EL206 Learning Autobiography
Jerri Pevey
Purdue University Global
Learning Autobiography
I started my career sixteen years after finishing high school and started college eighteen years after beginning my career in the human services field. My husband and I married soon after high school and raised three children. Those years were not without learning and in many ways prepared me for my current career. I spent time volunteering at my children’s schools and at my church. While doing those activities, I discovered that my community had many struggling families. I quickly learned that each situation was different and that in order to guide people to resources, you had to listen to their story. Our community is rural and resources such as public transportation are non-existent, so I utilized groups from my church to assist families with transportation and physical needs such as food and clothing. Through these experiences I learned to actively listen and to collaborate with community partners.
What started as a small act of helping a people in my community led to my first job in the human services field. In December of 1999 I was contacted by the clerk of court from one of the municipal courts, City Court of Hammond, to see if I’d be interested in interviewing for a position with the court. He’d heard about the work that I’d been doing from a mutual friend and felt that the work matched the job description for a new program that the court had recently gotten funding for called Families in Need of Services. I interviewed for the position and started work in January of 2000.
Families in Need of Services or FINS as it is often referred to, is a court-based intervention program that is designed to keep at risk children and families out of the court system. The program can also request that families that are non-compliant with the voluntary service plan be petitioned to court and court ordered to participate in services to address the family’s specific risk factors. While the work that I’d been doing in the community was very similar to the role of a FINS Officer, the court aspect of the job was very daunting. I also had to learn how to complete assessments and link families to services such as mental health treatment and substance abuse treatment. My computer skills were proficient so working with Microsoft Word and Excel came easily to me, but I had to learn two different databases to track risk factors and the effectiveness of the intervention plan.
One of the first skills that I had to learn was how to screen referrals to make sure that they met the legal grounds. This was accomplished by reading the Louisiana Children’s Code and in consulting with the assistant district attorney that was assigned to that court to gain an understanding of the laws. Referrals to FINS can be made by schools, law enforcement agencies, courts, district attorneys, and by parents. The referral form had to be accompanied by a narrative report detailing the at-risk behaviors. I was able to master the skill of reading each referral and determining if the grounds met the scope of the program as defined by law.
I also had to learn how to assess families and to develop a service plan that addressed the at-risk behaviors of the child and/or their parent. The program guidelines stated that programs could utilize the assessment tools of their choice, but the assessments had to be conducted in a consistent matter. Our court contracted with two social workers to train our team to conduct the assessments and to choose the best assessment tool. I learned how to conduct psychosocial interviews and to develop an appropriate service plan based on the information that was provided by the child and their family. The social workers also provided training on how to handle confidential information and recognize behaviors that could lead to self-harm or harm to others.
My work with the families that were referred to FINS did not stop at the assessment process. FINS Officers monitor the progress of the child and their family for a period of at least six months. The monitoring entails meeting with the child and a parent at least one time a month and obtaining school and provider reports. Progress and non-compliance had to be addressed directly with the family on a regular basis. This process helped me to develop strong communication skills. I learned that providers responded to requests for information in a timelier fashion if I had a rapport with them versus simply faxing a release form and hoping to get a response. The families that we served came from diverse backgrounds, so I had to develop cultural competency to meet their individual needs. Additionally, I developed the skill of talking to children and families about non-compliance in a way that was not accusatory and focused on educating them on how the services could benefit their family. Another key skill that I developed was making sure that I recognized progress and did not only point out the things that were not done on a service plan.
My written communication skills improved as a result of working as a FINS Officer. Every interaction that was related to the case had to be documented in a clear and concise manner. Additionally, the assessments had to be written in a manner that clearly articulated why the family was referred to the program, what risk factors were assessed, what services were needed, and how the family would be monitored. Risk factors and service plans had to be entered into a web-based case management system. This information was used to prepare statistical reports at month end. I learned this skill by reading reports from more seasoned employees and by consulting with my supervisor and the chief judge for feedback.
After working in the capacity of a FINS Officer for six months, I was promoted to the Program Coordinator for the FINS Program and for the newly funded Truancy Assessment and Service Center (TASC). The TASC Program only focused on truancy for children in grades Kindergarten through 6th grade. The processes for the program were exactly like those of the FINS Program but the referrals came solely from schools. I had to learn the basic concepts and terminology for special education. This process of doing this began by attending in-service opportunities to learn about 504 Plans, IEPS, etc. While I grasped the basics, this has been an ongoing progress and I continue to participate in trainings.
Within a year of working with a team to get the FINS and TASC Programs going, the court was funded for a Juvenile Drug Court Program. I was asked to coordinate that program as well and oversee the assessment processes, case management, and weekly reports to the court. I had to use many of the skills that I’d learned from the other programs but now had the new challenge of having to learn about mental health diagnoses. Our team was not qualified to assess but to have a basic understanding of mental health and substance use disorders. In order to acquire that knowledge, I attended numerous trainings offered through the Louisiana Association of Drug Court Professionals and the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. This knowledge was useful in making appropriate referrals; I learned to read the criteria for disorders in the DSM-5 and match those to behaviors that our clients were displaying.
I worked at City Court of Hammond from January of 2000 to January of 2005. In addition to the duties and skills that are detailed I also facilitated field trips for the children being served through the FINS and Juvenile Drug Court Program and summer camps for the children that were referred to the TASC Program. I also worked with city and parish officials, the local school system, and the faith-based community to write a grant and facilitate an after-school program and a Saturday morning activity for TASC clients. All these events were designed to reduce pre-delinquent behaviors such as truancy and ungovernable behaviors. Developing these programs required me to work with several funders including federal grant funds. I learned the processes of verifying eligibility of the clients and on making mandated reports to the funders that reflected outcomes. My work and the work of my teams in all three programs were subject to annual audits that included a review of case files and the financial documents. Having my work reviewed by representatives from the Supreme Court and experts in the social work field taught me to make sure that case files were documented properly and that fiscal management processes were adhered to.
In January of 2005, I was offered a position by the 21st Judicial District Court to coordinate their FINS and TASC Programs. The programs offered through City Court of Hammond were much smaller than that of the district court and this position would serve all three parishes that were included in the district. I accepted this position and was able to utilize all the skills that I’d learned while working in my previous position with the smaller court system. As the coordinator of these programs, I no longer had a case load to manage but focused solely on assessments. I worked directly with the Juvenile Services Director to update the assessment process that this court was using as well as updated the psychosocial assessment tool.
Working for a larger judicial district that serves three parishes, or counties as they are called in all other states but Louisiana, brought about several challenges that I had to resolve. Each parish had its own school system and referral method. I worked with officials from all three parishes to develop a consistent method of referring at risk students. My negotiation skills were improved due to spending several weeks working with three very different areas while working on standardizing the referral process. I also had the opportunity to work with parish officials in each program and the three school districts to coordinate a summer camp for the children being served through the TASC Program at a local university. Coordinating this camp afforded me the chance to work with the university president and department heads to provide a fun and learning environment for these children which increased their potential for school success.
The executive director of Child Advocacy Services – CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) contacted me in May of 2010 regarding a position as an advocate supervisor. Court Appointed Special Advocates is a national program that is designed to recruit and train ordinary citizens to advocate for the best interest of children who are in foster care. While I had a great deal of experience working in the juvenile justice system, this program provided services to a different population of children. The role of the advocate supervisor is to guide advocates who are appointed by the court to specific children in gathering information, facilitating services, and making reports to the court. After much consideration, I accepted the job and quickly attached to the mission of the CASA program which is to provide voice, security, and healing to abused and neglected children.
I once again found myself in a position of needing to understand the court processes regarding foster children in order to guide the advocates. Having a basic understanding of the Louisiana Children’s Code proved very useful during the learning process. Working with foster children was more complex than working with the pre-delinquent children that I’d served for almost ten years. I had to learn about child development and how trauma impacts a child’s brain. This was accomplished by attending seminars and participating in a minimum of 30 hours per year of continuing education on these topics.
My new position required me to learn some new skills. One skill was learning to train the volunteers. National CASA provides programs with a standard curriculum and materials. This organization also requires that anyone that trains advocates attend a Training of the Facilitators Training. I was certified as a trainer in November of 2010 and recertified in February of 2018.
Managing volunteers required some learning as well. My previous experience in assessing needs and case management along with my knowledge of the juvenile justice system made knowing what needed to be done clear but working with 20 volunteers each month to get those things accomplished was challenging. I relied on the things I’d learned from coordinating with others in facilitating summer camps, field trips, and other activities to manage this. Clear and concise communication is essential.
Advocate supervisors are also responsible for maintaining the case files for the children in their caseloads. This process not only includes obtaining and maintaining all legal documents for the case; it includes documenting all supervision contacts with the volunteers and case progress. Files are audited annually by the Supreme Court and must adhere to all National CASA Standards. My previous experience in navigating through file audits has been useful in maintaining case records that have never been cited as being out of compliance.
Assisting advocates in writing court reports to assist judges in making decisions about children is a key responsibility of an advocate supervisor. Advocate supervisors also attend court with the volunteer advocate and provide coaching regarding their court testimony. I relied on the knowledge that I’d learned from my previous jobs regarding writing skills and experience in testifying in court.
In July of 2013, I was offered and accepted the position of lead advocate supervisor. In this position, my case load was reduced so that I could mentor other advocate supervisors who work throughout our ten-parish service area. My mentoring duties include approving all case contact logs prior to their submission in our case management system, assisting in developing advocacy plans for cases, and offering feedback and approval for all court reports. This position affords me the opportunity of working directly with the program director regarding statistical reporting, reporting on outcomes for children, developing best practices to increase advocacy to children, training new staff, and working with the CASA recruiters and trainer to train advocates. I also routinely conduct file quality assurance reviews for case files and volunteer files to make sure that we are complying with program standards.
I find this job very rewarding even though we must help children navigate through some very tough situations. One of the main reasons that I started school at the age of 52 is that I plan to do this work for a long time, and I want to continue to develop new skills. Knowledge is a key component in providing services to at-risk families and I want to make sure that I’m fully equipped to continue working with my team and volunteers.