Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles.
Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil’s Dictionary

I love and hate my job. Human Services. I conduct more human services by being polite in traffic than I do at my job. I’ve worked in this field for a while considering how old I am. Hell I’ve never been with a girl this long, won’t have my car as long, and the only place I’ve lived longer is with my family. I have understood from early on what the main challenges are in this field.
1) Politics play a part. People who do these jobs get nervous when Republicans come into office cause they know the policy shift will affect their programs and more importantly their funding.

2)The line between front line staff and administration is often a brick wall. Neither can connect with the other in a meaningful way. Numbers don’t always equate to people helped and vice versa. It’s hard to work when you are concerned with the details of peoples lives and how you can help them and the person who is in charge of you is worried about paying for things and looking good in the light of people who kick out the dough.

3) More people than you might expect have a hard time getting ahold of the needed documents to register with various programs, especially young people from low income areas. When you can’t depend on your parents to take care of you how do you expect that they’ll have your birth certificate and social security card handy…well the ones that put bills in your name might.

4) It’s all a waiting game. No one who makes up their mind that they need help really wants to have to wait to get it. Sometimes it takes people a long time to get themselves to a point that they can come in and sign up for a program…the last thing they really want to hear is come back tomorrow or we can do that next week. I often have to (basically lie) talk up the processs to make people feel like the next thing the have to do is very important so they can feel like they’re making progress.

I did not write this just to bitch! Well maybe a little.

I’m a firm believer that you can’t just curse the darkness, you have to shine light. So here is the start of my list. I have no idea how long it will eventually be. I do know that this is something I’ll present to someone or make sure I can implement what I can from it.

1) It is my belief that all services should be rendered in a direct line. Funded from the federal government and move straight down through the state and city levels. In the midst of this we must eliminate alot of the garbage that goes along with it. See alot of the programs that I’ve worked with have been funded through the Dept. of Labor. This means that alot of my paperwork is really just a means to collect data. I never see the positive results from collecting this information. Therefore all that will be required from people is some type of proof of their social security number. For those that don’t have the actual card our connection to the Feds will be a means to provide it to them, without making them get a million types of I.D. first. Especially since to get most forms of I.D. you need your social security card! (Why do I need I.D. to get I.D. - Mos Def) I don’t care what “official say. Unless you have a really good hook-up with the mob or something, social security numbers are the best means to track people…if you owe student loans like me then take a look at what your account number is. If people really want to generate a bunch of reports than find another way to do it.

2) These agencies will be located in a central location for instance, in Baltimore you can get downtown from just about any place in the city with ease. Each direction of the city will have a dedicated division, either in one large building or 4 seperate ones positioned relative to the area they represent. These centers will be large so as to prevent those who require serious and multiple services from being stuck with a case manager who is trying to deal with 100 people (I’ve had a maximum of 180 people on a caseload). Each center will have offices in every named neighborhood. This will be a place for Main Street Services, Public Saftey and provide offices where case managers from the larger centers can come to work with those who still can’t afford to travel back and forth in addition to housing community groups and commitees. Several of the more intense services like trainings will be located in the larger centers. State facilitated apprenticeships, local training programs, and education centers can be based here. This means that a person who needs to get their GED and secure training can do it here. Also a person from the west side of town knows they just need to go to their center to find out about an apprenticeship as an electrician. Social Services, Child Support, Parole and Probation, state/city run special needs facilities and all other agencies of this kind will be based in these centers. They will be brought under one roof and branch of authority to promote cooperation. This way a person who needs child care and can receive assistance from D.S.S. and not have it conflict with trying to get their GED. In addition the guy who owes childs support won’t be able to acquire any services without being flagged for non-payment…not saying he won’t be served, but this way he is easily tracked.

I don’t want to overload you guys so until next time…