June 2012
So, I am getting ready to finally quit my job at the For.Profit. I simply can’t take any more of the hypocrisy. I don’t believe in what we do what we do or what we stand for any more. I can’t.
When I started I thought that we were supposed to be there to help kids have a safe life and learn to become good citizens. That we were supposed to help prepare them to turn 18 and head out into the big bad world prepared to face it knowing that there was someone behind them as some type of support.
What a big fucking joke that turned out to be.
In the last year in our office alone we have let 5 kids age out of the system with no plans at all. Nothing. Nada. Well, I take that back. Their plan was to gather their stuff up and drive them to the nearest shelter at midnight on their birthdays and drop them off.
Awesome plan! Happy 18th Birthday Kiddo!
Hope you survive the night!
The first one turned 18 last June. She was a junior in high school. She had the option of signing herself back into care until she finished high school. Her high school PRINCIPAL convinced her NOT TO. Told her she would be happier if she got her own place. Yeah. Didn’t work out so well for her. She had to quit school. And due to the rules when she turned 18 she is no longer eligible for care.
The next one turned 18 in August. Insisted that we take her to Spokane the day before her birthday. We did. Put her in a respite home. She walked out the door at midnight and has since disappeared.
The next one turned 18 in Dec. No Plan. No where to go. No shelter in the area. No warning. Bags on the doorstep at noon on his birthday. Did I mention nowhere to go?
Next one in Feb. Asked to go to Spokane the night before her Birthday. Again put on respite. Left at midnight. Picked up by her boyfriend. Got married the next day. pregnant. Using and abusing.
Most recent one Turned 18 in May. Type one diabetic. In and out of the hospital because she can’t control it. Literally 3 times a month hospitalized. Her plan was shelter care. This is not a legal plan! But it is what was written in her official plan.
I Say Again: NOT A LEGAL PLAN! We put this childs life at risk. the chance of her actually surviving is so slim that it is not even worth calculating. The liability issue is huge. Not to mention that this child has no clue how to survive on her own.
Every time I objected to this plan, I was told that since I wasn’t her case manager I shouldn’t worry about it. I was still a member of her team. Still a member of the agency responsible for providing for her care to the tune of $5000+ A MONTH. FOR WHAT? They took that money and in gave nothing in return for it.
In the world I was brought up in, we call that stealing. Apparently at the For.Profit they call it business.
We are getting a new 17-year-old in the next week. We are supposed to warehouse her as well. She will be 18 in Jan. Again, she is a trouble maker and won’t graduate from high school by then. Since she is going to the same high school as the first child that turned 18 last June, I am sure the Principal will convince her to move out too, just so she won’t have to deal with her.
I really detest my job. I hate it. I used to think that I was making a difference.
Now, I know better.
But, I did decided not to quit. Instead, I am going to passively aggressively work on getting fired. I will do MY job, but no thing more.
Oh, and start making my contact at the state know what I am seeing.
Shhh.... I have a secret 
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