Reflection

For the senior capstone project, a child protective social worker was my mentor. At the beginning my mentor and I communicated good, talked at least once  week. Towards the end of February, it got hard for me to get ahold of her. So communication between us was not good. But around the middle of April, we were able to meet again and finish the hours. 

Personally, this experience has helped me grow as a person and as a foster youth. I learned about the opposite side of the septum. I have a lot more respect for social workers and their job. I became a lot more aware of the challenges some foster youth face and learned more about the system that I didn't know before starting this project. Without this project I don't think I'd be ready to become a social worker. With this experience, I'm really to further my knowledge and become a social worker to help foster youth like myself.

Challenges I had with this project was the hours and completely them. This communication with my mentor was rocky and we weren't able to communicate for a good month; completely my hours was my biggest challenge. But I was able to call her colleagues and email her almost everyday till she responded and she did!! Another challenge was the confidentiality thing. I wasn't able to go with her to visit families or talk to her clients. But I overcame that by using my own experiences in court, in foster homes, in transitional meetings to help complete my project. I also talked to my roommates who helped give me a different look and told me their story.

Overall, I loved this experience and I'm glad I got the opportunity to do it.

Blog 7- 05/07/2013

Today, Karla and I met for the day again. I met her at her office at 8 am. She made an appointment for us to visit Transitional Housing site for youth.Before we left for the appointment at 10:30. She reviewed with me about what Transitional Housing is, who's eligible for it, how it works, the benefits, etc. The first Transitional Housing site we visited was on Grand Ave. It was housing for those youth that are over 18. We got tours of the apartments, got to meet with some of the girls. After that we went for a tour of a youth Transitional Housing site in Daly City. We talked to the head of the program, Ms. Mary Ann Carpenter and her staff to talk about all the benefits of living at the site. Also all the rules and requirements to be in the program. At 4, Karla and I attended a Transitional Conference, where social workers, therapist  and basically the youth's whole "team" met to discuss what happens after the youth turns 18.

Total Time- 9 Hours (8 am-5 pm)
Running Total- 25 Hours

Blog 6- 4/20/2013

Karla and I met Saturday morning at her office in South City at 9 am. We spent the day together discussing different parts of Child Welfare. She taught to me about Emergency Response, Investigate Process, Family Reunification/Family Maintenance, Voluntary Cases-Non-Court, Permanent Placement. She took me through the process of meeting with families and children as well as the paper work that goes along with this.

Total Time- 7 hours
Running Time- 16.5 hours

Blog 5- 04/17/2013

I met with Karla and we discussed aftercare services provided for foster youth. She talked to me about AB-12, StarVista, and THP+ housing. All aftercare services for foster youth after they turn 18. She told me about resources offer to foster youth 18+, like special scholarships for foster youth going to college, food stamps, etc.

Total Time- 2 hours
Running Total- 9.5 Hours

Blog 4- 4/12/2013

I met with Karla on this day. Being a foster youth, I was curious about what services are offered to youth and how all that worked. She told me about special amenities like clothing allowances, transportation, graduation assistance, school costs, etc that most youth get. She explained to me how the process went with giving youth these things and how often you can get these amenities. For example, depending on your placement clothing allowances are giving every 6 months or once a year. Bus passes or clipper cards are giving every month. She also told me about basic services youth get, like Medical health insurance, and she explained that each case is different so different services are available depending on the case. I learn a lot about things I'm allowed to receive.

Total Time- 2 hours
Running Total- 7.5 Hours

Blog 3- 4/8/2013

I met with Karla Rugama, my mentor, on April 8, 2013. We discussed what a court report for youth in foster care is. Karla was able to use my own court report as a model for what it is. She explain to me how to write one, what goes into one and all that good stuff. She helped me write up a small mock court report.

Total Time- 3 hours
Running Total- 5.5 Hours

Mentor Hours

Even though, I was not able to get a hold of my mentor for a couple of weeks. I have been in contact with her for about 1 1/2 weeks now. We are working on a time that her & I will both be able to meet again and discuss being a social worker.