I thought you all might like to see an example of what effective advocacy can do in a challenging situation. If you've been following my previous posts, you'll remember that I have had a really hard time dealing with the Social Service department in charge of IHSS. I have struggled in particular with the Social Worker they assigned to our case.
On Friday, I finally got fed up and fired up and managed to find the time, energy, and focus to write a letter to the aforementioned incompetent Social Worker's superior.
We put it in the mail on Saturday.
He called me the next Tuesday morning.
BOOM!
He is expediting our case. He carefully explained exactly what forms I need to send in to him. The best part is that as soon as he receives those documents, he is re-assigning us to another worker.
Uhm, who's awesome?
Yah, that's right - me.
Now, this isn't just a co-incidence, but rather a result of years and years of honing my craft of letter-writing, campaigning, summarizing needs, recalling important details, casually stating scary legal info and other sneaky techniques that are almost guaranteed to produce immediate action.
This action may not necessarily be positive, or go in your favor right away, but the important thing in advocacy, especially when dealing with large bureaucratic institutions is to get and keep things moving. There is nothing more important than momentum in this process. A body at rest tends to stay at rest and thus usually ends up buried at the bottom of people's in-box. The squeaky wheel gets the grease and all that. Let's see, any other cliche's I can throw in here?
Okay so, I'm not like some stingy chef who won't share her recipes. I want you all to have a chance to succeed in battling whatever challenges you come across. So I've edited my letter to remove the identifying information and I'm attaching it here in the hopes that it will spark some ideas for you.
High Mucky-Muck
1234 Office Building
Anytown, ST 00000
September 24, 2011
Hello Mr. Mucky-Muck,
My name is Momma Bear. My son Monkey Bear has been assigned to Ms. Grumpy Burnout for assessment for IHSS and Protective Supervision. I am writing to you to express some concerns I have over this placement.
First, a little background on our situation:
I am currently on SSA disability due to ramifications of cancer treatments, lymphedema, chronic pain, and radiation damage. My son Monkey has Autism, Sensory Processing Disorder, and Pica. We are applying for IHSS and Protective Supervision because his care needs have grown beyond what I can personally provide. I am overwhelmed physically, emotionally, and mentally by the demands of his care. Basically the situation is that we have one disabled person caring for another disabled person.
Because of the emergent nature of our situation, I feel Ms. Burnout to be under-qualified to handle the complexity of our family's needs for the following reasons:
• She was more than two hours late to our scheduled interview.
• She was unprepared for our meeting and gave no reason for her tardiness besides simply “needing more time to prepare all the paperwork.”
• She is hard to reach by phone and very difficult to communicate with. I didn't feel she understood my concerns and when we were discussing my family's needs, I felt she was leading me to tell her what would make her job simpler and easier, rather than what were the true facts of our circumstances.
• During our first phone conversation she actually suggested I say certain things that were not true in order to guarantee qualification. I told her that those were not the facts of our case and she seemed confused by my un-willingness to go along with her suggestions.
• At our intake interview, she thrust pages and pages of forms and documentation at me with little explanation, as well as much griping and complaining about all the unnecessary paperwork. She honestly disturbed me with her dour and unprofessional nature.
• The intake paperwork and information packet was missing several pages, duplicated other pages, and not explained in any way.
• Since the intake interview she has had no further contact or provided assistance to us. She has not even checked in on our progress.
Because of the above listed concerns, I would request an alternative placement for our case #XX-XXXXXXX to a different social worker. I feel our needs and the complex nature of our family situation warrants someone with a greater degree of professionalism, compassion, and skill. We are in an emergent situation as I will have the first stage of my reconstructive surgery on October 5, 2011 and the major operation will follow a few months later. We will definitely need intensive support during my recovery and that is a deadline that is quickly approaching. I'm sure you have other people on your staff better suited to the needs of our case and that they can better expedite our intake and assessment.
I greatly appreciate your prompt attention to this issue. I look forward to speaking with you at your earliest convenience. I can be reached on my cell phone at XXX-XXX-XXXX, by email MOMMABEAR@email.com , or by mail at 9876 Random Street, Littletown, ST, 00000.
Kind regards,
Momma Bear
Also, here are few recommendations for books and websites that have helped me become a better advocate.
1. From Emotion To Advocacy
2. Special Education Law
3. Autism: Asserting Your Child's Right to a Special Education
4.
http://fetaweb.org/
This site is great for everything to do with advocating for your child.
5.
http://www.wrightslaw.com/
This is the main go-to for everything about Special Education Law.
6.
http://www.disabilityscoop.com/
This is an awesome clearing house for all the current news affecting the disabled community.
7.
http://www.myautismteam.com/parents
I love the way this site makes it easy to network with other parents and find local services and supports.
If you ever have need for any of these resources, then know that many many many parents are battling with you. I wish you well in all your endeavors and pray for your success.
Grace & Peace,
-Hannah
