to know a colleague at long last.
Oh and my not quite qualified colleague gets allocated the case we visited on Friday. The mother of the child told her she wants us just to take her, or she will send her back to Jamaica.
Our manager is so busy trying to process the tasks on ICS that he clearly does not really want to be disturbed with questions from any of us.....but we must ask!
I managed to leave at 6pm.....wonderful!
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