Fornits

Fornits Home for Wayward Web Fora
An open discussion about the troubled parent industry

Here we go: http://www.aoc.state.nc.us/www/public/c ... 1295-1.htm

No way for this kid.  There's no defense for what he did, but I find it hard to believe it could be called premeditated or done in cold blood.  You notice his stay at PV was one year, one month, which is probably when the money was gone.  His grandparents mortgaged their house to send him to PV.  What a shame and a waste of money that was hard to come by.  Believe me, PV is not the place for a kid like him.  More abuse was not what he needed.  "Tough love", considering his childhood...I don't think he knew any real love, but he certainly knew what tough was all about.

Or worse yet, some parents have to watch the police escort their hysterical, crying children into the hands of a nutter...

An appeal was filed, but nothing came of it.  The PV clinician has long since beat feet.  The counsel for defense should have done more research before selecting their witnesses.

A program-parent referred to us as a bunch of "organized malcontents".  True, that.  I kinda like it.  At least we've managed to focus our ODD...

All the encouragement I need to stay the course.

In response to the question of employee turnover, PV changes counselors more than I change socks.  Counselors with MySpace accounts made it very clear.  One was leaving because of the facility policies, even though she was unhappy about leaving the kids.  One of her friends commented leaving PV would also mean not getting punched in the face.  I guess violence begets violence, sometimes.  

Yeah, the turnover rate at PV is caused by a conflict between wanting to actually help kids and having to bend to the will of the clinicians-turned-money-minders.  For a "non-profit" facility they certainly have their eye on the bottom line.

Jesus, they know who I am and they're probably going to sue me.  Looks like I'm gonna be the poster boy for posting.

Here's the PV counselor job description posted on Covenant Health's site recently :

 PROGRAM COUNSELOR
Job Code: 16258
Location: PENINSULA VILLAGE
Department: Girl's Outdoor Program
Description: Full Time: 3 days/4 nights.

Requirements: Social services degree preferred, but H.S. diploma with experience will be considered.

Duties: Work in the outdoor setting with paitents in a residential facility. Provide safety, supervision and therapy to adolescents in our care. Need extreme flexibility with scheduling and extensive availabililty.

Covenant Health is committed to a safe and healthy work environment. Therefore, employment is subject to a successful background check and drug screen. Also, a credit check may be performed on applicable positions that deal with handling money. EOE
Education: High School Diploma/GED [/color]

The highlights are mine.  This was the job listing which caused my  concern about the level of counselor training required at PV.  TSW is right, I know guys who come out of school with doctorates and can't navigate a corner without a crew of cartographers, or operate a door knob without an instruction manual and logistics team.  "Common sense" is never considered as a requirement.  Some mindless twit who's only talent might be regurgitating information he doesn't understand gets a degree for being a parrot.  Parents with unlimited resources can buy an education for  a moron (YOU STAND GUILTY, "W" BUSH!).  I view the RTC counselors  like cops:  Some are ignorant, pig-headed fucks with an agenda that has nothing to do with protecting and serving, just cracking skulls.   Others are committed to doing their jobs as best as possible. I know a couple of cops who did extreme favors for me outside the line of duty.  

How do you tell a bad cop/counselor from a good cop/counselor  during a job interview?  Both jobs have low pay and high risk, so it takes a motivation to seek this kind of work.  Some are motivated by altruistic urges, others want a chance to fuck with people as vengeance for all the years they were shat on.

I would now agree that a B.A. is not going to make someone a good counselor.  One poster who worked at Peninsula Village said she noticed a downward slide in the program there, but it wasn't due to the day-to-day staffers,the blame lies with the clinicians who failed to train them properly.  A counselor without proper skills is only a prison guard.

But back to the Beast...Peninsula Villains wants counselors with high school/GED levels to provide therapy to adolescents, and that should be the responsibility of the staff therapists, not the counselors.

Instead of the term "counselors", "day organizers" might be more appropriate, or "program leaders".   Or, "Julie, your cruise director".

TSW, I've got another Penicillin Villa-PM  on it's way. It'll piss you off, so prepare a large & potent libation in advance.  I know the info made fire shoot out of my ass.

I mentioned earlier about our photographer posting "she didn't want to tell the parents she knew their kids better than they did, but after all, we're the experts on this shit,"  For obvious reasons, I find that offensive, especially posted on-line where I found it within 2 minutes of MySpace searching.  If I concede degrees are unnecessary, I would also expect these counselors not to boast of expert credentials and disrespect the knowledge of parents in a public forum.  Believe me, pissed-off parents will leave no stone unturned looking for information. Despite the claim that a degree isn't needed, a GED is enough, PV absolutely refused to give us Curriculum Vitae on the staffers who spend the most time with the kids.  They certainly won't now.  I think the people who are shelling out private pay, running $290 a day, expect better trained staffers, and if they knew the levels these guys started at, they'd move their kids to any place that does not mention behavior modification.

TSW posted recently about staffers losing it on kids, and I think there's a kind of parallel here, if I change TSW's text slightly:

This Message is for Any PV staff who read this thread.


I was once an alcoholic parent. I know how you think. Probably I know how you think better than you do yourself. I credit this to a wicked imagination and a sick sense of humor.

Further, I want you to know that I understand that in families shit does happen. Yep.. wink wink.. shit happens right.  What a fucking day...my boss is an asshole...if I get home from the bar and that kid didn't mow the grass, I'll crucify his ass and BBQ it on the front lawn. I want a divorce.  She doesn't understand she causes my drinking.  Next time that bitch even looks at me cross eyed I am gonna tune her ass up so bad she can't shit for a week.

Come on now.. YOU all know exactly what I am talking about.

These kids are victims all the way around.  Please, don't take out your frustrations with their parents' actions or your own personal disappointments on the kids.  Some of them are there because of homes like I described above.  Thanks to TSW for that reality check, even though I have to admit, it jarred me when I read it.  With a child in a facility, it made my blood run cold.