More work...

It was a very busy day at work. Stefanie had three initial hearings all scheduled for 11am. She approached me and stated she desperately needed my help with them. So, I left for court with her at 10:00am and did not leave until 4:45pm. The first task she had me complete was to file the documents for each case. I helped her organize the documents, such as the petitions, and distributed them to the appropriate members in the three cases. The mom’s attorney, dad’s attorney, guardian ad litem, and the social worker had to receive these. It was difficult to find all these people because not all arrived at the court house at the same time. Many were discussing the other cases they have with attorneys that are assigned to those cases. The scene at court is always quite hectic I’ve noticed. Because the three hearing were all scheduled at the same time, they had to determine the order of the cases. Once Stefanie knew when the hearings would begin, she instructed me to call the social workers to inform them when to arrive. This was also frustrating because the social workers had to rush to get there, so the cases could begin. Stefanie was relieved that I had made the calls for her because she was busy trying to address the other situations at hand. I worked with her all day as though I was her personal assistant. I felt as though my assistance was very helpful to her success in managing the hearings. I overheard her tell a co-worker that I was a huge help throughout the day and that she was extremely grateful I was there to assist her. When I hear comments such as those, I feel as though I am contributing to the success of CFSA.

These cases that I assisted with were not too unique from previous ones that I’ve observed. The only one that was different was that a case concerned the matter an infant being malnourished. The infant was four months old and was six pounds. The baby had been born pre-mature and weighed four pounds. Since then, the baby gained little weight and the mother did not take the child to the doctor. I found this interesting how CFSA also handles cases where children are not properly cared for concerning food. It makes sense, but I guess I never thought about it.