Chapters 1-6 Sheronda King E-Portfolio Questions: Person statement about you starting point for the internship.

Before entering my internship, I felt very nervous and discouraged. I am not great with meeting and being comfortable around people. Prior to starting my internship, I wanted to drop my class. I felt like I was not going to be able to meet the requirements of the intern position. Having to learn about an organization in a short period of time, can be very discouraging. On my first day, I felt very lost about the material being present in each meeting. Weeks before my internship began, I thought a lot about how I would fit in and if the team would like me. I also thought about different strategies to make myself the best intern that Vision Quest ever seen. Surprisingly, Vision Quest turns out to be the best organization I could ever work for. Most of individuals are warm hearted, and friendly to me. My anxiety disappeared after the first hour of being introduced. What are your feelings and concern as you begin your internship? As I begin my internship, I developed a strong concern about the target population. I wondered whether or not I would be able to interact with you being served. I am a hands on person, and I enjoy working one on one creating activities and event with the youth. I thought that my position at Vision Quest would allow me to create activities and events. As my days passed, I realized that my expectations were not what my position entitled. I was assigned to work directly with operation director to begin the implementation Grant of Second Chance. I wrote a grant before in my contemporary issues class, and know I was able to learn how to the

steps of implementation process. I felt very nervous because I did not know where to begin. Luckily, my director gave me a lot of material to review, but I still felt discouraged and told myself that I couldnt do it. I worried about whether or not I would be able to execute the assigned task without numerous mistakes. Primary learning interest and needs. I would like to learn how to implement services for the juvenile population. I want to be able to understand the implementation process for a grant proposal. I feel that I need to understand the target population and their backgrounds. I also want to learn all about the organizations history and services. I believe that I should learn how to initiate change within the workplace and services. In the past Vision Quest has experiences a numerous amount of a turnover. Strengths and Weaknesses I am very obedient to completing daily tasks. My problem solving skills is beneficial to organization. I am very passionate and a hard worker, which can serve as a strength or

weakness. My weaknesses are that I am not the best public speaker, and I can trust people easily. I can be very sensitive to other opinions, and criticism. My disadvantages does not stop my listening skills or willingness to learn. I am proud to say that I am great with Microsoft software. What the issues that are important to you as you plan your internship experience with your supervisor? Some important issues I would like to address is my fear of public speaking and improving my communication skills. I would like to become more comfortable with my audience

and speak freely without fears. My supervisor and I have creating a goal targeting my biggest challenge. I will be facilitating my first training meeting in April for all the employees. What aspect of you learning plan you are most excited about? I am excited about my involvement with the second chance grant implementation process. Learning the process will be beneficial to my career. Understanding how to put a grant proposal in action will be a great learning experience, and I hope that I able to use the same strategies with my future organization that I plan to develop. What aspect do you believe will be the most challenging? Facilitating a training meeting will be the most challenging aspect of my intern duties. But with practice, I will get better and will be able to master my fears of public speaking. My director has been training and allowing me attending other trainings to grasp the idea of how a meeting should take place. Chapter Two E-portfolio Questions: What particular elements of agency context have you learned most about through your internship? So far, I have learned mostly about the social context of Vision Quest. Majority of the youth we serve in both Kent and New Castle County, come from low income, drug affiliated, or an abuse background. From an urban and rural stand point, our youth are having common backgrounds. I have learned that despite the area, many of our youth come from a low income background. In some cases, there are a selective few clients, who live in a well off home but

choses a bad path of life to live. After speaking with my director, I discovered that 65% are under care of the grandparents. The remaining percentage lives within a single parent household.

How would you describe your agency context? Working for Vision Quest, has opened my eyes to see that I am now a mandated reporter. Working with the youth, you become required to report any information regarding neglect and abuse. Building a relationship with each youth can be hard, because they can sometime confined in you and hope they are able to tell you everything. The hard is when you have a client, who thinks that they are pregnant and does not want their parents to know. I have spoken with case manager and family specialist, who have had pregnant clients. These clients asked their worker not to tell their parents. In rare cases, they are some pregnant girls who hasnt been to any medical appointment due to not exposing the truth to their parents. As a human service professional, you are required to provide resources and support to each client. How can you for fill meeting the needs of the client, if they are not able to go to appointment because they do not want their parents to know? Being a mandated reported and maintaining confidentiality can be hard in this situation. Religion is a big topic that is not allowed to be discussed with any clients. Some of our youth are religious, while others are not.

You are prohibited to give any guidance in selecting, discussing or confirming religious beliefs, practices and values.

How has your view and their context change since the beginning of your internship? My views has changed since the beginning of my internship. I thought it would be easy to build

relationship with the youth until I learned more about mandatory reporters.

As far as the

population we serve, my thoughts have not changed. I am more surprise to learn about the Kent and Sussex county population. Believe it or not, both lower Delawares youth population struggle with the same offenses. The mentality of the youth in lower Delaware is very different from New Castle County. Chapter 3: E-portfolio Questions: Explain a difficult ethical issue that you had to resolve. In my previous field experience, I was placed in awkward situation with both staff and management. As an employee at a group home, I am required to notify management, when I had witness and abuse or neglect. In the past, I was told by another staff that our clients was being abused by another person. I did not know whether or not to report the incident because the person be accused was highly favored by management. I gained enough courage to informed

management about the situation and told them that the information was reported by a third party. This third party told did not want to get involved and did not want me to inform management. The hardest part of this situation was that I felt very uncomfortable with keeping that information. After informing my management, she laughed and told me that the person who report the information is not telling the truth. She did not believe anything that I told her. I was very confused and did not know whether or not this information was true. I decided to go over her head and inform the program director with the information. The director kept the information confidential and began an investigation. Within these group homes there are no cameras. The

program director decided to interview other clients in the household to identify if they had

witness any abuse or neglect within the household.

These clients told the truth, and

thatindividual was terminated immediately. If I had not reported the third party information, that client still would have been abused. With this experience, I have learned that holding in information because youre scared may cause more harm than helping the individual. I felt more relief after relieving that

information to the program director. The manager was also addressed because she did not report the accusation to the director. Instead, she was in denial because the person she did not want to accuse was a friend. Being a mandated reporter can be beneficial in situations like this. At Vision Quest I was not able to witness any ethical issues. Although, an ethical concern was raised about two staff. On staff told a client was to by drugs and the other client was dating the mother of another client. Both issues were address and investigated. Termination was the final outcome for both former staff. Chapter 4: E-Portfolio Questions: Chapter Four: The Human Services Internship; getting the most from your experience. From your internship, what have you learned about what you want and need in your supervisory relationship? As an intern at Vision Quest, I have identified key characteristics that I want and need in my supervisory relationship. Having good open communication with my supervisor is the 1st on my list. I believe that communication is essential to growing and creating a great relationship. My director keeps me very informed and involved during each meeting. I participate in many conversation, whether I understand the material or not. He is very open with all his staff and communicate fairly with each individual. He usually take about 30 minutes in the morning and

evenings to find out where ever one stand with their work. My director holds Core meeting twice a month, and he allows staff to go around and ask each other how they are feeling and what they would like to accomplish during their hours of work. Another quality identified is trustworthiness. My supervisor is very dependable and

trustworthy. I can go to him with any issues or concern, and he always very encouraging and comforting. I have built a high level of trust in my director, because of his strong friendliness and leadership skills. He treats all employee with the same respect and he does not display any biases at work. I am a person with many question, and my director seems to answers most of them. If there is a question he cannot answer right away, he normally goes above and beyond to retrieve the answer. What I want in a supervisor is displayed throughout my site supervisor. He is well dependable, trustworthy, easy going, punctual, and treats everyone with the same respect. I couldnt ask for a better supervisor. He goes above and beyond for his staff and clients. Have you handled your responsibilities within the role in terms of being an active and open participants in the process? Yes, I have handled each responsibility assigned to me in my intern role at Vision Quest. I have been assigned to attend to all meetings on Tuesday and Thursday. At each meeting I am required to take mins (notes) and submit to my director by the end of my shift. I have shadowed each staff in the administrative office to learn more about their position job description. There are time when I complete my task earlier than usual and I assisted others with their routines and tasks. I try my best to stay active and involved because you can get lost when youre not on same track as everybody else. I am very eager to learn more about each aspect of the

organization. I am very active and open in the organizations newest program called PLL. I work one on one with the director identifying the implementation steps to launching the second chance grant for the PLL program. PLL stand for Parenting with Love and Limits. The program is funded by the 1 million dollar second chance grant from the state. I have attended board meetings introducing the grant proposal. I have sat with my director one on one to create supplies list, eligibility requirements and generating a duration of time for participation.

What particular challenges have you encountered in your supervision, and how have you handled them? One challenge I am working on, is adjusting to my environment and surroundings. I am not the best at getting acquainted with new people. I am not used to the friendliness and welcoming surrounding my site has offered. Everyone in the office is very friendly, and hangs out with each other. I had to adjust to the friendly environment and became comfortable with everyone after my 3rd week. Some staff joke around out of content, and sometimes I have to block out their personal biases about people not knowing their boundaries. I had to understand that most of the individuals working there are fairly young and everyone maturity level is not the same as mine. I came to a conclusion that everyones passion is the same either. How would you like to grow in your skills to use supervision effectively? I hope to build better communication skills. I want to gain confidence in public speaking, because I know in a supervisory position it is essential to becoming a great leader. Building my communication skills will help become a more confident individual. Observing and practicing public speaking will help me with overcoming my fears of embarrassment. I want to become

more open to the different cultures, personalities, and other beliefs, because sometimes I can be stuck in my own ways. I am a passionate worker, but sometimes I have learn how to take one day at a time and relax. With learning how to improve these key skills, I hope to become a great supervisor like my director. I want to be able to understand, and relate to my staff. I also want to become more hands with my work and list dictatorial. Based on your internship supervisory experience, what do you anticipate that you will need in a supervisor when you enter your first professional job? For a supervisory position, I would look for an individual who is very passionate in their work. I would want an individual that loves to work one on one with staffs and clients. If the heart isnt in the work, then the quality will be skewed. The individual will need to master all the material, guidelines, policies and procedures prior to taking on a supervisory role. In order to leader a crew, you must be able to understand what your staffs position holds. I would desire to have a supervisor who understands that respect works both ways. The individual must be motivated and willing to learning beyond their own knowledge. Chapter 5 E-Portfolio Questions: Integrative Processing Model Step 1 Gathering Objective Data from Concrete Experience As I attended the evening group session with the youth, I discovered a troublesome boy. This boy comes to ART and gang awareness meeting every Tuesday and Thursday. I watched him go into the opposite office. He took items and placed it in his pocket. Vision Quest provides food for those who attend the meetings. I notice this boy eat more food than any of the other children. I wonder whether or not this individual eats at home. I asked my program director

about this individual and she explained that he is known to be a big thief on the premises and in school. I decided to read more about this client, and I discovered that he comes from a large family with not much resources. Step 2: Reflecting I felt sorry for the boy. I did not like the fact that he is labeled as thief. Even though his action defines a thief, I couldnt think of him as one. He comes from a family living on the welfare system and share room with 4 other siblings. I grew angrier with his parents failing him and his siblings. Both parents come from a drug affiliated background. As I learned about the boys past experience and background, I grew eager to help and relate. When I was younger, I grew up in a household of poverty. I grew up in a large family setting as well. It was very hard for my mother to provide. My older sister and brothers would steal out of the grocery store to make sure that my little brothers and I were fed. I understand the life style, but I do think it is right for his parents to continue to live that life for too long. I wonder whether or not the parents are selling their food stamps instead of using them to provide for their children. Most people on drugs or unemployed will do whatever it takes to make a dollar, even if it put your child at risk. Step 3: Identify Relevant Theory and Knowledge Maslows Hierarchy: When I thought more about this individual, instantly I began to analyze the Maslows Hierarchy level. I believe that his physiological needs are not being fulfilled.

Physiological needs are the basic needs for an individual to survive. Air, sex, food, water, and shelter are the essential needs to living. I believe that he may not be getting enough food and he is forced into trying to provide for himself. He may take the mind frame of the survival of the fittest. Darwins famous theory may play a great role in this situation. This child may believe

that taking from others to survive may be acceptable. Maybe he would be better off in another familys care, Step 4: Dissonance There is a few dissonances in my encounter experience with the youth. I have learned many information based on his case, and information from another staff about his stealing problems. I am unsure whether he is a child of neglect. His family may lack resources to provide, and I shouldnt assume that he is a child of neglect. It is very unclear that he is

experiencing neglect. This child hasnt report neglected and so we are unsure if he is in good care with parents. Instantly, I wanted to try to get him placed with another family member. But, with the lack of evidence of his care, I am not able to determine if he needs to be placed into another home of care. Step 5: Articulating Learning Learning about his family background broke my heart. I was convinced he was a child of neglect. But as I think closely, to the similarities with of my childhood and this childs, I learned that it could be more to the situation. His mother may only receive so much assistance from the state. I can relate to living in a large sibling household. In my family, I had to share a lot of things with my siblings and at times there wasnt much food in the house to provide for all of us. My mother used to distribute the food evenly for all of us. When it come to the youth population I can be very judgmental about the predicament that they raised in. Step 6: Developing a Plan: My client may or may not be a child of neglect. Additional research may need to take place. I can only start by reaching out to his parents for further information. I can also report my

assumption of his nourishment levels. My next step is finding different resources that would be able to address the needs of the family. Also, I would try to find different organization that will provide addition resources for his family. And, I would try my best to help this client seek counseling and advocacy session for his stealing habits. The goal of this plan is to not only address is basic needs to survive, but to also insure he breaks the habit of stealing food, and other materials needed to survive. Chapter 6 E- Portfolio Question review: Discuss your experience thus far in working with individual, families, group, and communities? So far, I was able to sit down one on one with clients and attend group session with assigned individuals. Some group session includes staff, clients and parents, while other group session are held with selected youth. I was able to go into the communities with some of the youth for community services. I attended a black history month tournament and MLK walk with the youth. Some youth were very corporate and other seemed non-compliant. At Vision Quest, our target population can be difficult with complying with assigned community services. Which of these levels of intervention have you had the most experience with? I have had more experience with group and individual intervention. I was able to sit in on both types of session. I am more frequently exposed to group session with the youth on Tuesday and Thursday. Working with the youth in individual and group session at the office is

seemed more easy and controllable then working within the community setting. In group session, all youth are required to express how their day has been going with another youth. I prefer working in a group session, because each is able to relate to one another. Which have you had the least experience with?

I have little exposure and experience with meeting the families of the clients. Some group sessions that I have attend may include both client and the parents. In many cases, most parents are too busy to attend or do not comply with interacting with staff. Someday, I am able to contact the parents of the youth on the caseload that I have been managing. If you were employed in your internship organization, how might you expand your work to encompass all four levels of intervention? If I was the case manager at Vision Quest, I would make it mandatory for each caseworker and family specialist to a group/individual session once a week. By doing so, this opens up the exposure to meeting with clients one on one and in group session. I think it is very important for our staff to see how clients are interacting with other clients. Also, I would make it mandatory for the case manager and family specialist to reach out to the families twice a week. Whether it is a phone call, curfew check or a home visit, I would enforce rules to ensure all staff are making an effort to meet the needs of each in the home, school, community and facility setting. I would have a bi weekly communication meeting specifically targeting those intervention process and achievements. Asses your abilities in each of these levels of intervention, identify your strengths as well as areas that need improvement. I am good at creating events and session to make more interested in attending. I understand as a child, your interest, values and priority is not always what we expect. I would use my creativity to meet the needs of each child easier by wrapping services around their time and availability. I would engage in using more power points and handouts for each group session.

What observation do you make about how your methods and skills in communicating have evolved over the course of your education? Over the course of my education, I believe that my communication has improved. During my hours at my internship, I am able to utilize my learned communication methods and skills. Now, I am able to detect moods, attitudes through body language and tones. During the meetings at Vision Quest, I ask a lot more questions to engage in conversation and to receive clarity on any topics that I do not understand. Communication is essential to progress, and I

believe that having the courage to ask when youre not sure is a great growth method. I have more eye contact during conversations. When I engage in conversation with eye contact, I feel more confident in my speech. As you enter the human service profession, which area(s) of intervention is (are) most interesting or satisfying to you and why? I believe that I would be great at improving families intervention services. Family intervention is very important to me, because you have to reach the needs of the family as well as the individual. To ensure that everyone is on the same page, meeting with the families in a regular time schedule is very important to relationship that staff has with clients.