debor016

Everyone who works in a congregate care program knows that there are more behavioral problems during the holidays. The escalation usually starts around Thanksgiving. We explain it to each other: “you know, it’s the holidays.” Yet have we taken the time to look at the components of the holiday experiences of our children, and from that understanding plan how to best support them during this time? Memories are a central part of the holidays. For our children, both good and bad memories can hurt. If they have warm and caring memories, they feel sad and angry that they are no longer with their families. Many children also have painful holiday memories of fights, alcohol, abandonment and other types of pain. These become vivid as the holiday season approaches. We are all surrounded with media images of what the holiday season is supposed to be. On Christmas or Hanukah you should be surrounded by loving family and friends, eating huge piles of delicious foods, and opening wonderful gifts tha...

Providing treatment for children in a congregate care setting is a complex job. There are so many parts to what we do, and we are constantly on the edge of disaster. Thank heavens most of the things that could go wrong don’t. But the behaviors are so dramatic and life threatening, the staffing so stretched, the tasks so many, and the stakes are so high. Every day includes many many interactions with the children, designed to help them get through the day, change and improve, have fun and relax, or just manage life. In addition we have all the physical care of our living spaces. We provide everything necessary to raise the children, from food, clothes, supplies and living space to medical care and education. We must document everything we do following regulations of various agencies and accreditation bodies. There is so much to do on a given shift! Sometimes things do go wrong. These can range from egregious, deliberate wrong doing, to mistakes of omission by a harried staff, to errors ...