Community
Fall 2013
L. I. N. K.
INSIDE: Get Involved; Family Photos; Thank You, Volunteers; How YOU helped in 2012; Leslie’s Letter...and more!
A Day in the Life of the FAIR program The FAIR (Family Assessment and Intervention Response) program is a partnership between Children & Families First and the Delaware Division of Family Services, working to prevent teens from entering the foster care system. FAIR workers focus on each family’s individual strengths and needs using two model programs – Family Keys and Functional Family Therapy.
B
eing a FAIR caseworker isn’t a 9-to-5 kind of job. It’s an on-call, working late, working early, working whenever-the-client-needs-you kind of job. In contrast to many 9-to-5 jobs, where the majority of time is spent in the office in front of a computer or in meetings, most of a FAIR caseworker’s time is spent in the field. This means a typical day is spent driving to multiple locations and meeting at the homes and schools of a number of clients. We recently spent the day with one FAIR caseworker, Leah Gilliam, to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the FAIR program. In most cases, Leah and other members of the FAIR team work as mediators with parents/guardians and teens who are struggling to communicate effectively and coexist peacefully. The main goal is simple: keep families together and keep teens out of foster care. Here’s a snapshot of what it’s like working this hectic yet rewarding schedule: Monday, September 23, 11:00 am: Leah arrives at our Wilmington office to begin her day. It’s going to be a long one, so she was able to flex her time and arrive later than the typical 9am start time. She goes through emails, makes calls and organizes everything she’ll need for today’s scheduled visits. 11:30 am: Leah heads to a local correctional facility for her first appointment with a troubled teen and his father. Part of Leah’s job is to assess the youth, to measure the severity of the parent-child conflict and determine if the child has suicidal tendencies, is abusing drugs, or is living in an abusive or otherwise unsafe environment. For the most part, Leah meets with low-risk families who can be helped with counseling and resource assessment. There are times, however, when she needs to refer higher risk clients to our Functional Family Therapy (FFT) program, where families are provided with extensive coaching and support to achieve and maintain positive change. In extreme cases, Leah will refer the family to the Department of Family Services (DFS).
Above: Leah has an office in one of our Wilmington locations – but more often than not, you’ll find her in an agency vehicle on her way to visit with clients.
2:00 pm: Leah’s second appointment is at William Penn High School. “I help families who are having a difficult time with their teens, increase their support networks and utilize family members to prevent foster care involvement. In this case, I’m helping a legal guardian transfer guardianship of a teen to another family member,” Leah explains. With this, comes a change of address for the teen and thus, a change of school district. Leah is here to support her client and ensure a smooth transition for this child into her new school, William Penn. “Leah’s been wonderful,” says Ishia, the guardian. “Changes are stressful and her support has been very helpful.” 3:00 pm–8 pm: Leah’s final two appointments for the day are family meetings where she helps mediate between parents, children and siblings. These meetings tend to involve quite a few people, so they take the remainder of her day to complete. At the end of the day, Leah is certainly tired – but also fulfilled. In only one day, she has helped a number of families who are in desperate need of support. Leah’s work is very important in keeping a family together, maintaining the integrity of what is often a fragile and complicated structure. The smiling faces of Leah’s clients clearly indicate positive results and their gratitude for Leah’s hard work. All of us are grateful too. For more info on the FAIR program, visit: http://bit.ly/FAIRprogram