Subpoena!

So I was sitting in my office writing a report, when my phone buzzed. It was the front desk, the secretary said that there was someone there to see me. There was something ominous about how she said "someone" but I figured it was another school psychologist, maybe a parent. I went downstairs and went to the front desk and found a guy wearing a jacket with a law enforcement badge on the shoulder. He asked me for my name, and then handed over a sheet of paper. I wish I could tell you what he said exactly. It could have been, "You are required to appear in court," or something like that. Maybe he didn't anything at all. I just remember that I was in disbelief because when I met with Children's Services, they made it sound as if I wouldn't be called to testify in court. The court case is a custody case between foster parents that want to adopt a student that attends my school, and his biological family. I had pretty much forgotten about the case, but then I received the subpoena.

I had a day to fantasize what it would be like to testify in court. I pictured stating my name, swearing in, and sitting on the stand answering questions in my most official school psychologist tone. Today the assistant attorney general called me and we discussed the case. She asked me about my education, credentials, and when I first met the student. I had a really cool story, because I remembered him from his very first day of school last year. He has a unique spelling of his first name and his teacher misspelled it. When the teacher was going around the room and asking students to tell something interesting about themselves, the student mentioned that his name was misspelled on the label that was sitting on his desk. I could empathize because my name gets misspelled a lot. Anyway, I kept talking to the attorney on the phone and it soon became apparent that I was not the best person to testify. The truth is, I have very little contact with the student. I don't provide psychological services to him, and I haven't dealt with any behavioral issues with him either. I told the attorney that I agreed to testify on behalf of our school's personnel, but she said she couldn't allow that. It would be hearsay. I guess it's her job to pay attention to such things. So in the end, she chose to withdraw my subpoena and serve the social worker instead. She would be more appropriate, but I'm disappointed in missing out on going to court. How often will I get the chance to participate in a hearing for a good reason. Let's hope that the next time I'm subpoenaed it won't be because of some sort of malpractice.

BBC

You Give and You Give

I received troubling news today. Nathan's mom called the school to let us know that she was evicted from her apartment and was living with her brother in another town. She also told us that she was pulling Nathan out of his therapeutic after-school program that was run by a local mental health agency. We couldn't believe it. It seemed that Nathan was starting to do really well in school because of this program, and now it looks like he won't be attending anymore. It's really discouraging when you collaborate and find resources for families and then they end up leaving the town. This has happened several times since I've started working in my school. Sometimes it isn't the family's fault; things happen that are out of their control, but sometimes parents seem to sabotage interventions when they seem to be working. It makes no sense, but it seems that when the family as a whole is not doing well, and a child is receiving some help, the parents somehow find a way to thwart the help that their child is getting. Never fails. We all suspected that Nathan's mom was sabotaging his treatment, and our fears were confirmed when the social worker called the treatment center and talked with Nathan's therapist. She said that mom called and said that she had to move in with her brother, and that she was pulling Nathan out of the program because she was enrolling him into another one and he couldn't be enrolled in two programs at the same time. We all knew that this was a lie, which did not bode well for Nathan's well-being. The thought of calling children's services and making a formal complaint of educational neglect crossed our minds, but it is early. We want to give mom a chance to get things in order. We also want to convince her to let her son stay in the program. It's a very good one, and they have a waiting list for patients. If clients miss too many sessions, they are dismissed. This program and school would provide him with the stability that he desperately needs. We hope mom will come around, for Nathan's sake.

BBC

Elizabeth's PPT

We had an interdistrict PPT for Elizabeth today. It was an interdistrict meeting because Elizabeth is under the custody of Children's Services. Our goal was to get her former district to provide an aide to supervise Elizabeth in our school. There were many people at this PPT. Representatives from her former district were there, as well as her educational surrogate, foster parents, and numerous therapists. The staff members from my school were also present. We discussed Elizabeth's issues at length. We came to a decision that her therapy at school and in private practice shouldn't overlap, which was fine with the school. We don't feel comfortable providing therapy for her sexual abuse. It sounded like her therapy is going well, she has a lot of issues to deal with. The positive thing is that she is very open about her past, which is something rare in victims. At the end of the meeting, we revised a few of her goals and the other district agreed to pay for a paraprofessional to work with Elizabeth. Mission accomplished.

BBC

Throw-Away Children

My principal has a term she uses for children that come from terrible homes, suffer from serious neglect, are deeply involved in Children's Services, foster homes, and generally bounce around from place to place - throw-away children. She doesn't mean this in a disparaging way towards them; its more of a reflection to how they are treated by their families and the system. Usually the most consistent, vigilant ones are the school personnel, but often we can't do much because the children are only with us for weeks or months if we are lucky. Then they move away to start over, after we have spent time and energy lining up resources to improve their lives. But they aren't at fault. It's not like a 7 year old can just up and leave. It's usually an agency, or a foster parent, or the biological parent that decides to move away. Sometimes I'm not sure if people realize how much the upheaval really disturbs a child's well-being. There was a student who didn't show up yesterday and we all assumed that he would eventually come to school after Labor Day (there are always those few families that take it upon themselves to extend summer vacation.) Well I got a note in my box informing me that he moved away. This was a kid that we worked so hard to get him what he needed and really planned out who he would have as a teacher. Now he has to start over in another place.

I have new student who's case is absorbing a lot of my mental energy. She's a child with significant history of abuse and her psychiatric report painted a picture that, quite frankly, scared me. What do you do as a school when someone arrives with a significant history of being a victim and perpetrator of sexual abuse? How do you maintain safety in your school, keep all of the necessary personnel informed, without letting that knowledge spread throughout the entire school. How do you protect the welfare of other children, while maintaining one child's confidentiality? This is something I know I will struggle with for the next few weeks. Luckily I am adept at telling people that I have to maintain confidentiality and I have a competent team of support people who are confident in their decision-making skills. This should be an interesting year.

BBC