REPLY POST
Reply Christian Initial Post
My client population consists of children, 0 – 17 years-of-age who have been subjected to abuse or neglect. The characteristics of this age group is that they’re young and vulnerable. They’re also curious, skillful, creative, assertive etc. These characteristics traits define who they are as people and highly influence the choices they make in their lives. The challenges that human services face working with these kids is that, abused Kids have distrust, fear, and isolation / lifelong psychological consequences of low self-esteem, depression, trouble forming and maintaining relationships. These kids seem to have given up hope. They always appear reluctant and do not want to talk. Human services professional’s role with and on behalf of these clients is generally multifaceted as they have to go beyond the role of counseling in helping them out. (Kiser, 2016, P.169).
The two areas that have been difficult as you work with this population are: (1). People’s wrong perception of the agency because of hearsay or previous bad experiences. Some people perceive the agency (DCF) as an organization that disrupts families by taking their kids away. They feel that the agencies are too quick to intervene in families’ lives (Crosson-Tower, 2015, P.35). The number two obstacle is the caseloads. Caseloads usually pile up and there’s not enough staff to do the work. The caseload is shared among the inadequate staff, making it harder to serve this population effectively.
I’ve learned quite a lot in my previous human services classes that are helping me in serving this population. For example, HUS 3022 – Building Stronger Fam/Comm taught me that human services professionals do well when they communicate and give a listening ear to their clients and avoid judging or taking sides, but to investigate issues thoroughly and render effective services. HUS 3354 Child and Family Welfare taught me that to change our world, we must focus on child development, the critical window of opportunity for setting down the essential emotional habit that will govern children’s lives in adulthood. Ethics taught me to always adhere to the fundamental values of the human services profession which include: respecting the dignity and welfare of all people; promoting self-determination; honoring cultural diversity; advocating for social justice; and acting with integrity, honesty, genuineness and objectivity.
Roadblock is a barrier that blocks progress or prevents accomplishment of an objective. My religious beliefs are my roadblock in rendering effective services to my clients – especially, if my client is an LGBT. A kid rebelling against his or her parents claiming to be a member of LGBT is very hard for me to digest. Although, I have been working on myself as a human services professional in maintaining neutrality and non-judgmental when serving my clients. I examine my assumptions and biases against this group and always strive to build trust, understanding and empathy.
