Rough Week
Its not an easy story to tell. I suppose it wont be an easy story to read. Sometimes my job is just hard, sometimes it really gets inside me and tries to wreck me. This past week has been like that.
I work in a correctional facility for juveniles. A jail for kids, although you could hardly call them kids anymore. Our guys (our facility only houses males) enter the system before they turn 18 but can stay until their 25th birthday. We partner with the Department of Corrections here in Oregon so a large percentage of our guys are actually sentenced as adults. We have Measure 11 here in Oregon which defines mandatory minimum sentences for specific crimes. This has caused an interesting change in our facilities over the past few years. Mandatory minimum sentences force us to keep some kids longer, but they also force us to release some kids sooner. We only have so many beds available and measure 11 did not increase funding so our population has been distilled down to the guys with the highest needs and the highest frequency of behavioral problems. And just to be clear, when i say ” behavioral problems” I’m talking about gang fights and prosecutable assaults against youth and staff.
Anyway… that’s why my job is hard. Its a changing reality that i have accepted even though i hate it. That’s not the soul wrecking I’m talking about though. This past week was special. Read more…
About Me
If you’re here, you probably know me already. For the few of you that may not, here’s a bit of background:
Let’s start with the important stuff … I’m middle-aged, overweight, and slightly stuck in another decade (not sure which one). In my almost 46 years I have been (in no particular order) a dirt mover, a line cook, a bottle counter, a grocery bagger, a daycare worker, a bus driver, a computer operator, a woodworker, a computer programmer, a tutor, a restaurant manager,a remodeler, a car parts clerk, a retail sales rep, a knitter, a produce manager, a prison guard, a writer, a counselor, a treatment facilitator, a friend, a mentor, a husband, and a father. Not all at once, although sometimes many at the same time. Read more…
He’s back …
There’s just one thing I would like to say before I try this again …
I’m sorry, and you have been warned.
ok … that was two things.