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TIME SPENT WITH J.
From Lori Bartley

In working mostly with teen girls, I have seen many different personalities and perspectives. However, we often overlook the strengths and qualities that our teens truly possess. J. was one teen that taught me a great deal about strength and will.

I first met J. while working at Focus Institute. Her mother brought her to me when she was 14 years old. She was the epitome of the phrase “Dynamite come in tiny packages.”

J. was hard and cold and she put on a wonderful show in which she boasted about having done many different drugs. Along with the drug use, J. was quite proud of her experiences. She was pleased to announce her runaway episodes as well as her life as a bi-sexual female. J. was loud aggressive and confrontational. At the same time she was a 14 year old who happened to be cute as a bug’s ear.

Most of our time together was spent simply discussing behaviors and how her past behaviors have influenced her current situations. Shortly after we began services through YFS, J. found herself in the Juvenile Detention Center and soon after she was placed in a group home. From the home she ran away once again and OJA placed her on house arrest in her mother’s custody. It was my contact with her during this time that most of J.’s improvement began to take place. I am not sure how much of it was from my work with her and how much was from her own maturity and growth. Whichever the case, I was able to sit back and let J. discover her own truths, which she did.

J. managed, for several months to produce negative UA’s. This was an accomplishment that she recognized with great pride. She was willing and successfully ended relationships with past friends who were destructive to her ability to move past the risk taking behaviors. This is a true sign of someone who wants to make lasting changes in their lives.

At 16 years old, she has clear goals of obtaining her GED and entering Beauty College to become a cosmetician. J. is a wonderful example of the work we do at Youth & Family Services and it is stories like J.’s that make the work we do worth while.

*Names have been changed to protect confidentiality and privacy.