Recently my caseload doubled at DCS. This has been a
difficult transition. It feels like the more I try to climb from under the
work, the more I get piled on me. Unfortunately, when I received the cases,
many of them had court reports that were due around the same time. I did not
think I would be able to get done with them in time for court, but I just took
it one report at a time. Generally a court report should reach the judge 15
days prior to the court hearing, but because the cases were given to me at the
last minute and many need reports completed, I was not able to send some to the
judge until one day prior to court. This is not good practice. This means that
the judges have less than a day to prepare for the court hearing.
The plan was that after I got through the court reports for
the new cases, that I would make sure court reports were completed on time
going further. I hate showing up to court with a late court report. Some judges
really yell at DCS workers regarding late court reports. I was blessed because
I did not get yelled at by any job for the late reports. Judges tend to
remember certain things about some DCS workers, I did not want the late court
report to be one of them. I think with time, some of the shock from the high
caseload will wear off and I will feel more comfortable managing the caseloads.
I don't think that is good practice on the judges part. You, as a DCS worker, are doing the best you can with what you have been given. It is understandable if you are late with a case that you've had for a long time, but to be blamed for something that was turned into you at the last second is not ok. I remember reading your other blog post about such a high turn around in your department, and I can imagine that this issue is one of the reasons. I'm sorry you have to work in those conditions at times, but I'm glad you had a judge that was reasonable and understanding. One of the aspects of my internship I learned a lot about was inter-department communication and how vital it is. The DCS workers have a stressful enough job as it is without other departments adding to it for things outside of your control.
ReplyDeleteAs I've said before keep up the good work! You are very appreciated.