Monday
Started the day by supervising one of my staff. She is tired and worn down. I know she's been working long hours, and I'm concerned about how to support her. Luckily the team manager notices and encourages her to take some time off in lieu.
We have an inspection pending so I'm auditing cases. Later in the week I will be teaching a session on risk assessment to a group of degree students. I'm worried about seeming cynical as I find my work quite process driven and risk averse at present. Will I be able to convey the complexity of the task, and the importance of professional judgement? Discuss this with my manager. He says the culture will come good again and we need to keep the faith.
Tuesday
It's my day off, a whole day to prepare my risk assessment session. At 10am the phone rings. It's the school, my daughter is unwell and I need to pick her up. So much for my preparation. At 11:30 I see a policeman climbing over my garden hedge. There had been a report of two teenagers on my roof trying to break into the house. Immediately a police van is at the home of a young person well known on the estate for offending. Later one of my colleagues confirms she was seeing the young person at the time of the incident. He is cleared. Worried by how quickly the police assumed who the culprit was, but noticed I'd made the same mistake.
Wednesday
Chaired a meeting involving a young person who is thriving at college despite a very difficult home environment. His travelling to college is facilitated by educational maintenance allowance. It's young people like him whose future will be seriously compromised if EMA is cut. It's hard to feel optimistic about society in the face of the forthcoming cuts. Reminded of something Tony Benn said when asked why he didn't feel overcome with pessimism. He said progress is made by two fires within us: the fire of anger against injustice, and the fire of hope that you can build a better world.
Thursday
Arrived in work to find my desk decorated with a balloon, cards and gifts. It's my 40th birthday. Feel overwhelmed by the kindness of my colleagues. The happiness is short lived. News of the pending redundancies in my team has arrived. It's hard to take in. Excellent people, with years of criminal justice experience are going. What wisdom will be lost with them? One of the staff being made redundant tells the service manager how angry she feels. 'Don't blame me, blame the government' he responds. Fair point.
Friday
It's the day of my risk assessment workshop. It goes well. The students are experienced and understand the complexity of the task. On arriving home I switch on my laptop to read about the latest uprising in the Middle East. I celebrate the persistence and the sacrifices of the people there. The fire of hope is burning. We should keep the faith.
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