Friday, June 5, 2009

My Firsts..

OK, so I'd been a social worker for almost 2 years already. As I reflect upon my career thus far, I thought it would be quite meaningful to recall my many many firsts... so here goes!

My first ...

>Namecard! 
Finally! I'm a social worker! no more social work student/intern/attachment student/observer etc. The day I have been looking forward to since I chose social work as my major=)

>Client, I mean TWO!
After spending one month around the home getting to know the residents (you'll never know which cases you'll be allocated so it pays to be nice to everyone), staff, operations matters, and basically doing nothing, I was allocated 2 cases at one go! I remember reading through the case files scrutinizing every bit of the social report attached to it, drawing genograms and ecomaps diligently and of course planned for my first session with the child! And I am actually quite proud to say that up to this day, although I have been tasked 30-40 over cases, I still feel quite excited when a new case is being allocated to me. I choose to see that as my passion for my cases are still there, which is really good because I've seen too many social workers who just simply lost it. Yeah to me! 

>Home Visit
Home visits are a must to assess the family's physical living environment before we are able to release the residents on home leave. This one was not exactly a home visit but it was actually the workplace of one of my clients whom the whole family spends almost the entire day at. I remember I was quite affected after this visit, because I saw for the first time a heart wrecking medical condition of the younger sister of my client. Nothing I have seen before and as I am typing this, the images are still fresh and vivid in my mind. Thankfully things are getting better for the family now. A very very resilient family that I have learnt alot from, really.

>Family Session
I have only facilitated one family session on my own so far and that was a supervision session when I was doing my second placement. I remember that as a nerve wrecking, emotionally draining experience although I spent alot of time speaking to my field placement supervisor and even role played the session. I was glad this one went very well, and my objective was achieved at the end of the session. Parents and child were very cooperative and it made me happy! 

>Court report and presentation
This was 10 times more nerve wrecking than a family session! I have never ever spoken to a Magistrate/Judge before and I totally did not know what to expect! I did up my report that was half heartedly vetted by my then senior social worker (who was crap really) and she did not even change a single word! -_- It happened that I had to attend the court hearing because one of my clients reoffended and the police had pressed charges against him so he had to be breached. It was the last case of the day as Ministry's Officers usually present their cases first. By the time I went in, my heart was in my mouth and my hands were numb (partially because of the air con as well). I briefly gave a background of the case and before I could delve deeper, the judge took to our recommendation and we eventually took the child back on a fresh order. I had hardly spoken a few sentences though! But I survived! PHEW! Subsequent cases were much easier, as I know what the judge and the panelists look out for so I'll just go straight to the point!

>Paycheck! 
$$$$$ I treated my parents to some restaurant but I cant really recall which one. Its good to have $$$ though.

>Visit to to Singapore Boys' Home
This was such a longggg ride from my workplace! I had to visit one of my cases who was on remand there so that I could formulate the report based on my assessment. The security is much tighter than the institution I work at as it is a closed institution with Cisco Officers taking care of the residents. I had to go through a few security checkpoints and walk past the open area for the boys' physical exercises and drills before I reach the counselling room. And OMG I felt so visually raped! There were whistles and teasing from the boys but I guess the boys were just being friendly and cheeky. These days, some of the residents there were transferred from where I work so they usually take the initiative to say Hi, which is really nice. 

>Visit to Changi Prison
This was really an eye opener. In fact I feel privileged to be able to visit the prison and have inmates sharing their stories to our residents to deter them from reoffending. The part that left the greatest impact on me was how small the cells were and the video on the caning!! I swear I had recurring nightmares on the whip and butt that was split!! 10000000 x OUCH!

>Discharge case=)
I actually thought I will be overjoyed? But it wasn't as overwhelming as I thought it might be. Maybe because my first discharge case was co-managed by a ministry worker so technically speaking it was just half of my case. Nevertheless, a discharge is a discharge especially when there are so many residents who cannot curb their temptation for freedom and fun that they eventually end up being breached and transferred to a stricter institution. That said, nowadays, I value alot more on the process of my case management with my clients than whether they eventually discharge or not. I feel that when positive changes, no matter how small are evoked along the way, things will fall into place come discharge. I will have the faith that I have done my best and the residents reintegrated with their families are able to function better than before, and that is fulfilling enough for me=)


 
INHERENT Belief in Human Worth - Free Blogger Templates, Free Wordpress Themes - by Templates para novo blogger HD TV Watch Shows Online. Unblock through myspace proxy unblock, Songs by Christian Guitar Chords