Internship Journal- Juvenile Services

● 2/13/18
○ 1:00PM-2:30PM = 1.5 hours
■ The first thing we did was gather inside a room and learned a little about
each department of the Washington County. Then, we learned what group
we were going to be placed in. I was placed with the juvenile services. At
first, I was not sure what the purpose of the juvenile services was. I knew
that it dealt with children (since “juvy” is jail for adolescents), but that was
it. My two preceptors Jennifer and Penny took me across the street to the
actual building. I was surprised to find out that in order to get into the
building, you have to go through a metal detector. I had never been to this
particular building before, so it was all very new to me. Then, I got taken
to the back where all their offices are located, and I sat down with them.
They asked a bunch of different questions to learn a little more about me.
After that, I asked them what exactly the juvenile services department did.
Jennifer informed me that they deal with court, assign mentors to troubled
kids, classify what kids are at high risk and low risk for criminal offenses,
provide victim services, etc. I thought this was incredibly interesting
because prior to that day, I never realized all the things that this
department does. After our brief discussion, Penny gave me a tour of the
building. I have to admit that I was confused on how to get around. The
employee offices are shaped in a “W” like shape, so it was easy to get
lost in there. The most interesting part that Penny showed me was where
they keep the kids that are held in custody while waiting for court. There is
a grey cement room with a bench and a bathroom attached to the room. I
have never seen a real holding cell before, so it was a great experience to
get a feel of what the rooms are like.
● 2/21/18
○ 1:30PM-2:00PM = 1.5 hours
■ For my second time, Jennifer showed me a presentation of the overview
of the juvenile department. I learned about the different aspects of the
service and a more detailed version of what they do. When Jennifer was
talking about detention, at first I was a little confused about what she
meant when she said that. The only time I have heard the word
“detention” was in regards to school, so it was new for me. When I asked,
she clarified that it meant the same thing as jail. Something I found
interesting was that the juvenile department substitutes different words for
legal terms to make them sound less threatening to the delinquents. In
her presentation, she talked about Measure 11, which again, I had never
heard about. She explained that Measure 11 was passed roughly 25
years ago and renewed 18 years ago. I learned that Measure 11 is a
mandatory sentence time for those who have committed serious crimes.
The juvenile department specifically focuses on Measure 11, since this
measure applies to youth as well. Jennifer stressed that if youth are
 above the age 15 and commit any felony on the Measure 11 list, then they
must be tried as adults. She also talked about how the juvenile courts are
significantly different from adult courts because of that fact that “kids are
just kids”. Instead of trying to completely punish, they try to focus more on
helping the adolescent get back on track. I also learned about Harkins
House, which is a place where they evaluate and provide care for
delinquents.
● 2/27/18
○ 1:00PM-3:00PM = 2 hours
■ On this day, I met up with Penny. She showed me a presentation about
how to do risk assessments on the youth to see if it is likely that they will
commit another crime in the future. I was surprised with how much criteria
was set to help decipher what level delinquents are at. During the
presentation, there were many vignettes that would gave you a scenario,
and you would have to identify it it met within the criteria or not. I didn’t
expect that Penny would have me answer them, but she did. I think this
helped advance my knowledge about risk assessment very well. For the
most part, it was pretty challenging. Without surprise, I got a few of them
incorrect. Penny kept reassuring me that she doesn’t expect me to get
them all right, since it takes a lot of training to answer the problems. I
really had to pay attention and memorize the criteria in order to answer
correctly. There were some vignettes where the answer was a maybe
(possibility of child being at high risk). Penny mentioned to me that those
were incredibly tricky, especially when applying it to real cases. I learned
that it is really challenging to assess children, especially since our
perceptions of people are unique. Someone may think that a child is at
high risk, meanwhile other professionals will assess them differently. It is
also easy for children to lie, which purposes another issue for accurately
assessing them. Penny showed me many strategies they use to reduce
these conflicts including getting a second opinion and proposing
questions in a way where lying is more difficult than telling the truth.
● 3/6/18
○ 1:00PM-3:00PM = 2 hours
■ On my third day at the internship, I got to watch court for the first time
ever. At first, it was a little confusing because I didn’t understand the
acronyms. After the hearings, I would ask Jennifer for clarification on the
acronyms and she would tell me what they meant. We ended up watching
three court hearings. It was interesting to hear the juvenile service
counselor and district attorney voice their opinion, and then have the
defensive attorney state what the youth wanted. During the hearings I
wondered how difficult it must be for the judge, since they have to make
huge life decisions for the delinquents without even knowing much about
them- just the crimes they committed. In the first hearing, there was a
young boy who was put into detention due to gang related activities and
because he shot a gun. The boy wanted to be put on house arrest, and
 so did his mom. The judge decided to put him on house arrest, which
seemed to upset the district attorney. The second hearing dealt with
another teenager involved with gang related activities, and the result was
to send him back to detention and have another detention review set on a
later date. Lastly, there was another teenage boy who was put into
detention for the possession of drugs like molly and ecstacy. He also got
put back into detention and the judge set a detention review date. After
the court hearings, I got to meet Miriam, who is in charge of the risk
assessment that Penny previously talked to me about. She talked to me
in more detail about how to classify kids as high risk vs. low risk, and
what they do with the high risk kids.
● 3/13/18
○ 1:00PM-3:00PM = 2 hrs
■ During this day, I met up with Omar who deals with gang related activity.
He asked me what I knew about gangs, and I told him that I didn’t know
much besides the portrayal of gangs in the media. He explained to me
how they classify gangs and why people want to be apart of a gang. I
learned that kids who have a hard home life or a bad relationship with a
parent may join a gang. The gang becomes their “family”, which is why
leaving one is hard. Omar taught me how he deals with members of
gangs. He stressed the importance that gang members are just kids. He
told me that if I see someone that’s a part of a gang, that I shouldn’t show
fear, but instead give them a smile. I learned a lot from Omar and it was a
great experience. After I talked to Omar, I spent time talking with Chris
about community service. He talked to me about what different types of
community service options there are, and what type of youth do
community service. I learned that they can work for money to pay off
restitutions owed to a victim, which was really interesting to me.
● 3/20/18
○ 12:45PM-3:30PM = 2.75 hours
■ I followed around Vickie on this day, who is with the juvenile services sex
offender team. She introduced me to one of her clients who was going to
have a court hearing. The girl was really respectful to me and seemed
very kind. We waited for awhile until the courtroom was ready, and during
this time I listened to Vickie talk to her client’s parents. Once the
courtroom was ready, we went in for the hearing. The hearing lasted a
while, due to the fact that there was a lot of information that needed to be
covered. Vickie was the juvenile counselor on this case, so she was
actually a part of court. The girl got placed on a low level of house arrest,
which she was happy about. However, she became irritated with Vickie
due to something Vickie said about her in court. She began to sass
Vickie, and I was nervous on how to judge would react even though the
hearing was over. The judge didn’t do anything, and I was glad. Vickie
explained to me after that her lashing out happens at times and she has
learned to put up with it. After that, I met with Milt who is in charge of
 custody services. He showed me how to cuff someone and then had me
try to cuff him. I was very confused and needed lots of clarification, but he
was happy to help me through the process. It was a great learning
experience. Afterwards, he put me in belly chains and then took me out to
the van to see what it looks like when they transport kids in custody to the
juvenile services.
● 3/28/18
○ 12:45PM-3:30PM = 2.75 hrs
■ On this day, I met with Sandra who deals with cultural competency, Gabi
who deals with victim services, and Rachael who deals with substance
abuse. Sandra talked to me about how people come from different
cultures and how we need to understand that their ideals and priorities
might differ from ours. She also mentioned how they try to pair people up
with others from their same cultures. For example, a family who speaks
Spanish will get paired up with a juvenile counselor that speaks Spanish.
Afterwards, I went to Gabi’s office. Gabi told me about what she does for
court, what rights the victim has, and how she deals with getting
restitutions back to victims and their families. We watched one court
hearing where I watched her take down notes and let the judge know that
the victim was informed of their rights. Lastly, I met with Rachael. She
taught me what the substance abuse team does, and what treatment
methods they have. She informed me about the different programs they
have available for those struggling with addiction.
● 4/3/18
○ 1:00PM-3:30PM = 1.5 hrs
■ On my last day, I got to learn about Project Hope. Project Hope is a
program that Jennifer established in the juvenile services. Project Hope is
an organization that provides therapy dogs to those in need. On average,
the dogs come in once or twice a week to help calm down the anxiety
filled families and youth. Jennifer told me a story about how there was a
time when a young boy was in court and he had a therapy dog next to
him that he was petting like crazy. She said that she truly believes they
help provide calmness in the anxiety-filled environment. I watched the
dog go into court and observed the role of the Project Hope employees. I
also got the chance to watch the dog go into the holding cell to provide
aid for a youth who was about to go into court. It was great to see that the
department is trying to introduce new ways to help keep the kids calm.
After observing the dog, I debriefed with Jennifer about my experience
with the juvenile department, and we also discussed education plans for if
this career is something that I want to pursue.

Internship Journal- Brookdale Senior Living

● 5/26/18
○ 9:00AM-11:00AM = 2 hrs
■ When I first walked into Brookdale, I heard the music playing and saw a
 resident sitting down next to the front desk. I smiled at him and sat down
waiting for the receptionist to arrive. I noticed that there was popcorn and
drinks available for the residents and visitors. When Alma arrived, she
pulled me up a chair to sit down with her at the front desk. Alma explained
to me her job duties and what a normal weekend day looks like for the
front desk. She explained to me how it is usually slow during the
weekends. After she said that, she went to go use the restroom and an
ambulance appeared at the front. The EMT rushed in with an elderly lady
on a gernie and asked me where a room was located. I said that I didn’t
know and apologized for the inconvenience. Luckily, another employee
was nearby and helped them find the room. I felt stressed out, since I
couldn’t provide guidance. After they dropped the lady off, the EMT
approached me again and asked if I knew whether a med aid was in the
room or not. I apologized again and said that I didn’t. Again, someone
assisted them and made sure that a med aid got to the room. Lastly, they
asked me if I knew where the bathrooms were and this time I was able to
provide them with directions. After the ambulance left, a resident came up
to the front desk and started complaining for about three minutes,
however her thoughts did not seem coherent. I apologized for her
troubles and she stormed away. Alma returned and I informed her about
what happened, and she apologized for not being there and explained
that the resident who complained likely had a mental disorder. After the
series of events, another resident came to the front desk and introduced
himself and asked what my name was and why I was there. I told him
who I was and explained how I was doing an internship and would only
be there for a couple of days. He complimented my name and then rolled
away in his wheelchair. I felt very happy in that moment, since the old
man seemed so sweet. Alma asked me to help her refill the juice that was
located in the front and rewrite the chalk signs that said what the juice
was. After doing that, the song “Lollipop” was playing and a resident
handed me and Alma a lollipop while laughing. It was great to see the
residents very enthusiastic and filled with joy.

○ 11:00AM-1:30PM = 2.5 hrs

■ Alma told me that she cuts the menus everyday for the cooks to help out
and asked if I would like to do it with her. I said yes and she handed me a
stack of paper and scissors to begin cutting the paper in half. I did the
Sunday and Wednesday menus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I asked
Alma about the cafeteria and it it runs. She explained how the residents
fill out the menus for what they want, and the cooks make it. After cutting
the menus, a couple came to the front and told me that they got sent mail
that wasn’t theirs, so I told them that I would make sure it got to the right
 place. Afterwards, an employee paged every worker to come to the
cafeteria for a birthday celebration. We all gathered in the cafeteria and
the activities coordinator gave a lady a balloon, card, and cupcake. Then,
he announced that it was a resident’s birthday and for everyone to sing
along. We all sang happy birthday, and the resident was incredibly
thankful. Alma led me back to the front, and we saw a group of people
walk in. They were there for a tour of the room in which they hoped their
elder could move in to. Alma led me and the others into the room, and
provided them with information about the center. The people seemed very
enthusiastic about the facility. Alma and I walked back downstairs to the
front. A couple minutes later, the UPS truck showed up and delivered
three boxes for a resident. Alma and I went to her room and gave her the
boxes. She was very glad to see us and her mail. She was a very sweet
elder and expressed that she enjoyed our company. She asked me if I
had any children and I told her that I was still in highschool. She was
shocked to hear how young I was and how old Alma was. We told her
goodbye and she thanked us for stopping by. It was a great feeling to end
the day knowing that I made an impact on someone’s life.
● 5/27/18
○ 9:00AM-11:00AM = 2 hrs
■ The next day I met up with the activity coordinator named Jerry. He asked
me what I wanted to get out of this internship, and I told him that I wanted
to see what Brookdale does and learn about the potential jobs in this field.
I also mentioned how I wanted to be able to interact with the elderly, since
I never usually get the chance to. After hearing this, Jerry seemed thrilled
that I was interested in this. He walked downstairs and talked to every
resident he saw, making sure to introduce me. It was a great experience
being able to talk to the people living there. One of them asked me if I
was married and started laughing. It was great to see that they were full
of humor. After our interactions, Jerry went upstairs with me and talked
about this job. He talked about the pros and the cons of working with the
elderly. We then talked back and forth about how working with children
related to working with elderly. I got to learn so much information about
this career, and saw how invested Jerry was with his job. He seemed to
have a lot of passion for the elders and had an incredibly positive attitude.
He gave me a good idea of what loving your work looks like. After our
talk, Jerry and I went downstairs to the intercom. Jerry had me talk over it
and make an announcement that church service was going to be at
10:30AM on the second floor. After this, we went door to door to see if the
residents wanted to go to church. Many of them said no, however there
were about three of them that wanted to go. Jerry and I both helped
walked the residents to church while communicating with them. One of
the ladies there asked me for help because she didn’t want to fall, so I
parted from Jerry and helped walk her down the hall. She was really
gracious and wouldn’t stop thanking me. During church service, I met
 some of the med aids and they explained to me what their job duties
were. There also was a mix up with medication, so I watched them handle
to situation. After this, Jerry had me go upstairs and grab the balloon and
card out of the activity room, since there was another birthday again. We
headed to the cafeteria and dropped off the card and balloon in the
kitchen so we had it ready for lunch.
○ 11:00AM-1:30PM = 2.5 hrs
■ After church service was over, it was time for lunch. Jerry and I helped
walk the residents who attended the church service downstairs to lunch.
Once we got in the cafeteria, Jerry had me collect the menus of the
residents and bring them into the kitchen. One lady asked me for a pen,
so I found one for her. Another asked me to refill her coffee, so I did and
brought it back to her. It felt nice being able to help them. I asked some of
them if I could start them off with something to drink, then would fill up
their glasses if they said yes. Finally, it was time to sing happy birthday
again. This time, Jerry let me bring the cupcake, card, and balloon to the
lady. We all sang happy birthday again, and Jerry took a few pictures of
her and her husband. After lunch, it was time to announce that walking
club was going to be at 1:00PM and to meet in the lobby. Again, Jerry had
me announce it over the intercom. He stated that it was nice for the
residents to hear a voice other than his. A group of four gathered in the
lobby shortly after, and we took off and went outside. We walked on the
sidewalk all the way down to a park. There was a guy with a wheelchair
that was a part of the group, and he seemed so glad to be outside and
exercising. After we walked back towards the home, we took a detour to
look at some of the flowers along the way and admire their beauty. I could
tell that the residents were enjoying the walk and Jerry’s enthusiasm,
which in return led me to having a great experience. After we helped
everyone get inside and go into their respective rooms, I said goodbye to
Jerry and thanked him for this wonderful opportunity.