Politics in the Workplace

            This past week I was able to continue observing crisis line shifts, support group meetings, as well as observe my first intake.  This was very exciting for me because my supervisor has insisted that I get experiences from all areas here at Sarah’s Inn and I really enjoy the face-to-face interaction.  I learned a lot from the intern that I observed.  I was able to witness how she managed time throughout the session without rushing the client along, as well as validating the clients experiences, providing a safe space to talk, as well as educating her about services we offer and other local resources. 

            I have had a few different experiences when I observed group meetings.  The first week I sat in on a “tween” group, and was able to talk with the kids and help them through the activity the facilitator had prepared.  Last week, I ran childcare and was able to play and read with a toddler.  This week, I had the opportunity to sit in the children’s group and assist with the activity.  This was both rewarding and challenging in a few ways.  I found it rewarding because I was able to connect with the kids and communicate with the kids who weren’t able to speak English.  I was able to build trust with them, and they involved me in their conversations.  This was also challenging because 6-10 year olds are active, hyper, and constantly talk over each other, so it was a little chaotic which was overwhelming.  One situation that I found particularly difficult was a conversation I had with a girl during the group activity.  The activity was for each child to draw a mountain, and have them identify the things that build them up (which they would write inside the mountain), and the things that are hard and difficult to deal with in their lifes (which they would write outside the mountain).  While I was talking with her, she mentioned that her dad made life hard and she visibly shut down.  This was a drastic change in the behavior she had displayed throughout the rest of the group and I panicked for a couple seconds.  In an attempted to bring her back to the group I asked her what her dad does to build her up or make her happy?  She was able to mentally come back to the group and tell me stories about times when her dad was a good thing in her life.  I’m worried that this may have seemed dismissive by rushing through the negative emotions and trying to change it to something positive, and I am planning on bringing this up in supervision next week.

      Because of our location and surrounding communities, we do a lot of work with people who identify as Hispanic and Latino.  Recently, there has been a lot of fear because of the ICE raids in Chicago, which has caused many women and children to not come to group meetings.  Due to this, the advocacy and counseling team has made it a point to bring up in team meetings how we can work with our clients as well as keeping the doors secure.  In meetings, the supervisors discussed and educated us on U-Visa and VAWA, and how we can work with clients who are immigrants on obtaining legal residents here.  They laid out the requirements for each, how long it generally takes to fill out, and how we can assist clients in this process.  I also learned that there are safe spaces that ICE cannot raid, but it has to do with federal funding.  Because we do receive federal funding, ICE can raid our building if they have a valid warrant signed by a judge.  One of the safe places that was mentioned were churches, and there is actually a recent story about a woman in Denver hiding from ICE in a church.  The advocacy and counseling supervisors set up a new procedure for how the front door is answered and what we will do if ICE comes and tries to enter the building.  If this were to happen, legally we do not need to let them in, and we are to immediately get a director or one of the supervisors to handle the situation.