Saturday, July 29, 2006
On the Road Again
Well, I left AL yesterday and am making my way back to school. I'll spend some time with the folks, then visit my brother, and then return home. I hope to make more posts once I'm back at school - things will be a little crazy until then. Hope everyone is having a good summer!
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Countdown
Ok, so I'm almost finished w/ my summer internship in AL - one week left. I have to say that it has been successful as far as advocating for clients - so that's a good thing. I will miss the people I work with. I will not miss having the lug all my clothes to the laundrymat though! Especially when the heat index is 107!
Finishing up the internship just means that I am that much closer to my last year of law school - which is both scary and exciting! I am in the process of redoing my resume and will be starting to apply for jobs - keep your fingers crossed!
Have a good weekend!
Finishing up the internship just means that I am that much closer to my last year of law school - which is both scary and exciting! I am in the process of redoing my resume and will be starting to apply for jobs - keep your fingers crossed!
Have a good weekend!
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Are you kidding me!? Nope!
This is scary - but true. And coming from a teaching background - and having to defend history books to school board members with no education or history background - this is all too familiar and all too politically motivated.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0717-22.htm
Thoughts? Comments?
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0717-22.htm
Thoughts? Comments?
Just a quick note today - I am sending in my last acceptance letter for student loan money! I don't know whether to be excited about that - or to freak out since that means it is only a matter of time before someone will expect me to start paying this back! YIKES! I better get it in gear and find a job!
Have a great day!
Have a great day!
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Ok - I've sent out emails to friends and family about this blog so I figured I should probably post something. As many of you know, I am in Tuscaloosa, AL for the summer working for the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program (ADAP).
ADAP is what is known as a P&A (protection and advocacy group) and each state has a P&A which is federally mandated to advocate/protect people w/ disabilities. Our organization is divided into two sections - community team and children's team. I am working with the children's team. Much of our advocacy is done on behalf of children in the custody of the AL Department of Human Resources (DHR - basically the foster care system) and comes out of a consent decree (R.C. v Walley) that has been in place for about 16+ years - so any child who is in DHR custody, or could possibly go into DHR custody, and has any type of disability (mental, physical, etc) is a member of the R.C. plaintiff class and is therefore, our client. I would venture to say that most (if not all) states have serious problems with their foster care systems, I just happen to be seeing the system in AL. I have researched other states and many of their systems have much more significant problems, while others have less.
What I can say is that I am thankful for the fact I was raised by parents who could take care of me (and are still together after 40+ years). I am a big fan of Jonathan Kozol's books (Savage Inequalities, etc) and from teaching I knew that there were children falling through the education system (I'll talk about that in a later post), but to see the children in the foster care system and how hopeless many of them are, just breaks my heart. I think back to what my "daily concerns" were as a child - which ribbon I would put in my hair, who was taking me to soccer or volleyball practice, how much longer I had until my piano recital, etc. Then I compare that to what these children deal with every day, like will DHR give their foster parent money to buy them more than one pair of shoes, when their next counseling appointment is and will DHR continue to pay for it, or when (and if) they will ever have a permanent home. It makes advocacy, and my possible career paths as an attorney, take on a new light.
Those are my thoughts for this afternoon. I am having to post from the UA library since I didn't want to pay for internet access at the house I am renting. This is working out okay, except for the fact that they have what they call "limited" air conditioning for the summer hours - which when the heat index is 107 like it is today - you may as well say "it's hot as hell in the library today"!
(and I'm also supposed to be studying for the MPRE, but the review book is putting me to sleep - or maybe that is heat related also!)
ADAP is what is known as a P&A (protection and advocacy group) and each state has a P&A which is federally mandated to advocate/protect people w/ disabilities. Our organization is divided into two sections - community team and children's team. I am working with the children's team. Much of our advocacy is done on behalf of children in the custody of the AL Department of Human Resources (DHR - basically the foster care system) and comes out of a consent decree (R.C. v Walley) that has been in place for about 16+ years - so any child who is in DHR custody, or could possibly go into DHR custody, and has any type of disability (mental, physical, etc) is a member of the R.C. plaintiff class and is therefore, our client. I would venture to say that most (if not all) states have serious problems with their foster care systems, I just happen to be seeing the system in AL. I have researched other states and many of their systems have much more significant problems, while others have less.
What I can say is that I am thankful for the fact I was raised by parents who could take care of me (and are still together after 40+ years). I am a big fan of Jonathan Kozol's books (Savage Inequalities, etc) and from teaching I knew that there were children falling through the education system (I'll talk about that in a later post), but to see the children in the foster care system and how hopeless many of them are, just breaks my heart. I think back to what my "daily concerns" were as a child - which ribbon I would put in my hair, who was taking me to soccer or volleyball practice, how much longer I had until my piano recital, etc. Then I compare that to what these children deal with every day, like will DHR give their foster parent money to buy them more than one pair of shoes, when their next counseling appointment is and will DHR continue to pay for it, or when (and if) they will ever have a permanent home. It makes advocacy, and my possible career paths as an attorney, take on a new light.
Those are my thoughts for this afternoon. I am having to post from the UA library since I didn't want to pay for internet access at the house I am renting. This is working out okay, except for the fact that they have what they call "limited" air conditioning for the summer hours - which when the heat index is 107 like it is today - you may as well say "it's hot as hell in the library today"!
(and I'm also supposed to be studying for the MPRE, but the review book is putting me to sleep - or maybe that is heat related also!)
Presidential Power
Today's New York Times has a good editorial regarding presidential power. Check it out at
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/opinion/16sun1.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/opinion/16sun1.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Thursday, July 13, 2006
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