Well here’s the thing- some of these kids are not being held there for placement to Hampstead. They have been cleared by the ED doc and the psychiatrist, but then mom or dad or foster family don’t want them back. So they sit there under a “social work hold” bed until DCYF finds them placement.

I speak of this being a first hand person involved in an ED. So the situation isn’t just waiting for a mental health bed because it’s been established they don’t need one. If this were an adult patient we just discharge them to the street, but we can not do that to a minor.

Toss

I, too, used to be an ISO worker and worked with some awesome caseworkers. I think those workers are some of the most under-appreciated in the nation. Their job is heartbreaking and so hard.

Thanks for sharing, I really appreciate your insight. I hope your new job is treating you well.

Thank you for your response, I will be sure to keep up the words of appreciation and acknowledgment. I am definitely in therapy and the breaks between respite cases has been helpful to be able to focus on my mental and physical health. Thank you for everything you did while at DCYF!!

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Few things meant as much to me as a worker as when I saw that the foster parents saw what I was going through. I could never be a FP and have sooooooo much respect for you all. I couldn't have the trauma in my home. You're amazing! Every once in a while my favorite foster parents would say just what you said now: I see you! It's a lot! We are in this together! I loved them for it. Give them a card, give them art by the kids. Even now, I have pictures and letters from my kids on my fridge. Anything to make it real, to confirm they did the right thing, and to show them how good the kids are doing, that's the endgame.

Also, please just take care of yourself and please be in therapy. More than anything, they need you to stick around.

Dinnerhorn and Bratskellar Pub

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Because if there isn't a law saying it *specifically*, people will think they can outsmart the existing laws and next thing you know there are arguments about admiralty court and other bullshit about how "I'm not driving, I'm travelling."

Thanks <3

I actually talked about that in another comment. It's amazing MA has screwed it up so bad. Maybe there's no right way to do it.

Raleigh Wine Bar has wonderful cocktails in an elegant (but not stuffy) space. Follow it up with a nitro espresso martini at The Wilder!

CASA are well intentioned people who rarely have the life experience to judge families in trauma. They are generally wealthy retirees who have never experienced poverty. They receive minimal training. Studies show that cases with CASAs (as opposed to professional GALs) have lower rates of reunification, especially with families of color. Once a CASA told me he opposed reunification because the mother's "neighborhood was inappropriate."

It's not long enough. Parents cannot adequately correct the conditions within 12 months. Kids are returned to parents teetering on the brink of stability and the cycle repeats. One cannot overcome an addiction or a lifetime of trauma in one year.

Maybe? But what's the carrot or stick? You can mandate all you want in a B case (b for Before Court) but if things are really that bad, they're already too far gone. People will NEVER sign up to be involved with DCYF, for better or worse.

Have caseload standards. Have reasonable pay. Have empathetic supervisors. Have outside hires in administration. Have clinicians in the office. Have mandated time off after traumas.

State Level Cash Grab is a state run monopoly. But since I can get my Tito’s cheaper here than in Chelmsford… hooray state Run capitalism?

Ugh. Private prisons should be illegal. That tidbit of info has definitely soured part of my Sununu views. Thank you for sharing. It's not even the potential family ties abuse that bug me, it's fact that he supports them at all.

They can issue any demands they like, they're not convincing the Republican trifecta government to change anything. The Republicans would love to see NH residents get mad at Democrats for abandoning the state in the primary; no one's going to get mad at the Republicans for not giving up something that NH has as a point of pride. This is the stupidest thing I've seen a political organization do that wasn't the Florida Democratic Party.

I live in Manchester and became a foster parent last year. I do not have any bio kids and in general did not have a ton of experience with children before signing up. It’s a long story on how I got here but the gist is that I have always wanted to become a foster parent because when I was growing up one of my best friends was in foster care. I didn’t fully understand it then but now looking back I think a lot about how different her life could have been had she not been in the system.

I told DCYF that I initially wanted to do respite care so that I could get my “feet wet” and begin to understand how best to understand children and especially children from challenging situations. I have had 2 kids so far and I have been blown away by the volume of work and expectations put on the workers. We are asking these individuals to be there and help the most vulnerable members of our community and they can barely afford to live their own lives and as you noted in another comment are often put in dangerous and scary situations.

Other than voting and making my interest in DCFY funding clear to lawmakers. What other ways can I help?

It was built in 1948 seems fine?

NH cops in NH. Literally happened the one time I went, which was within two weeks of opening.

I saw a lot of cops near the weed store in near the time when the weed store opened. I don’t know why everybody is acting like I’m claiming to have seen Bigfoot.

No sales tax. It’s not that much cheaper. I’d rather see mom&pop liquor stores than the states run bullshit. Gotta drive 20 miles to a state store when there’s beer at every place in town.

Rise in dracut is my new go to. Tyngsboro sucks compared to pretty much everywhere else. Prices are way higher, not much selection. Parking in that tiny lot is atrocious.

Yup, been saying it for years now

Ding