The Tough Cases

Anyone in any kind of case-management role knows what I mean by this blog title.  There are those cases on most Service & Support Administrators (SSA's) caseload that we (perhaps a bit insensitively) refer to as "the tough cases."  There can be many different reasons why someone we serve may fall into this category.  Some of these may include people who are known to be "physically aggressive," "verbally abusive," or "non-compliant."  Although it is rarely intended, we gradually turn these people into less of a person and more of a description of certain behaviors. 

We  can easily lose sight of the person on a personal level while in the midst of trying to find supports and put out fires on their behalf.  We forget that a person does not say or do anything for the sake of it; there is always a reason.  We only need to turn the focus inward to remember that we too act in ways that are perceived to be undesirable by others at times, and there is always an underlying cause or contrbuting factor behind these episodes. 

For the people we serve, we are tasked with remembering that we are all more similar than different.  Those of us who struggle communicating our thoughts and feelings with others need a hand in order to better deal with our life's circumstance.  We all have a story that leads to our present moment.  We all will have times in our lives when we need someone to look past our less desirable moments and seek to get to the core of who we really are.  Sometimes this makes all the difference. 

Kyle Wells

Service & Support Administration Supervisor

Mon, May 8th, 2017