So my time in Jacksonville, Florida has come to an end... I am at Charlotte airport waiting for a flight to Charlottesville where I will meet Charlotte!! lol!

Thanks to Julia and her husband

...this week has been jam packed with amazing food, experiences and a wonderfully comfy bed where... yes you've guessed it... I miss my alarm every morning yet Julia and Matt can hear it from their bedroom... I just don't understand... lol! They really have been incredible though; so generous and hospitable - new friends for life me thinks!

Working at Daniel this week has also been amazing - so insightful. Thank you to everyone there. My week broke down like this

Monday: Home visit to a Theraputic Foster Parent with Licensing Specialist Julia Kalinski (AKA host for drifters like me!).  Foster parents have to undergo evaluations to check they are following correct procedures as well as just checking that the home is still a suitable environment for a child. Therapeutic foster homes are for children presenting more challenging behaviour such as suicidal threats, physical violence to others and so on. We met the foster mother and I left like 'oh she was wonderful, so inspiring bla bla bla'.... Turns out later that week complaints were made. It was clear role as 'Licensing Specialist' for Daniel Memorial defines what she is - a specialist in her field!

One thing I realised this week through talking to various professionals is just how detrimental that lack of consistency can be for a child. On going into any new environment of course they are going to portray behaviours that have taught them to survive... if everyone in their path gives up as soon as they show these behaviours rather than working with them to learn new tools, their sense of trauma will just get worse and worse. Let alone them feeling that no-one cares. When Daniel Memorial licence Therapeutic Foster Parents they are obliged to sign something saying they will give a substantial notice period, if any, if it is decided the child needs a higher level of care.

Being so holistic, Daniel also offers that higher level of care in the form of a Therapeutic Group Home which I visited in the afternoon and spent some time learning about some behaviour models as well as the set up of such a home and the importance that is placed on structure - from regular daily routines to just being on time for things.


Tuesday: All day in court listening to various cases of neglect, abuse, termination of parental rights. I nearly cried at least five times and could not help but feel so angry... the amount of people that have children and are not fit to parent. Granted I am not a parent and haven't always had the best role models of parenting however.... then you get to thinking, the problem is often so much bigger than that ... then you evaluate the problem and potential solutions and can't help but come right back to PARENTING!! Not just from parents themselves, wider families, friends and communities... It's far more complicated than it sounds... This day really inspired me though and has got me thinking about some potential ideas for when I come back to the UK...

Wednesday: Also mega inspiring; I spent the afternoon with the Statewide Inpatient Psychiatric Program... This is similar to the Therapeutic Group Home but for those with more severe mental health needs. It is however much less regimented than other inpatient programs. Most of the kids here were 8-12 yrs old although vary between 5-17 yrs old. How about I wanted to bring two of the boys home with me... yes, I re-evaluated my lack of tolerance for younger children lol! They were so cool - really interested in England etc and the amount of self awareness being in SIPP had clearly given them was phenomenal... they showed me their 'coping sheets' a small piece of paper that they all had to fill in with various things they can do when they need to calm down... most of them included 'a hug'.... what does that tell us....


Thursday: Learnt about yet more of the services that Daniel offer to families and children... Behaviour Management Program for young people in the justice system (equivalent of UKs Youth Offending Team but called Department of Juvenile Justice, I had to cringe though as Americans call young offenders deliquents as opposed to the more refined english term 'young offenders'!! Hehee!

I had another meeting with Jim Clark - Daniel's President and spoke with one of Daniel's commissioners who hit the nail on the head by saying 'we can get parent's to by into Coca Cola but we don't seem to have found the right marketing campaign for parenting classes'!

Friday - I spent the morning being inspired by the counselling in schools program that Daniel runs and discussing ideas of how to engage parents and the community with the school and learning. I also ate yummy birthday cake!

Peas & Love