The Unfairness of Life - The System

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Kethry
Member Rara Avis

since 2000-07-29

Posts 9082
Victoria Australia

0 posted 2002-08-21 06:24 PM

Life is so unfair I think to my self as I drag my weary body from my warm bed at six am. It would not be so bad if I had slept well or got to bed at a reasonable hour, however by the time I got home after having flat tyre and getting a speeding ticket I was too tired to sleep. The events of the day kept going through my head, partly in preparation for this day and partly because I was so wound up the thoughts kept going into rewind, like a spring that been wound too tight and spins around and around before it snaps. On other occasions I would have a stiff drink but this is looking after myself month and I have sworn off alcohol, among other things.

At least I don't have the commute to work, I think as I leave the flat before the morning sounds of daily activity have truly begun. Oh sure there is the incessant murmur of conversations going on behind closed doors but this appears to be a constant and does not intrude upon my consciousness.

Today is a court day to see if Amanda stays out of the family home or returns to the home of her parents who will probably move away and be lost to the system that is trying to protect Amanda. They will be lost that is, until another incident brings them back into our domain and the process begins again.

The transience of the families who come into the system is one of the hardest things to deal with and the legal eagles and courts demand that we do everything in our power to stabilize these families, sometimes against impossible odds. I am often reminded of the saying "the difficult we do immediately the impossible takes a little longer." So much of what we do is under resourced and too time limited to be of long lasting affect. Political factions have been lobbying for years to change things but the wheels of progress move slowly and communication between systems is as slow as the wheels of progress.

I don't sleep well and the circles under my eyes are reflected in the circles from unwashed desktop that have come from the collected coffee cups that are left on my desk in silent accusation that this month's failed resolution is, "to take better care of myself."

Janet is there at work and as jittery as a bug on a hot barbeque, the energy zaps the air and sparks fly from the plastic partitions in static sympathy as we walk by, we have both come in early - me to avoid the carnal press that jangles my nerves and makes me unable to function at my best. Her, because it's her first time in court, I would imagine. This is going to be her case but I will need to shepherd her through the process. As much as possible we try to support workers especially through the court process that is frightening as riding the roller coaster without safety restraints.

She is as excited as a kid being invited to her first party and dressed in the same outrageous manner. I am dressed down, in a suit with a skirt because I know this magistrate, he is as conservative as they come and will have difficulty believing that sometimes a child is better off without a family.

The carer has agreed to bring Amanda to court but will arrive late because she must first deliver Damian her son to school, I thank God for carers who go the second mile and are prepared to go out of their way to help these waifs who wash up into our services like so much discarded flotsam. This makes me feel good too because it means I don't have to begin the day at seven in order to pick up a child and transport her to court. I feel a twinge of sorrow at my own selfishness but it quickly dissipated as Janet gushes, I swear the nickname suits her to a tee.
Janet is not aware of the night I've had and is as bubbly as champagne at a celebration. I find her questions as annoying as the lack of hot coffee first thing and grunt in monosyllabic reply to her enthusiasm.

In ones and two other workers drift into the office. They take one look at me, raise their eyebrows and say "court?" It is enough, then they grin in mock sympathy. It doesn't help that I did not finish work until eleven, did not sleep until two and then got up again at six to check over reasons why we want this child out of home. I'm probably too involved with my work but if you don't get it right you can lose on an undotted 'i' and be wondering for weeks afterward what went wrong.

With the beginning of a new business day the telephone rings, constantly. At first it is the placement unit wanting to know how Amanda settled and to give instructions about the ream of paperwork that needs to go with the placement. I look at the paperwork in puzzlement and wonder how in the hell I am supposed to know whether Amanda wets the bed or whether she has special dietary requirements. In the end I fill out what I can and leave the spaces blank for the parents to fill in at court. I get a little manic as the telephone continues to ring. It is not my job to be fielding calls for Amanda's case but Janet is fluttering around like a butterfly and cannot seem to settle on one thing, she has already started six jobs and finished none of them, so it really is a kindness to me and not her that I take down the information needed and organise the court routine. Someone brings me a coffee and I smile gratefully without really seeing who brought it. Court days are always like this, the office pulls together and any factions or complaints are forgotten. On good days there is a specialist team to take urgent matters to court but this one came through the back door because we already had an open file when the disclosure came, this makes it all ours. Janet looks as if she has swallowed a live goldfish and I worry that she will vomit over me again. It was hard enough getting my shoes cleaned yesterday, I don't want to have to go through that process again. The admin person driving the car and us to court says she is ready and I add our disposition to the growing list of documents and we head out the door. Once workers used to drive themselves to court but it got to be too expensive, what with workers not concentrating and smashing cars or having to park within the central business district where all the courts are situated and paying through the nose for the privilege. Some might say it's a luxury to be transported to court and maybe it is but it sure beats having workers off work because they've strained their backs or having them leave because they can't take the last straw, of the strain of having to get to court on public transport.

We arrive at the courthouse before the bustle of the day begins, it's better that way because we get to alert a solicitor that the matter is coming in, of course all our paperwork is checked, we have already done this back at the office but we go through the process again. Then we lodge the paperwork, originals only please; discuss our plan, speculate on the likelihood of the parents turning up and make the arrangements for Amanda to have contact with her parents while in the court setting if her parents come. This is the only calm time of the day to do this as once the court opens at ten it becomes a frantic bustle that continues until four when the court closes

The court is a drab place; no amount of refurbishment can hide the years of sweaty palms and overactive grubby fingers. The only things of interest within the blue walls are the vending machines, parents and children alike gather around them as if in holy sacrament, the children use the machines as a barter point to get the parents to show how much they love them, the parents often in abject defeat surrender to the lure of the machines for the sake of five minutes peace. The children's court where we are is the poor second cousin to the more affluent and prestigious, higher courts. For the sake of the children, the pomp and ceremony of the judicial system is muted but not absent and it is for this reason that it is seen as an inferior court. It seems that without the trappings of Law the respect for the judicial process is lessened. However all people within the court system, except for the parents and children caught in the child protection net are there because they have a belief in a system that works to protect children in a punitive way but also operates on the other side for parents to offer supports. In fact the lack of pomp probably makes it one of the more human faces of justice. Lawyers and magistrates are mindful that this is the only court system in the world, which involves punishment that causes parents to come to court with three children and leave with none. Everyone is filled with compassion and the judges walk a fine line, not always successfully, between the sanctity of the family and the protection of children.

Janet looks in awe at the surroundings, her eyes already huge look as if they will pop out of her head, as she surveys the beginnings of a court day that will soon rise to a crescendo of activity that could make even a veteran of the system, such as me, quail and sweat.

I show her the ropes, it's important that she gets a feel for the process because there may not be a worker to spare the next time she comes. I have seen first time workers huddle together like victims before a firing squad when they have had to bring a child to court without adequate preparation and familiarisation. I take Janet into the Legal Aid room and explain this is where she must bring Amanda and the parents so that they may get legal representation. The courts support a system called natural justice that allows every parent who comes to court first time to be legally represented whether they are eligible for Legal Aid or not. Some parents refuse and some who have been through the court system a number of times will not get aid but everyone who comes the first time will be offered.

I introduce Janet around and share a joke with my older serving friends, some of whom may be adversaries later on in the day. The humour is often irreverent or dark and it serves to break the tension a little, although the atmosphere builds like a taut elastic band spread over too great a distance. The twang of tension in the air causes voices to be raised with workers and lawyers alike arguing above each other's voices.

This above all other courts is characterised by noise and chaos. Janet stands hesitantly in the corner and I sigh inwardly and take the paperwork to our legal rep. She smiles absently as the queue of workers waiting to see her grows rapidly. Her name is Ms Fisher and when she is on duty she has the disconcerting habit of stopping mid-sentence then needing to be prompted to continue with her train of thought. She is clever though and most of the workers have figured out how to get her thought processes started; between 9.30 and 10.00 when the workers finish giving instructions the sound of staccato coughing can be heard echoing thought as Ms Fisher discusses the bottom lines around conditions and works out what can be negotiated and which ones are an absolute must.

The colours in this room are like a thousand birds fluttering and hovering in the air. They may pause for a moment infrequently but are never truly still Janet hovers on the edge of the crowd and I ruthlessly drag her in and make her listen to the negotiations, it may be tough on her today but the information she gleans will be better learning than if I did it for her and if she stays in the business she will be better off in the long run.

Once we have determined the order we wish and have negotiated what conditions we want we are free to wander around the court to find the parents we will be working with for the duration of the order. Once we have found them the only job is to link them into Legal Aid. Their lawyers then negotiates with staff lawyers and we are not needed except as gophers. That means we go for the missing document that was there a second ago, or we go for the chips or a drink for a child, or we go for that elusive legal representative who is representing the parents and hasn't been seen since 10.30. It's an interesting system that makes us adversaries on this side of the fence but also demands that we work with families once an order is made. I think that is why in some regions we have pre and post court workers. It makes it easier for a worker to work with a family when they haven't had to stand in front of a magistrate and say what terrible people the parents have been. You can say what you like about this system but I have found most parents, there are a few exceptions, caught up in our net genuinely want what is best for their children but do not have the resources, education or training to be able to meet their needs. The drug scene will have influenced many of the parents brought here today, often they are helpless to change their own lives let alone understand what it means to care for a child as well as protect them from harm. What we so often see in the children's court are the fringe dwellers of society, non conformists caught in the machine called child protection who are ground to mince and spat out as uniform productions. The system that breaks them makes them anew into new beings.
The parents don't show by 11.30 and the paperwork is lodged. Amanda hovers uncertainly each time we call the home and then whispers away when the telephone is not answered. Janet and I work in tandem to get another placement for Amanda as the carer is adamant she cannot have her any longer because of her own child; some carers find that saying no is one of the hardest things to do and on occasion the reluctantly agree. It is in these placements we spend a lot of time and effort maintaining the placement and even then there is no guarantee. Amanda looks desolate that her parents have not turned up, despite the contention of children meeting parents in court and having the whole process watched and supervised, children whose parents don't show seem to lose a little of themselves. At 2.15 the judge rules that Amanda will need to be out of home for a week and that the parents will be sent a letter reminding them they must attend court. We return to the office and begin again the tedious process of finding a place for Amanda to stay. Life is so unfair.

Here in the midst of my lonely abyss, a single joy I find...your presence in my mind. Unknown

Larry C

Member Patricius

since 2001-09-10

Posts 10286
United States

1 posted 2002-08-22 01:11 PM

Keth,
Oh the memories...

It's the same here only different. Intense and draining. Bless you for your courage and commitment! I enjoyed reading of this experience in your system. Thanks.

If tears could build a stairway and memories a lane, I'd walk right up to heaven and bring you home again.

Gemini
Senior Member

since 1999-12-15

Posts 1203
Wisconsin, USA

2 posted 2002-08-22 08:17 PM

Oh so sad, your words describe so well where society fails our children, where the system is so overwhelmed and humanity gets lost in bureaucratic red tape. It is so unfortunate, but oh so true.

Roberta Little
Junior Member

since 2001-12-18

Posts 42
beloit wi usa

3 posted 2002-08-26 08:51 PM

I'm not writing to critisize your work, I'm writing to say that I'm glad that someone who works in the legal system has the guts to say it how it really is. I went through the system when I was in tenth grade, now I'm a freshman in collage. At the time everyone made it seem like there was all the time in the world and things were never hectic, but thay were. Everyone knew it. We got to talk to our councle for maybe two minuets if at all because they were soo busy and stressed out. Thanx 4 telling it how it really is.

GOD's greatist gift is LOVE

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