As some of you may or may not know I worked for the County of Riverside for about 5 or 6 months. You would think working for the Government for this short amount of time wouldn’t have allowed room for interesting experiences. However, for me, 2 days is enough time to become involved in a “novelistic” experience. Stories while working at the County could fill a novel and rightfully so this collection of stories will be presented here on kartooner.com for anyone’s reading pleasure.
A question you might have is why have I decided to devulge these stories? Well, truthfully, I didn’t work for the CIA nor did I involve myself in the inner-office politics. Yet, one doesn’t need to involve themselves per say. The key to learning about the world around you is observation. With keeping an eye on everything that happens around you eventually your filled to the brim with interesting experiences. Such is the case with the GAIN Department, a division of Social Services.
The Beginning
To make a long story short, I applied for the County through their in-house temporary agency. Initially, I wasn’t expecting to get the job let alone be faced with the responsibility of others. These others I’m referring to were the foster children participating in the GAIN (Greater Avenues for INdependence) program.
When I arrived at the offices I wasn’t expecting much. My job description described a position that would require driving and a key aspect to obtaining the position was a clean record, which I had. Over the next several weeks I would learn how to handle the ‘incentive’ inventory, prepare driving routes for that particular day and on Fridays become a psuedo-secretary/office assistant (of which I received a mug with See’s Candies on Secretaries Day).
My co-workers in the ILSP-GAIN Unit were comprised of a wonderful group of people with strengths in teaching and most importantly a spot in their hearts for children. Upon meeting them for the first time and being introduced to each of them I remember thinking to myself, “This is going to be great.” As a whole, the experience was indeed a great one but one that would eventually incur extreme responsibility and patience.
A few days into the Introductory period I was introduced to Robert, the Social Worker who would teach me the ropes. His job was comprised of the following:
- Developing routes for participant pickup (the foster kids)
- Figuring out what incentives and food were to be distributed
- Making sure everything went as smooth as possible without any delay in pickup or drop-off
Robert showed me how the routes were constructed, via a combination of schedules and Word. On any particular day he was given the site (which was comprised of several areas in the County), the teacher at the site, the students (or participants) to be transported to said sites and the food and incentives that would be distributed to the youth. The incentives were essentially treats for the kids, gift certificates from Best Buy, Target, Starbucks and others. Our manager gathered the incentives for the day and would create a list for the students to sign-off on. For example, Student A would receive Best Buy Certificate #14567-00234 and would sign their name next to the certificate they received.
The classes were made up of about 12-15 students, each with their own intact personality which usually included an intact attitude. These students (kids ages 13-20) were mostly from broken homes (parents who gave them up, abused them, or kids involved in a string of violent situations leading some to criminal avenues). The classes as taught by ILSP Advisors had subjects teaching them about things like taxes, the military, renting, job opportunities, etc. Usually, the class would begin with a Guest Speaker who represented the specific topic (i.e. Navy rep, Tax Advisor and/or a group of firemen) talking about their profession and then allowing the students to participate in discussions which led to in-class activities. At the end of the session (as an incentive for their time) they each would receive a Gift Certificate.
When Robert showed me where the vehicles were kept, where to refuel and wash them if necessary, he also allowed me to sit in the seat next to him when he would pick up the kids from school, their homes, wherever. He mentioned the kids would feel uncomfortable with a new driver but that was normal since they were used to changing homes and naturally it wasn’t something they looked forward to. This is where I met the groups of kids that reminded me of those ‘inner-city’ kids from the ABC After School Specials or from movies such as Higher Learning, The Substitute, and even sometimes Star Trek.
Continue this story by reading Working for the County: Part Deux.
