Class notes for Nov

Class notes for Nov. 7, 2002

7:00 PM speakers: The Bridge House Clubhouse program, presented by Parris Oschner and Anna Colango. Bridge House is a private non-profit psychosocial rehabilitation program that receives most of it's operating budget from the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. This program provides a work-oriented day program for people with persistent and severe mental illnesses. The program does not provided clinical services; rather, it serves as a supportive program for building the personal self-care, social and work-oriented skills needed for moving toward reintegration with their community. Anna spoke about her experiences in Transitional Employment, in which Bridge House contracts with a business to fill a particular job. That job is held temporarily by a Bridge House member who is learning work skills, and the employer is guaranteed that if the assigned worker cannot attend for any reason, the staff will ensure that the job still gets done. In this way, businesses are encouraged risk hiring people whose prior work history might otherwise be a barrier. After participating in TEP placements and developing work skills and habits, members can move on to supported employment where job coaches will provide guidance and support as needed, and eventually members can move on to independent employment, while still participating in the social and recreational activities of the club. The work of running the organization is also shared between members and staff, providing the members with pre-employment experience in work tasks and roles.
At the club house, breakfast, lunch and dinner are prepared by the members and offered for a very nominal fees. The club also has social hours after work a couple of days a week and sometimes organizes trips or special events, and is open 365 days a year for a least a few hours every day.

Bridge House provides tours of their facility: if this is an agency you would like to use for your assignment, call them.

8:00 PM: Guest Speaker: Penny Joussainte, resident at P.T. Barnum Apartments, who is the volunteer coordinator of the new P.T. Barnum Resident Youth Council, and LaToya, 14 years old, a leader in the youth council. The youth council is focusing on getting youths, ages 8 to 18, to work on ways to improve their community. Penny's vision is that of facilitator; she see herself stepping back as the members gain the skills to run the organization themselves.

While I originally scheduled these two speakers for back-to-back classes, (Penny rescheduled from Halloween night to be home with her children) it turns out these two speakers provided us with the unique opportunity to see the role of human service worker from two very different perspectives. We see that lack of training or formal education in the feild does not necessariy mean that the work is not done professionally and efficiently and we also see the focus on empowering those served, despite the very different needs of these two populations.

First we heard from Parris, who has pursued the goal of working as a professional in Human Services. Parris is a former Human Services student at HCC who completed her degree a couple of years ago, and, following her student internship at Bridge House, was hired to work there. Penny, who has lived with her son, 14, and daughter (who also attended our class!) has only lived at P.T. Barnum two years, but she saw a need for the young residents, including her own children, and, in the true spirit of human services, organized to address it. She had no background in either human services or in organizing and program planning, but she clearly relates well to children and has the will and the ability to make a difference in the lives of the youths who live at the P.T. Barnum projects.

In listening to these two women talk about their work, we see the multi-disciplinary approach that is typical to human service work operating in two very different organizations. We hear about the steps in program planning as it is still going on, and we can consider and compare the pluses and drawbacks of having official sponsorship by (and accountability to) established outside organizations. We also can gain a greater understanding of the qualities that the effective human service worker brings to her role: these women's attitudes and values are of primary importance to their success, with their skills and knowledge playing a supportive role in accomplishing their tasks. (Some would see LACK of knowledge as important in the case of trying to work in the P.T. Barnum setting; maybe if Penny had had a long history of living in this area and the awareness of the history of this housing project, she wouldn't have even tried to make a difference!)

Assignment: Visit a Human Service agency that you are not familiar with and assess it from a) the point of view of someone who works there, and b) from the point of view of someone seeking services there. Is it clean? Attractive? In a safe environment? Would you feel welcomed and respected? Treated with positive attitudes and values? etc..... Write up your report for next week's class and continue studying for the test that we put off this week. Use the reviews of each chapter and class notes on the web to focus where to put your efforts.