One of my biggest areas of opportunity when it comes to personal growth and development is advocating for myself. I find it very difficult to stand up for what I need which often leads to things not getting done and basically being forgotten about. My current case manager is a great example of this. He's a super nice guy and all but he operates on his own time and priorities. Whenever he needs to get in touch with me it's important but when I need something it seems to routinely fall through the cracks. I've been waiting three weeks now for referrals to be completed to CHEEERS and Art Awakenings and they still aren't done. I've spoken to him numerous times now and have gotten conflicting stories each time as to where things stand. I honestly believe that he just hasn't done what's needed to get things rolling. During my last conversation with him he advised me he's taking another position and will no longer be my case manager. If I interpreted things correctly he even admitted that he's just getting too old for the job and has a hard time keeping up with how they do things. While I'm waiting for my new case manager to take over I remain in limbo regarding the referrals that need to be completed. I need to get involved in some kind of structured activity so I don't allow myself to fall back into being isolated. The Friendship program was wonderful but now that I've graduated I feel strongly that the programs available would be very beneficial for me. Unfortunately I'm running up against a brick wall trying to do what's best for me. I got spoiled for a while when I had an exceptional case manager that was on top of everything and was there whenever I needed or wanted something. She gave me her direct line and email address to facilitate communication and I never had any issues getting in touch with her. She was awesome at her job so it was no surprise that she moved on to bigger and better things in fairly short order. As much as i don't want to, I've promised myself that if I don't hear back from my current case manager by tomorrow I'm going to have to call and speak with a supervisor to see if that will shake things up enough to get the wheels turning. As anxious as I am about starting a new program I'm even more anxious about not progressing forward. I guess this will be good practice for me to advocate for myself and take action since nothing appears to be getting done. They say the squeaky wheel gets the grease; let's see how successful I am at being squeaky!
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