(Yucky) Tales from the field

I was less than thrilled when my client, E., cancelled his three hour sessions on both Monday and Tuesday- that's a big chunk of my paycheck that will be missing. I was told by the daycare staff that he would not be in until late afternoon, which, because of my scheudule, was not possible for me to come in and see him. However, words cannot explain how I felt when I arrived at his daycare on Wednesday to find him COVERED in bruises and scratches- easily 20 to 30 of each. The nurse's aid that accompanys him said that his father had simply stated "it happened over the weekend". He didn't say what had happened over the weekend. His other Nurse's aid (he has two), that worked with him on Monday said that dad said that he did it himself. E can be aggressive when he is frustrated, however his aggression is directed at others not himself and 99% of the time doesn't leave a mark on the victim- and I bruise like a peach so if he's not injuring me...... And I have watched this child hit the same spot on him self day after day and not have a bruise. Not to mention the fact that he is essentially a walking skeleton- at 10 years old he weights about 35 lbs. There is no way that he did this himself. He spent both Wednesday's session and yesterday's session acting out aggressively and repeating "bad, bad, bad" and " and "I'm bad". E is essentally non-verbal- the only word I've ever heard him say is "bad" and on a typical day he says it maybe two or three times a session, not constantly. I feel that I need to pause my story for a minute and explain. The decison to call childline is gut renching- contrary to popular belief we really do question whether or not the bruises and/or behavior we are seeing could have been the result of an accident or if the child is lying. It is not a call that is made on a whim and, honestly, it is quite upseting for the person who is charged with making it. However, in cases like this one, I don't ask myself what will happen to the parents if I do call, I ask myself what will happen to the child if I don't call? In all honesty, it's not about my legal obligation to the client (which as a mandated reporter I do have a legal obligation to report suspected abuse), it' s about the ethical responsibility I have to the client- if I don't call who will? Nobody deserves to the treatment I believe he is getting from his "parents". So yesterday, after a night of bad sleep, I called Childline and spent about a half hour explaining to the intake specialist what I saw and his history (we suspect that he is a victim of parental neglect) afterwhich the intake specialist informed me that, while I did a good job explaining the situation, the the report would not be registered (a registered complaint is one that is sent to CYS AND law enforcement- so it is seriously investigated) and that it would help if someone with a professional degree ( an master's or PH.D) would report the abuse. Apparently the fact that I see him 12 hours a week and have the education and experience to recognize abuse and maltreatment is just not good enough. Because I only have a Bachelors. It will be forwarded to CYS because every complaint has to be investigated, but I belive that that is the only reason. I feel so powerless. And angry at the daycare and the other Nurse's aid, who saw he bruised up but didn't do anything. It is just frightening that this can happen and the agency charged with helping is doing nothing!

The calls are comming from inside the house!

Here is my horoscope for today, the last day that I can consider myself to be "twentysomething":
Your Horoscope - Today, August 15, 2008
Today's planetary energies will be very demanding, Laura. As you agonize over whether or not you are "up to standard", the planets, in a very cheeky way, respond that you are not! That's because you are moving too quickly! The change in direction that you are making at the moment is profound, yet you are trying to take it lightly. Dare to go deeper.