Good Afternoon young leaders of tomorrow (and today).


In yesterdays class we discussed our individual site's mission: what we liked about it, didn't like about it, what we'd change, etc. A few of us were confused about exactly what their mission was--so fleshing through the mission paragraphs and honing in on verb words that work as indicators for the "real" mission statement was great to know.


For this weeks blog post I'd like us to talk about relating with your client(s) and/or the demographic of people you are helping. Professor Rose brought up the term "driving method" *inserts Professor Rose's hand gesture* to describe the mission statement of your respective site. One thing that drives me is knowing that I can in some way relate to young adults who have committed status offenses.


In what ways have you related to the client(s) and/or demographic of people you are helping at your site?   In what ways do you think its good to take your job at your site personally and when it would become problematic? Examples would help, but please keep your client and site confidentiality in mind. Also, Please post your revised mission statement highlighting the segment that resonates most with you.


I think of Nicolas's case of where he has to directly speak with individuals from behind a jail cell and how physically close he can be with a person, but still feel distant. I think it is important for us to understand that on a deeper level, we can all relate. I don't work directly with the kids and/or young adults who are effected by Status Offenses, but growing up, I too, like Nancy, had trouble traveling to my middle school. In the winter when the weather became unbearable, I dreaded walking by myself, and sometimes decided to stay home due to inclement weather (what I considered inclement conditions for walking). This is just my experience in Westbury and can only imagine how Texas was for Nancy and many other young adults I fight for every Wednesday and Friday.


I think its good for me to take it personal that these kids are often times victimized because it gives me that "driving" force to take my job seriously. It would become problematic if I were to equate my example to the same level of injustice as many young adults whose been through different, more severe experiences.


My revised Status Offense Reform Center mission statement is: "The Status Offense Reform Center aims to help policymakers and practitioners create effective, community based responses for keeping young people who commit status offenses out of the juvenile justice system and safely into homes and communities.