Sunday, November 15, 2015

Marianna Barrett- #1 Evolving thoughts on our shared topic



        My thinking has evolved in ways that I might not be able see.  I already knew about this topic, but I know now what a big issue that this is.  I did not know about all of the different sides that should be examined, and talked about.  Even with just having the overnight to work on it with my group, I can look at it with a much broader understanding of what needs be thought about and brought into the light.
        Right now I am most interested in learning about mental and health disorders in children who go through the foster system.  Also, the same disorders in the social workers who have to deal with this everyday.  Even though these are the sections of this topic that I am most interested in, I am really looking forward to working on the other problems as well.  I am also very excited to get started working with the technology, as I have zero skills with that sort of thing and I hope to get some.
         I would like to learn more about the sub-topics that I talked about in the previous paragraph. I am also wondering about how my thinking might change as the class progresses and I learn more about what my other group members are interested in working on more.  I can not wait to see how our project comes together in the end.
         I really think that we should be interviewing a lot of people who have experience with this topic. For example, I might want to try and talk to a psychologist who has worked with the people who have experienced the effects of foster care, and talk about different possible mental disorders that might be present.  That might be very difficult to do, because of patient confidentiality.  As Alex said in his reflection post, this is a very sensitive topic for many people, so we are going to have to take our time.  It might really help to have and insider view of this, rather than just articles and papers, which are still very helpful, but should not be the only source of information.  I believe that it is very important to get all of the information that we can so that we can draw our own conclusions for things, instead of only listening to others.  And we really do need all of these different sources to help us to figure this out.
        And finally, what plans do we have?  We did not really get around to making plans for the future , but we did talk about maybe trading the equipment off to different group members, since we all live so far apart.  This might work well, but it would be nice to all get together and interview different people.  I hope that we will able to work some of those things out when we talk today.
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5 comments:

  1. UnknownNovember 17, 2015 at 7:55 AM

    Marianna,

    I think not knowing a lot about the Vermont’s Department of Children and Families means that there is a lot of information that needs to get out to the public. I looked at the website too and saw their mission statement: Fostering the healthy development, safety, well-being, and self-sufficiency of Vermonters. How is the DCF living up to their mission or not? What will be the group’s angle? What does the group want to see change?

    Are you focusing just on the foster care system? I noticed that there are six divisions within the DCF: Child Development; Disability Determination; Economic Services; Family Services; Office of Child Support; Office of Economic Opportunity. Maybe it can be a documentary …..sort of a day in the life of…. highlighting different reasons why a Vermonter would contact them or how they were directed to DCF and what happened? What did you notice and what would need to change?

    Looking forward to hearing how your work develops in the coming weeks and who you plan to interview.

    Best,
    Dianne

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    1. MayappleNovember 29, 2015 at 8:08 AM

      Hi Dianne, I think that for now we are just focusing on the foster care system. As much as we would like to cover everything, that is probably not a realistic goal for the time limit that we have. Though I do really like your idea for our documentary!

      As of right now I am not sure what would need to be changed to help the DCF work better. However as we proceed with this topic, I hope to gain a better understanding of how the system works.

      Thank you so much for all of your input- Marianna

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  2. KateNovember 18, 2015 at 2:40 PM

    Hi Marianna,

    I am intrigued with the following topic that you mentioned: "Also, the same disorders in the social workers who have to deal with this everyday." Do you mean that you are interested in researching if/where social workers are dealing with mental and health disorders themselves, or did you mean what it is like for them to deal with children in the foster system who are dealing with them. Just curious.

    I am always intrigued and affected by 'day in the life' footage that Dianne proposed. Earlier this fall, Middlebury launched a brand new Film Festival for new filmmakers, both fiction and documentary, short and long films. Some of the short documentary films (~15 minutes) provided a continuous slice within a day whereas others spliced several moments together. The portraits that emerged about the diverse subjects were compelling.

    I think the idea of working in interview teams is a great idea, but as you said it might logistically difficult. No matter what, I imagine that if/when you all come together in January with footage of interviews, patterns will emerge and possible paths of construction will open up.

    Let us readers know when you would like any input of any kind.

    Best wishes,
    Kate Carroll

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    1. MayappleNovember 29, 2015 at 8:21 AM

      Hi Kate,

      For the topic that you were talking about, I am most interested in discovering what mental and/or health disorders that the social workers might have and share with the children that they work with.

      Also, anytime that you, or any of my readers, have suggestions or good interview questions, I would be more than happy to hear them.

      Thank you! - Marianna

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  3. UnknownDecember 10, 2015 at 10:42 AM

    Hi Marianna,
    You have picked a very interesting subject to write and interview people about, in regards to the mental and health disorders of foster children. As a parent who has adopted a biological grandchild because of them falling into the state system, I do understand you questions and concerns. Some of the issues that cause mental and health disorders in foster children are caused prior to birth in what the mother did with illegal and legal drugs and alcohol. Plus whether they had regular and routine check-ups with a Physician during their pregnancy. It is also interesting that you want to study the social workers themselves to see if they have the same disorders. Having to deal with these issues on a daily basis could cause them to get depression, which could cause them to have health issues as well.
    I looked forward to seeing how much information you can learn from the interviews you are doing.

    Ralph Mellecker

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