Renewing Hope in the Home
In-Home Safety Services Program works under the premise of “tough love”
By: Kerry Hoffschneider
There is a butterfly ornament hanging above the kitchen table with the word hope hanging down from the wings in fragile glass letters. Sitting at the table there is a father and mother holding a little baby in her arms. The parents are facing allegations of child abuse. Sitting with them are two Epworth Village In-Home Safety Services program employees. There are other components in the room, the intangibles, those things that will make all the difference to this family. Like those fragile letters spelling “hope,” these intangibles are the fragile issues in the family, the problems and struggles they are facing that may have been generations in the making. Accompanying these fragile elements are the carefully observing eyes and listening ears of people who so desperately want to make a difference in the lives of their neighbors.
In plain definition, Epworth’s IHSS program consists of about 30 employees working in a variety of capacities in the following Nebraska counties of York, Fillmore, Thayer, Jefferson, Saline, Gage, Seward, Polk, Lancaster, Pawnee, Richardson, Nemaha, Johnson, Otoe, Butler, Cass, Saunders, Sarpy, Douglas, Hamilton, Clay, Hall, Adams, Webster and Nuckolls. The services are ranked in a “hierarchy” of most intensive down to least intensive: Intensive Family Preservation, Respite, Family Support, In-Home Safety Services, Home Supported Safety Services, Visitation/Supervision, and Tracker. The program has been serving nearly 1,000 people each month after it became part of Epworth’s continuum of care in July of 2008 in a contract relationship with lead agency, Cedars Youth Services out of Lincoln.
Travis Barnhart, Family Partner, takes notes during IHSS meeting.
In the day-to-day front line work, IHSS employees are real people facing real life issues in our state’s neighborhoods head on. They work under the guise of a plethora of state regulations, Epworth’s intensive on-going training of scientifically proven Evidence Based Practices and a stack of paperwork to document the work they do. Most important, however, is their desire to keep children and families safe while providing resources they can realistically use to build better lives.
“We can’t skirt around the issues at hand, we have to identify what the problem is in the home and clearly communicate the ‘non-negotiables,’” said Andy Marquart, Director of IHSS. “We are the eyes and ears of the state. When we go into the home for the first time, we have ‘pebbles’ of information and we have to get to the ‘boulders.’”
IHSS work is about uncovering “the elephant in the room,” the “why” behind the safety issue that caused the state to get involved. The “elephant” may be abuse, neglect, alcoholism, drugs, unsanitary conditions or a host of other issues. “Most of us are a product of our environment,” said Sharon Renter, Supervisor with IHSS. “Family patterns are passed down through generation after generation and parents who have been hurt or damaged do not know any way to raise their children other than how they were raised. I believe we can make a difference in the lives of these families if we give them the opportunity to learn new patterns and help them with life’s challenges.”
Fran Matzner and Sivi Detwiler (Family Partners) coordinate appointments. Working as a team is imperative to giving the full coverage needed on cases.
It’s about being able to sort through the deep emotions involved in the cases and documenting facts that will provide actual proof in situations ranging from domestic violence to basic parenting issues. Outcomes are based on the results/change that will occur in the family in a specific time period. They are measurable, achievable and realistic. Here are some examples: “Susan will keep Samantha safe by using only non-physical discipline by June 30, 2010. Sally will lead a life free of drugs and alcohol by September 30, 2010.”
Reaching those measurable outcomes begins with the intake process. The state contacts caseworkers who then alert service coordinators and in-turn those service coordinators get in touch with Epworth’s IHSS program. Team members on each case vary just as much as the cases vary. One case may have more than four-plus workers depending upon the situation. The evidence-based communication component is the heart of the program, not only Epworth IHSS employees with the family itself, but also workers’ communication skills with other members of the family’s “team,” such as their Health and Human Services caseworker, the attorney, CASA, pastor, school personnel, friends and other informal supports.
From left: Brenda Vorderstrasse (Visitation Specialist), Erin Pinneo (Family Partner/Visitation Specialist), Brandon Hinrichs (Family Partner), Sivi Detwiler (Family Partner), Brandee Ehlers (IHSS Supervisor), Bobbie Alley (Family Partner) and Fran Matzner (Family Partner). The group was meeting to discuss cases and to support one another. The camaraderie between co-workers is vital to reaching successful outcomes.
Then there is the mileage issue. Workers are literally “going the distance” as they provide services within the borders of a state as large as Nebraska. Stretching from rural areas to more urban sectors, IHSS workers are making a world of difference and literally traveling the world to ensure children are safe. “In the month of January our workers used more than 46,000 phone minutes. We also drove 142,500 miles in one month. Considering the circumference of the earth is 24,900 miles, they basically drove around the world more than five times,” Marquart pointed out.
A typical day may begin at 5 a.m., facing all sorts of travel weather, documenting up to five face-to-face sessions in a 24-hour period. Sometimes workers are not back until after 10 p.m. at night. Response time is also crucial and travel considerations must be put into the equation. At the most intensive level IHSS provides, services are provided 24/7. Cases have been known to stretch for long periods of time. In fact there have been cases where families have been under intense supervision 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week for a month.
“It’s not just a job, it’s a way of life,” said Rob Vander Putten a Family Partner, about the dedicated schedule of serving as an employee for IHSS.
A sweeping, healing hope brush is not reality in IHSS. In fact, the program faces its daily frustrations. Because they work on the front lines, inside homes, many employees would like to see those with regulatory power to be able to witness firsthand, the extreme lack of resources in communities for the families they are working with. Many IHSS employees say it’s time for more frank and fewer political discussions about mental health services, sex education, parenting classes and other issues impacting children and families.
Claire Wollenburg, a Family Partner with the program admits the stress related to the job can be great, “Some days I have no idea and wonder why I even started working in this field. But then other days I would say I do this job because of the difference we can make.”
The difference is real, profound in fact, when considering the simple successes, what the program refers to as “baby steps,” that will have huge rippling impacts for families. Changes in disciplinary patters from cycles of abuse, seeing families who have lost all of their children to foster care reunified, helping a mother who has struggled with a drug addiction recognize her problems and regain custody of her children.
“A mother began disciplining her child correctly after asking me what to do, I was pretty proud that I had a part in that,” said Samantha Roth, Visitation Specialist , “I want to send the message that the families we work with are people who may be lost in their ways and just need a little guidance.”
“It’s always a joy to work with a family who is excited about learning new skills and willing to embrace change as a positive idea,” said Fran Matzner, Family Partner.
“A good portion of what our staff does is active listening and understanding the family’s story. There are very few cases where parents do not have a love for their child,” said Brandee Ehlers, Supervisor for IHSS.
“So many people want to know what is wrong with children and society today. Sometimes the answer is ‘because nobody cares.’ I care and each of my co-workers cares,” said Lori Miller, Visitation Specialist. “If we just turn our heads and look the other way the prisons will out-number the communities. All of us at Epworth Village care. We are showing it by doing, learning, teaching, caring, sharing and being a part of their lives.”
Sharon Renter (IHSS supervisor in red) speaks to her team. Renter said she has learned to “think outside the box and to get creative with challenging situations.”
Renter said, “Not a day goes by when an employee I am speaking to is not frustrated, discouraged, angry, overwhelmed disillusioned and stressed, but there is also not a day that goes by that these same individuals aren’t laughing, finding new and creative ways to help their families, working late, taking calls when they should be home with their own families, advocating for children, congratulating parents, giving them a second, third or even fourth chance to ‘pull it together’ not to mention getting up the next day and starting all over again.”
In even the most fragile situations where all seems broken, there is an opportunity for positive growth, a profound metamorphosis that can occur in every family. Uncovering that hope is complicated. It’s not for the faint of heart, but it is without a doubt, heart-to-heart work.