At the shelter I volunteer at this past Thursday one of the girls was kicked out for having the remnants of a 4-loko in her room. She had not been drinking it, and it was most likely left over from her last group home. Because alcohol is forbidden at the shelter, she was immediately kicked out when staff found it in her room. Within a few hours a social worker arrived, the kid packed up her stuff, and she was off. I had not been informed of the situation at first and for the two hours prior to her departure we had been talking, cracking jokes, and playing cards with the other kids. As she left the building she turned back to the staff member Jason and said, \u201cI\u2019ll probably be back in a few weeks.\u201d After she\u2019d gone I asked Jason what his thoughts were on the strict nature of the shelter rules. He has worked here for some time and seen it all. \u201cWe just can\u2019t have alcohol here. It\u2019s not cool. It\u2019s a problem. Alcohol has been responsible for some of our worst night,\u201d he said. \u201cAlcohol leads to fighting\u2026 someone slashes their wrist in the bathroom\u2026 we can\u2019t tolerate anything.\u201d Even though the rules seemed draconian and over the top, even thoug she probably would be back in a few weeks or months, and even though the staff really didn\u2019t want to see her go there was no other choice. Each organization has its own rules for a reason. It\u2019s just unfortunate that these kids are just shuffled around from place to place, from group home to group home. There is no concentrated or well-funded solution to the issues confronting homeless and runaway youth. These shelters are just a bandaid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At the shelter I volunteer at this past Thursday one of the girls was kicked out for having the remnants of a 4-loko in her room. She had not been drinking it, and it was most likely left over from her last group home. Because alcohol is forbidden at the shelter, she was immediately kicked … Continue reading Blog Post March 25<\/span>