{"id":335,"date":"2014-10-21T23:32:10","date_gmt":"2014-10-21T23:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ubaltlawcfcc.wordpress.com\/?p=311"},"modified":"2020-10-26T20:58:07","modified_gmt":"2020-10-26T20:58:07","slug":"dealing-with-feelings-of-inadequacy-in-the-truancy-court-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/cfcc\/2014\/10\/21\/dealing-with-feelings-of-inadequacy-in-the-truancy-court-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Dealing with Feelings of Inadequacy in the Truancy Court Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Courtney Ward, CFCC Student Fellow 2014-2015<\/strong><\/p>\n

Each week, law students involved in the University of Baltimore School of Law Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts Truancy Court Program (TCP) discuss at the weekly team meeting each of our TCP student\u2019s cases and the deeper issues that students may be experiencing that result in truancy. This past week one of my fellow law school classmates bravely expressed that he feels inadequate to help the TCP students. We see these students once a week for an hour, and we talk about their goals, problems, and possible solutions, but is it helping? My classmate\u2019s comment struck me because it\u2019s a feeling I have from time to time. Some of the TCP students have issues that are hard to find solutions to, including illnesses in the family, poverty, and overcrowded houses. In these situations, what can we as law students do? One of my TCP student\u2019s mothers was diagnosed with cancer, which required the student to miss school a few times last year. Situations like that are problematic because there is no quick and easy solution. Even with the \u201csimpler\u201d issues, such as being disruptive in class or poor grades, we direct the TCP students to coach classes and encourage them to get help. Nonetheless, there is always the lingering feeling that the work we do for the TCP students is not helping them.<\/p>\n

I find myself not only wanting the TCP students to end their truant behavior, but I also want them to become scholars and leaders in their community–especially with the group of TCP students I have at Reginald F. Lewis High School. I see so much potential in these students and would love to see them achieve their short-term and long-term goals. Realistically, however, I understand that the students face so many hurdles, some of which are beyond the reach of my ability to assist. It\u2019s a good feeling when we see the TCP students absorbing what we say in our one-on-one meetings at the TCP sessions, but I struggle with the thought, what happens when we leave?<\/em><\/p>\n

In response to my classmate\u2019s comment in our meeting, one of the TCP staff members simply stated, \u201cWe help the students more than we know.\u201d It is so easy to feel as though you are not doing enough because some of the tougher problems are not solved immediately. I didn\u2019t take time to consider, however, that my presence is helpful. For some of these students, the TCP provides the support and attentiveness they do not receive anywhere else. That statement put things in perspective for me. Nothing great is achieved overnight, and you never know how your actions may be positively affecting another person. Naturally, I still want the TCP students to end their truancy and achieve their goals, but I understand that things take time and that my help is not in vain. I look forward to continuing my work with the TCP because it is a huge step in the right direction for the students involved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Courtney Ward, CFCC Student Fellow 2014-2015 Each week, law students involved in the University of Baltimore School of Law Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts Truancy Court Program (TCP) discuss at the weekly team meeting each of our TCP student\u2019s cases and the deeper issues that students may be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/cfcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/cfcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/cfcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/cfcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4129"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/cfcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/cfcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1120,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/cfcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335\/revisions\/1120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/cfcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/cfcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/cfcc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}