Hello Everyone!
I completed my first week of work at Safe Horizon in the Brooklyn Family Court. It was full of information, a lot of down time, and meeting many new people. The first few days were a little rough, but I think I will enjoy working there. I will have three different tasks that all involve social work, so I am not worried about getting bored. I am really excited about my staff- everyone is not only approachable and willing to answer my many questions, but are also interesting and fun people I look forward to seeing. My boss is very relaxed and definitely knows her stuff, which makes her an excellent trainer. My only concern is that there is a lot of down time-- often times too much. The problem is that if no one comes into our center, we essentially have nothing to do. Luckily, I will be working two days a week at a different location, the Family Justice Center, that is generally much busier. The FJC was formed by the governor's office and houses over 20 different organizations working to combat domestic violence (including specialized police officers, the DA's office, and extremely specialized organizations like the Committee to end Jewish Poverty). It is great to have so many resources working together and within walking distance so our clients can get everything they need at once.
Unfortunately, the job can be pretty emotionally intense. I am learning to separate the rest of my life from my position with Safe Horizon, and how to mask frustrations is front of clients. The most intimidating aspect so far is that many people who have worked with Safe Horizon for a number of years seem jaded with the process (always complaining about corrupt police, not enough funding, loopholes in the laws, etc.) It makes the position feel very surreal, like I just walked onto the scene of a prime time courtroom drama. But since I will only be working here for less than two years, I am optimistic that this won't happen to me.
So that is that! I have about two more weeks of shadowing to do until I am able to see clients on my own, which is very exciting. I will keep you posted on how things go :)
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Glad you're liking it...it sounds like it's gonna be a great learning opportunity for you too. Once you're done shadowing, what will your actually be doing (do you talk to the clients to get their story? do you council them? do you explain to them what ways your facility can help them?)...I'm really interested in how these organizations work.
ReplyDeleteWow - sounds like your job is very much tied to the legal system; I will be very interested to hear how it develops! from the law school view, family court is talked of as one of the most depressing areas of law you can go into because, while you may be protecting kids, sometimes you are just breaking up families. however, i think you, of all people, have a very grounded view of social issues and i hope you find yourself making a positive difference:) congratulations on the job!!
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