The Casualties of Politics

I recently spoke with a veteran teacher who resigned from teaching and completely left the world of education.  From my conversations with her and observance of the way lead others out of school, I think it a safe bet to say she was a dedicated and very talented teacher.  She isn't the first and she won't be the last.

Recent politics has turned to bashing teachers and government workers in general.  It has turned to making demands about a profession one can't fully understand until one is immersed in it.  Recent politics have turned away from learning and towards results of meaningless assessments.  It has taken away from teachers the ability to teach in a way that will enhance future generations.

When you display such a hatred against a profession, take away all their tools to truly do their job well, and eliminate fair compensation you are only left with those that can't find a job elsewhere or don't mind being a part of a system that is falling apart.  Because the rest will find a new career.  The talented and dedicated educators will move on to a career where there isn't interference with doing a job one can be proud of.

Is that what people want?

I fear that 20,40, or even 60 years from now, the few who can rise up without a decent education will really regret the politics happening now.  And the rest will be too dumb to know the difference.

For something different

Here is a poem I wrote that I thought I would share with you.

My Client, a Survivor

By Rebecca Klamert

Her voice suddenly quiet,
she hesitates.

It’s her second call today.

Each resembles the last.

They all start the same:

a timid voice speaks my name;

a force of energy upon knowing its me;

a need to explain, doubtful I’ll believe.

This time she hopes

for a different response.

They all end the same:

after an intense conversation,

a hesitation,

and the soft whisper of goodbye.

Finding good people to hire

With this current job I'm seeing things from a different perspective as a supervisor of employees and as one who will be part of the hiring process as we look to find new talent.  It definitely has its challenges and I often face situations that are well out of my comfort zone but I know it is good for me.  I am a firm believer that growth only happens when you step out of your comfort zone and the sense of accomplishment at the end makes it all worth it.

Our firm is currently hiring a part-time Legal Assistant.  Here is a link to the ad on monster.com.  I haven't had a chance to carefully look at the stack of resumes on my desk but at first glance, I can't believe what people send out.

If you can't format a resume so that it is readable, how can I believe you will be able to format pleadings and Estate Planning documents correctly?

If there are glaring spelling and grammar mistakes on your resume and cover letter, what are the chances you will do well proofreading and composing letters?

If your cover letter is three sentences long, what does that say about your communication skills?

I remember the hours I have spent in the past drafting resumes and cover letters and completing online applications because I recognized that they had to be excellent, especially in this job market.

This reminds me of a time five or six years ago when in an online community a college graduate was having trouble finding a permanent full time job a couple of years after graduation.  She posted her cover letter and resume on the forum asking for feedback.  Her cover letter was two or three sentences long and her resume hard to read which to me really explained why she couldn't find a job.  The part that really got me though was when people tried to give her any feedback she completely dismissed it all.  It was only in the last year or so I heard she finally found something in the middle of no where out of state.

I'm rambling, I know.  My point in all of this is that if you don't put the time and energy necessary into your job search, employers are not going to believe you will put the time and energy needed to get the job done well.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is becoming just another social site.  I don't even have an account with Facebook yet get invitations from people I don't really know (such as my husband's co-worker from 10 years ago who I probably only briefly met a couple of times).  With invitations like this, it's evident it is about a popularity contest and not about any real communication (there obviously are exceptions to this).

Now I'm starting to get the same invites on LinkedIn.  And as if the invites from those I don't really know weren't enough, I've had people on two occasions endorse me for a skill they have never seen me do.  One such endorsement came from someone who I haven't seen in close to 10 years long before I had even acquired the skill she endorsed.  With endorsements like this, how can anyone take any endorsements seriously.  LinkedIn could be such a good tool if people used it as it was meant to be used.

Attorneys’s Fees

Anyone who has been through a divorce or works with a law firm that handles divorces knows how quickly attorneys’ fees add up.  The cost of representation is beyond reach of probably a majority of those going through divorce.  Some choose to go in debt to have representation.  Others go it alone.

Now add to that thought the additional expense for cases that are highly contested.  And most highly contested cases involve domestic violence.

A victim of domestic violence is at a disadvantage for many reasons. 

S/He may be very traumatized from the violence which may have resulted in mental health issues.  The trauma and/or mental health issues often make it very difficult in communicating with the attorney and may make it difficult to make efficient use of their time with the attorney.  This results in a higher attorney bill because the attorney has to spend more time with him/her or results in the attorney have a lesser grasp of the case leading to a bad outcome for the individual.

This trauma and/or mental health issues also often result in him/her not presenting well to the court resulting in an unfavorable outcome.

Additionally, many victims of domestic violence were abused financially and so may have less or no access to marital money or may not be able to get credit because their spouse has significantly ruined their credit.

Private attorneys can’t take on all kinds of clients pro bono or they would never keep their doors open.  And they can provide discounts on their rates to a certain point without affecting their ability to stay in business.  And these cases are very time consuming. 

So I don’t know that there is an answer to this problem.  It’s just frustrating that representation usually becomes unaffordable to a victim of domestic violence.  And it doesn’t help that funding for programs that provide free or low cost representation like Legal Action of Wisconsin is constantly being cut.

Family Justice Center in Milwaukee

Today on jsonline, there is an article about plans for a Family Justice Center that will bring together many groups to better serve victims of domestic abuse.  When I worked at Legal Action, I remember discussions about bringing more groups together and it is really neat to see this might actually happen.

Change is good

Change can be very difficult as we find comfort in the routine.  And in those moments of change it can be very difficult to remember that change is an important part of our lives and can bring great things.  I write this blog post in anticipation of the things to come.  On Monday, I start a new job.  I will be working as a legal assistant for a small law firm that focuses primarily on family law but handles a variety of other types of cases as well.  I'm excited about working for this firm especially because the attorneys seem to be very focused on clients and doing what is just and right for the children.  Plus you can't beat the commute.  I will be saving 6.5 hours a week alone in commuting.  The commuting never bothered me before but now I wonder what I could have been doing in those 6.5 hours each week.

I imagine the topics of my posts may change some as I am not in the trenches of the domestic violence world (although I recognize domestic violence and family law overlap significantly) but we shall see.

In these last few days, I'm looking forward to enjoying my time now that I have found a job.  I have been immersing myself in poetry much of today and look forward to writing some more of my own poetry over the next few days.

Lundy Bancroft and Janet Johnston

At a recent training, Lundy Bancroft mentioned Janet Johnston which has caused a bit of a stir with a few members of our community.  Bancroft did not go into detail at the training but referenced his book The Batterer as Parent where he spends an entire chapter discussing Janet Johnston's research.  As I couldn't find our copy of the book, I found online a blog post by Bancroft that addresses this very thing.  About half way through the post in the section titled, "The Connection Between Battering and Child Abuse" Bancroft discusses the typologies identified by Johnston and the issues he sees with using these typologies to assess risk in child custody and placement cases.  The AFCC (Association of Family and Conciliation Courts) used Johnston's research on these typologies in developing their risk assessment.

Lundy Bancroft

Our organization had the pleasure of hosting a training led by Lundy Bancroft last month who has extensive experience in batterer's treatment and domestic violence and has published several excellent books.  We refer many of our clients to his book entitled Why Does He Do That?.  The Batterer as Parent is a great resource for professionals working with victims of domestic violence and their families.  Below are some key messages I took from the training led by Lundy Bancroft.

Overlap of abuse towards mother and child abuse

• 49% of batterers also physically abuse the children
• Batterers are 7 times more likely to physically abuse the children than a non-batterer
• Batterers are 6 times more likely to sexually abuse children than a non-batterer

 How the batterer appears in court or when meeting with professionals

• Will deny/minimize allegations of domestic violence
• Make allegations that the mother has mental health problems, abuses alcohol or drugs, or is an unfit parent
• Will commonly appear as the friendly parent
• Skillfully dishonest and manipulative which professionals may not recognize
• Will usually outperform victim in psychological tests – there is no psych test that will show someone is a batterer
• Will not seem capable of the kind of cruelty or abuse being accused of
• Very good under observation
• Will appear very calm when meeting with professionals like an officer immediately following an incident – batterers are very controlled in their behaviors even though at times they may appear out of control – an example – when he destroys things, he avoids destroying his own belongings

How the victim appears in court or when meeting with professionals

• May not appear to be a good parent as the batterer typical undermines and interferes with her parenting
• Often do not perform well on psychological tests which are usually only about 70% accurate in evaluating mental health and usually do not relate the results to the individual’s ability to parent
• Typically not good witnesses

 Impact of battering on children

• Batterer often causes divisions in the family affecting children’s relationships with their siblings and with their mother
• They learn by example the values and behaviors that lead to perpetration or victimization
• Separation increases the chances of children witnessing violence as it often occurs during exchanges
• Children are often used as weapons or tools to continue the abuse

 Other comments by Lundy Bancroft

• Domestic violence is not a relationship problem, it is a battering problem.
• Our legal system sends victims mixed messages – if they stay with an abusive partner they are failing to protect the children; if they leave, the abusive partner is granted extensive unsupervised placement with the children leaving the victim unable to protect her children
• Children heal through repairing their connection to the non-abusive parent and their siblings.  They also heal through increased safety and establishing loving, appropriate relationships with adults.
• The risk of a boy becoming a perpetrator is directly related to whether the boy grew up believing the violence was the non-abusive parent’s fault or whether the abusive parent had to take responsibility.
• Victims tend to give up financial orders (maintenance, child support, property division, etc.) in order to get custody and placement.  This often backfires as most financial orders cannot be modified at a later date but custody and placement can be modified.  With the lack of favorable financial orders, the victim doesn’t have the financial resources to fight it when the batterer keeps bringing them back to court to modify custody and placement.

Actions of Ordinary People Offer Hope

Click on the following article titled:  Tim Gruenke:  Actions of Ordinary People Offer Hope from the LaCrosse Tribune.  This article is a great reminder of why we do what we do.

No contact orders

I recently learned that no contact orders that are a condition of bond are not in effect when a defendant is in custody so I spent some time focusing on increasing my understanding of various no contact orders and what they can do to protect a victim.  Please note that I work in WI and so all of these no contact orders are specific to WI.  Other states will have varying laws which may or may not be the same as WI's laws.

No contact orders at the time of arrest
72 hour no contact order:  This is an order entered at the time of arrest of a perpetrator of domestic violence.  The victim has the right to waive or enforce this no contact order.  This order stays in effect for the 72 hours regardless of whether criminal charges are filed unless the victim waives it in writing.  2011 WI Act 267 recently changed the laws regarding violations of this no contact order to a criminal charge (from a citation).

No contact orders during a pending criminal case
No contact order as a condition of bond (WI statutes Chapter 969):  This is a criminal no contact order that a judge can order (usually at the request of the DA).  Bond must be posted (and the defendant no longer in custody) for this order to be in effect.  This order can prohibit contact with a victim and the victim's residence at the discretion of the judge and can last up to the length of the case.  A violation results in bail jumping.

No contact order per WI Statutes 940.47:  This is a criminal no contact order entered by the judge (usually at the request of the DA) which can prohibit intimidation of victims or witnesses, in person contact with victims or witnesses, and/or communication with victims or witnesses.  A violation can result in intimidation of victims charges.  This criminal no contact order if entered is in effect regardless of whether bond has been posted.


Condition of a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA):  If a defendant agrees to accept a DPA, a no contact order can be a part of that agreement.  If the defendant follows the conditions of this agreement, his case is dismissed after a set amount of time.  If he violates the conditions (including violating the no contact provision) of his DPA, he can be immediately found guilty and sentenced in that case.

No contact orders upon sentencing
No contact order as condition of probation:  If a defendant is sentenced to probation, a no contact order can be entered as part of the conditions of his probation.  My understanding is that this no contact order can be entered by the judge at the time of sentencing or by the probation officer.  If he violates, he can be arrested and his probation can be revoked.  Additionally it is my understanding that new laws allow the DA's office to enter criminal charges upon violation of this order as well.

Civil no contact orders
Civil temporary restraining orders and injunctions (WI Statutes Chapter 813):  This no contact order is separate from any criminal case and requires the victim to file a petition requesting a temporary restraining order that can last up to two weeks and then appear at a hearing to petition the court for an injunction that can last up to four years (depending on the type of petition filed).  The petitioner can specify exceptions to this no contact order to allow certain types of contact (which is often important in cases where the parties have minor children and need to be able to communicate in some safe way).  This type of no contact order is available to victims regardless of police contact or criminal charges.  A violation of this type of no contact order can result in immediate arrest and criminal charges.

It is important to remember that no contact orders can be an important part of a safety plan but cannot be the entire safety plan.  As we saw in the recent shooting in Brookfield, the perpetrator didn't care that there was an injunction in place.  That is not to say that all perpetrators will ignore no contact orders.  They work for many victims/survivors so it is important to listen to the victim/survivor carefully for what s/he thinks will keep him/her safe.  S/he is the one who knows the perpetrator the best.

Additionally, it may make sense for an individual to seek various no contact orders at once since they all provide slightly different protection.  Many of my clients chose to file for a civil restraining order even while there is a criminal no contact order as a condition of bond in place because criminal no contact orders are not long term orders and can disappear with little warning if the defendant pleads guilty.  So for those working victims/survivors it is important to understand the pros and cons of each type of no contact order so that victim/survivor can make an informed choice about what is going to keep him/her safe.

Please note that I am not an attorney and this post does not contain legal advice.  In this post, I am explaining my understanding of the no contact orders available to individuals in WI.  If any of the information above is not accurate, please comment on this post as my goal is to provide the most accurate information possible.

Domestic violence in popular culture

Years ago, I got into an online discussion about the song "Goodbye Earl" sung by the Dixie Chicks.  At the time I felt strongly against the song because of the violence it advocated.  I got a lot of negative feedback from people who told me I didn't understand what it was like to be a victim of domestic abuse.  I responded that I'm not judging what an individual victim may do to protect herself but instead am judging a message being put out by a famous country song that can be interpreted many very bad ways.

Now after three years working directly with victims of domestic and sexual violence, I don't pretend to know what they go through but it has given me a better understanding.  And with that better understanding my thoughts have not changed regarding that song.  I will not judge what an individual victim decides is best for him/her.  But I will not ever feel it is appropriate for popular culture to advocate violence.

There are other songs that follow this trend which I strongly do not agree with such as Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats."

Another song I would like to mention is Eminem (with Rihanna)' "Love the Way you Lie."  This song is not as clear cut to me because I feel it does bring up the conflicted emotions of a victim and the cycle they are stuck in both things that can bring awareness.  On the other hand it really romanticizes the violence and avoids accountability.  I feel like it sends the message that there are excuses for the violence and in my opinion there is no valid excuse for violence towards another individual.

Salon Shooting in Brookfield

There has been much to reflect on the last few weeks and absolutely no time to reflect so I hope that in the next weeks, I will have a number of blog posts to share with you.  Today though I feel the need to address the Salon Shooting in Brookfield, WI.

Like many, I poured over articles and searched for fingers to point, for ways the system failed this woman.  But then I was reminded of the lack of value in should statements.  If there is one thing that we, as advocates, law enforcement, court personnel, and most importantly as community members take from this it is that our work is not done.  I cannot control what someone else does and fretting over it does nothing but infuriate me.  I CAN control what I am doing for victims, survivors, friends, family members, neighbors, colleagues, etc.

So I encourage each one of us (myself included) to refocus our energies on the work we can do and the differences we make in others' lives.  And my thoughts go out to all of those affected by violence.

It's amazing how much more at peace I feel after one of the most stressful days by spending my drive home refocusing my energy and drafting this blog post in my head.  Now it is time to crawl in bed with a good book.

Taxes and Teachers

Click on this link to read Professor James Edward Maule's blog post from today entitled Taxes and Teachers.  Professor Maule's blog MauledAgain discusses a variety of tax topics and how they affect real people.  Even though I am not in the tax field at all, I enjoy reading his blog on occasion.  As a former teacher, this post really hit home.  I have boxes and boxes of stuff in my basement that I purchased for my classroom to enhance student learning and those boxes don't include all the stuff that was not reusable.  So many people are quick to bash teachers and the excessive salaries and benefits they supposedly receive without understanding the entire picture.  Each year schools are cutting the budgets for classroom supplies to the point where there is almost no budget for that.  One teacher I spoke to last spring stated that she was buying her own copy paper to print student materials because the school only provided enough for a few months of the school year!

Self-care weekend

If you love nature and enjoy camping, you should give this a try:  go camping all by yourself.  Just you, the birds, and stars.  That is where I spent my weekend. and it was well worth it.  It gave me a chance to truly relax, unplug from society's distractions, and rejuvenate.  I spent time writing, bird watching, walking the trails and along the shore, and just listening.

Mandated Reporters

There needs to be more training for mandated reporters.  It seems a far too frequent occurrence to hear a client say their child disclosed abuse to so and so and no report is every made.  If a doctor, nurse, school professional, therapist, etc. hears a disclosure of child abuse, witnesses child abuse, or witnesses signs of abuse (such as bruises in places kids don't normally get bruises), he or she is required by law to make a report to social services.

When I was a teacher, there was very limited training regarding this.  It was very briefly mentioned in one of my classes in college.  And I think it wasn't until half way through my second year of teaching that the school district mentioned it during an in service day.  Why aren't these individuals getting the training and support so that child abuse can be responded to as early as possible?

Representing a client who has experienced trauma

The National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma, and Mental Health  published an attorney handbook for working with domestic violence survivors who also have mental health concerns.

It really focuses on trauma informed care and making sure the survivor is making her own decisions after assessing all the risks and benefits.  It also includes some thoughts on whether to bring up mental health concerns, how to cross examine the opposing party, and how to utilize experts.  It seems like an excellent resource for an attorney working with a domestic abuse survivor, especially one who also has mental health concerns.

The one frustration I see though is that private attorneys aren't usually willing to provide this type of time commitment to one client and a survivor likely does not have the resources to pay an attorney's hourly rate.  And with cuts in funding to nonprofit law firms, there just aren't enough public interest attorneys to handle these cases.

Cognitive Distortions

David Burns published a list of 10 Cognitive Distortions.  It has been helpful to review this list in analyzing my thinking patterns especially when negative thoughts take over my brain.  We all fall into these distortions from time to time whether it is related to how we view ourselves or how we view those around us.

Criminal Defense Attorneys as GALs

I have noticed a trend of criminal defense attorneys accepting roles as GALs (guardian ad litems).  From what I have seen they are good about not accepting assignments when there is a clear conflict of interest.  But I don't see how it is possible to let the mindset you gain when working with criminal defendants not color your decisions as a GAL in family court, especially considering that GALs are most often appointed on cases where there is domestic violence and so the children are at a minimum secondary victims.  How can someone switch back and forth between two vastly different sides without letting the work they do on the other side color their work?

Solitude is Essential

We live in a world surrounded by noise and distraction.  The TV is constantly on in the background.  We can't get enough music on our ipods.  Our phones are always at our fingertips no matter where we are and people expect us to answer them.  Laptops and tablets even travel with us.  Even as I type I'm sitting in our sun room enjoying the rain fall while writing this post on my laptop.  All this technology can be great at times but it has completely taken away our solitude.

All this constant noise gets to us on a subconscious level.  We need to completely unplug regularly and just listen to the quiet around us.  We need to turn the TV off at dinner and actually enjoy the meal.  We need to leave the ipod behind when we walk so we can hear the leaves rustling and the birds chirping.  We need to just sit in our gardens and enjoy the beauty of the plants and flowers.  We need to stop and smell the roses.

Try it.  Even just for 15 minutes.  You may be surprised at the calming effect it can have on you and how it can make the rest of your day go smoother.