GFGmom was right. I was wrong. Still can't believe it...can you?

[DDD]

difficult child (now 20) was removed from disability three or four months ago. He is documented since elementary age with ADHD and then Aspergers Syndrome. He
was diagnosis'd with schizo-affective disorder in high school and about two months ago a new MD said let's try medications for BiPolar (BP). He has been seen by the best experts in three other Counties. Nice kid. Still knows the manners we taught him when he lived with us. Presents well for short periods of time. Is addicted to porn.

OK..got all that.

GFGmom decided he should apply to be a corrections officer. We just shook our head. She replied "there are alot of CO's that I work with that are weirder than difficult child". He just called me from the car (he doesn't drive although eventually he did get a license). He was hired!! Starts at $11 an hour. He has to do a drug test
and have a background check...then...he's a CO.

I'll keep you updated but this is this most surprising turn of events around here since GFGmom was hired twelve years ago. Oh yeah, he'll be working with sexual offenders. DDD

 

[Hound dog]

I'd like to say I'm surprised. But way back when they hired Katie's biomom. At that point I decided they were desperate and would hire anyone.

I will say though that many of the people working corrections have been the strangest people I've ever met.

Hope this works out in a good way.

Hugs

 

[donna723]

DDD, I hope he does very well.

For the record, we had a counselor at the prison where I worked who seemed like a really nice guy, although I didn't know him very well personally. He was in his fifties, had a college degree and seemed to do well in his job ... but he was out sick a lot. I thought it was kind of odd that his wife drove him to work every day and then came back and picked him up in the afternoon but I just figured they shared one car and it coincided with her own work hours. I didn't see him for about six months but then saw him come in one day and go to Human Resources for a while, then he left again. I assumed he had been out on sick leave and was now returning to work. When I asked about him, they said that he had submitted his retirement papers! Come to find out ... the man was very seriously mentally ill and had been for a long time! And his wife drove him to and from work every day because when he drove, "the voices in his head" would tell him to steer the car towards a tree or another car or to drive off the side of a bridge!

 

[DDD]

Very interesting. husband and I wish him well because we love him. on the other hand, he is so young emotionally that I find it a little scarey. It is a privately run prison. Our new Governor wants to focus on increasing the private prisons and fazing out the State prisons as much as possible. CO's and teachers in our State have not had a raise in five years..or so I understand. Somehow I think of the State prisons as having more safeguards but I don't know that is so either. Guess time will tell.
DDD

 

[KFld]

Good for him!! I hope it goes well. Don't you just hate it when our difficult child's are right

 

[dashcat]

I am very happy for him and I hope he does well. Who knows? Sometimes our kids really surprise us and I am praying this is the case for you.

by the way, some of these posts scared me silly......

 

[DDD]

Lol, Karen. I can truthfully say that this is the first time I've said those words. Not because I am illwilled or mean. Just 'cause it's the truth! She really has been a lousy Mother. This time, however, she was determined to find him a job because she and SO have been supporting him for a couple of months since his disability was (wrongfully) cut off. Regardless of the reason he is getting a chance to see if he can manage a career and that is awesome. DDD

 

[donna723]

DDD, I really hate to be a downer here but even though the privately run institutions seem to be a little more "forgiving" than the ones the state runs, just because he was hired doesn't necessarily mean that he will make it through the initial training or that he will be able to handle the job once he gets through the training. For legal and security reasons, there are a TON of rules that all must be followed,no exceptions. And working around inmates can be extremely stressful and frustrating. It's certainly not an easy job and not everyone can do it. Even at the state-run institution where I worked, out of all the new-hire CO's, probably less than a third of them were still there after a year.

Then again, he just might surprise you and find out that he is well suited for it, personality-wise! Good luck to him and I hope he does really, really well!

 

[Nancy]

I'm a bit disturbed about this, not that I don't want your difficult child to have a job and succeed, but I'm not sure this is the right environment for him. I don;t know what else to say except I have an uneasy feeling about it.

On another note, I was just thinking the other day of all the young men difficult child has met at the community college who are in the criminal justice program and they themselves are addicted to drugs, drink underage, sell fake ID's, and engage in many other illegal activities. Obviously the programs do not weed these people out and they possibly will become the safekeepers of our society. I have seen EMT trainees who are drug addicted. She has a friend from rehab who is a heroin addict and the second in line to be fire chief in a town about 100 miles away. How does this happen? Are we the crazy ones to expect more from these people?

Nancy

 

[donna723]

Nancy, I don't know how it is in other places, but in our Dept. of Correction the employees are drug tested repeatedly. They go up to the Clinic to be drug tested before they are even allowed to interview! And they collect the samples from applicants the same way that they do from inmates ... with someone in there with them actually watching the urine come from their body into the bottle! There will always be a few that see the writing on the wall and just head straight for the parking lot at this point! Any employee can be drug tested at any time and a random sampling of people (names picked by a computer) are sent to a commercial lab to be tested every month. To be found with a drug in your system that you don't have a vaid prescription for is grounds for immediate dismissal. And if that wasn't enough, at random dates four times a year they have huge shakedowns of employees and visitors cars. Instead of driving into the regular parking lot you're herded off into a side lot by state troopers and the tact team, you are personally patted down, then they go through every single thing in your car, your purse, wallet, even your lunch! And then they bring in our drug dog, Mick, and he goes through your car, sniffing at everything! They are very serious about it in a correctional setting because an employee who is a drug user cannot be relied on when the chips are down and they are much more likely to be bringing it in to the inmates.

 

[DDD]

Thank heavens difficult child is not a drug user. Yes, Donna, we understand that being hired isn't the same as being fully employed. I honestly don't know if he will be able to pass the classes that are required
after his 90 day try out. Maybe. According to GFGmom the sexual offenders are easier to handle than the regular inmates at her adjacent institution. He takes three Rx medications a day in order to function so if he is medicated it may work. on the other hand, due to his diagnosis's he does not pick up subtle clues to others behaviors etc. which could be good...or could be bad. DDD

 

[Star*]

D3,

I'm not sure WHOM I am more amazed with. Your grandson or your daughter. This should prove interesting in the months to come, and I do wish him the best success! For his sake I am sure having a career or even trying is better than being on disability and living with your dysfunctional Mom for the rest of your life. Not? At least you can say this of the young man - He IS trying, and that's more than most - even those that do not have any disability. I'm very proud of him, and FWIW? Of your daughter too - regardless of the motive? There is effort there for her son. Gotta give her props on that.

We'll just keep praying from here for the best.
Hugs
Star

 

[DammitJanet]

While it may seem odd, maybe his quirks would make this a good fit. I am betting he is pretty methodical. He really doesnt have to be social in this sort of setting, that is for sure...lol. He just needs to know what he needs to do each day and do it.