Category Archives: Work

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Another Letter to John P Daley

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Mr. John P Daley, Commissioner 11th District,

Two weeks ago I wrote you a letter asking if I could talk with you  regarding serious budget issues that affect me and my clients in Cook County.  In that letter I identified myself as a new resident of the 11th district and a long time Probation Officer in the Clinical Interventions Division.   In that letter, I did not describe my job duties.  I had hoped that I would be able to discuss the nature of my job with you or with one of your staff.  That has not happened.  In order to encourage this badly needed conversation, I am more than willing to discuss about my job and my responsibilities in a more direct fashion.

Mr. Daley, for the past 11 years I have provided supervision, case management and treatment to Cook County Wards with aggressive sexual behaviors.  Cook County’s community based treatment program is a leader in addressing sexually aggressive children and youth, and this program is in danger of being cut by the recent threat of layoffs from the Cook County Board.

In addition to the services I provide these youth, I am also the Co-Chair of the Juvenile Advisory Council (JAC).  This is a national model of youth input in Juvenile Justice matters.  Jurisdictions from 20 states have come to the Cook County Juvenile Court to learn about the Juvenile Advisory Council, how we work with court wards and court staff and how JAC improves the services at the Court.  This program is also targeted by Budget Cuts.

I am not sure how the Cook County Board can demand for more cuts to programs and services while Cook County Commissioners refuse to take their furlough days.  I do not understand how vital court services can be cut or delayed when management heavy offices in Cook County Government are not sharing the burden of the budgetary short fall.  I do not understand how the County Board can talk about providing key services while cutting key staff.

If Layoffs occur, half of the JSO unit will be affected.  This will affect my workload and make it impossible for me to run the Juvenile Advisory Council.  This year I have already surrendered 5% of my salary to Cook County and increased my workload 25%.  Another 5% pay cut and another increase in my work load will make me look for work outside of Cook County Government.

I want to work providing service for the residents of Cook County.  I want your office to support me, and my coworkers, as we work to provide vital services to the children of Cook County.  Will you help me do my job?

 

I look forward to hearing from you or your staff,

Martin Gleason

 

An Open Letter to William M Beavers, Cook County Commissioner

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Mr. Beavers:

I am a Cook County Juvenile Probation Officer who has covered the majority of your district for the past Eleven years. I have considered it a privilege to work with the families on Chicago’s far South Side. The current budget woes in Cook County threaten my job, and jeopardize the services that I provide to the families of Cook County.

I provide supervision, case management and treatment to juveniles who have committed sexually aggressive behaviors. I’m on the Illinois Sex Offender Management’s Board of Approved Treatment providers, and I have 12 years of direct experience working with this difficult and expensive population. The services I provide are cheaper than sending a juvenile to Big Muddy or to a residential treatment facility. Despite the savings that my colleagues and I provide the county, we are on the chopping block to close a budget gap.

The County Board believes the best way to close the budget gap is to lay off 29 of my coworkers. Of these 29 dedicated officer, at least two work with me in the Juvenile Sex Offender Unit. Laying off those two workers will at least double my work load. Laying off front line workers, something that President Preckwinkle stated she will not do, will directly cut the services to Cook County’s most vulnerable residents. Within 30 days, instead of providing direct service to the residents of the South Side, I may be limited to coordinating services for a much larger neighborhood. In short, I will have to attempt to find other low-cost Sex Specific Treatment Providers on Chicago’s South Side.

To be blunt, Mr. Commissioner, I am the only low-cost treatment provider on the Management Board’s list in your neighborhood.

Instead of fixing the budget gap by eliminating waste in the forest preserve, within management or with the FIVE IT departments in Cook County (Chief Judge, State’s Attorney, Public Defender, Office of the President, Cook County Clerk), you are targeting the people who rely on services.

Why are you cutting Services, Mr. Beavers? The argument we have heard was that AFSCME refuses to negotiate. As a member of the Bargaining Committee, I can assure you that we have come to the table in good faith. We want a contract–a contract that is years past due–to ensure that our rights as workers are protected. Instead, you want to close the budget gap by directly eliminating county services, in this case necessary mental health and law enforcement. Your actions in this case will make the your neighborhood less safe.

Mr. Beavers, I urge you to work with AFSCME to create a budget that is fair to the people of Cook County. Do not balance your budget by cutting services to the people who need them the most.

Sincerely,

Marty Gleason

PS: I would mail this do you directly, but you don’t have an email address on your Commissioner page or your campaign site.

An Open Letter to My Commissioner, Jesus Garcia

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Mr. Garcia:

You don’t know me, but I am a resident in your district. I am also a Cook County Juvenile Probation Officer. For the past Eleven years, I have been blessed to serve the families of Cook County on Chicago’s far south side. I cover neighborhoods where Chicago’s Finest refuse to go without a partner, a gun and a bullet proof vest. I work these same neighborhoods, sometimes well into the night, by myself. I am not complaining. I love my job. But by the end of this week, you and your colleagues want to remove my job for political reasons.

I should mention one additional fact about my job: I provide supervision, case management and treatment to juveniles who have committed sexually aggressive behaviors. I’m on the Illinois Sex Offender Management’s Board of Approved Treatment providers, and I have 12 years of direct experience working with this difficult and expensive population. The services I provide are cheaper than sending a juvenile to Big Muddy or to a residential treatment facility. And these services will be cut due to the County Board’s insistence on Layoffs.

The County Board believes the best way to close the budget gap is to lay off 29 of my coworkers. Of these 29 dedicated officer, at least two work with me in the Juvenile Sex Offender Unit. Laying off those two workers will at least double my work load. Laying off front line workers, something that President Preckwinkle stated she will not do, will directly cut the services to Cook County’s most vulnerable residents. Within 30 days, instead of providing direct service to the residents of the South Side, I may be limited to coordinating services for a much larger neighborhood. In short, I will have to attempt to find other low-cost Sex Specific Treatment Providers on Chicago’s South Side.

To be blunt, Mr. Commissioner, I am the only low-cost treatment provider on the Management Board’s list in those neighborhoods.

Instead of fixing the budget gap by eliminating waste in the forest preserve, within management or with the FIVE IT departments in Cook County (Chief Judge, State’s Attorney, Public Defender, Office of the President, Cook County Clerk), you are targeting the people who rely on services.

Why are you cutting Services, Mr. Garcia? The argument we have heard was that AFSCME refuses to negotiate. As a member of the Bargaining Committee, I can assure you that we have come to the table in good faith. We want a contract–a contract that is years past due–to ensure that our rights as workers are protected. Instead, you want to close the budget gap by directly eliminating county services, in this case necessary mental health and law enforcement. Your actions in this case will make the South Side less safe.

Mr. Garcia, I urge you to work with AFSCME to create a budget that is fair to the people of Cook County. Do not balance your budget by cutting services to the people who need them the most.

Sincerely,

Marty Gleason

PS: I would mail this do you directly, but you don’t have an email address on your Commissioner page or your campaign site.

Nerves

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This weekend I purchased my textbook for my summer class: 1100+ pages on ASP .NET development for “professionals.” I have six months of java under my belt. This does not make me a professional, just an ambitious amateur. This future class is adding to my current pressure–that of my final Exam–causing me to take a serious look at what I am doing now and what my goals are.

Normally, I think this wouldn’t be a huge problem. While I would be worried and tense, I have ways of coping. But all these concerns are occuring around the 9th. This anniversary marks seven years without my dad. Usually, all my mental energy is directed at coping with grief, not with school crap.

Shakesville: Discussion Thread: Explicit Lessons About Rape

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What were you formally taught about rape, and where did you learn it? Who have you spoken to about rape? Did your parents ever talk to you about rape? Was the topic part of any formal sex education you got in school? Have you ever attended or instructed a seminar on rape? Was it compulsory or voluntary?

via Shakesville: Discussion Thread: Explicit Lessons About Rape.

1)  The first memory I have of learning about rape was something my dad said about a case he had.  Formally, we learned about it in health class, Sophomore year.

2)  I have hundreds, if not thousands, of hours on rape, sexual abuse and the treatment of adolescent who have demonstrated sexually aggressive behaviors.

A Simple Guide to Political Categorization

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Given that human beings have a tendency to categorize, it should come as no surprise that this peculiar human trait is also used when discussing particular beliefs systems. People fuss over the definition–and label–of terms like progressive, liberal, conservative, big D Democrat, big R Repulican, Blue Dog and fascist. I could spend all of NaBloPoMo trying to suss this out; however, I think that in order to do it properly, I’d get far too involved with blogging to get any other work done. Instead of trying to define and label all of these terms, I’m going to focus on particular event that can cut across a number of these categories; furthermore, this event can be used heuristically to help identify what labels are appropriate.

In short–and this is a continuation of yesterday’s quick thought–I am proposing this simple test: If you blame a victim of sexual assault and bandy about terms like “personal responsibility” and “boys will be boys” you are disqualified from being considered liberal, progressive and a feminist.

I recognize that it is difficult to define certain philosophies. I also realize that “moral absolutes” and universal statements are dangerous places to go philosophically. In addition to these realizations, I’m pretty sure that this this kind of a statement will make some of my readers–new, old or established–upset because I’m being too harsh.

When one blames a victim for a crime, one is saying that (at best) their poor judgement is the moral equivalent of the pain that has been inflicted on them. Minimizing, Justifying and rationalizing a crime with the statement of, “well she should have known better” is a distortion displayed by the people perpetrating the crime. When the larger community blames a victim, it continues to traumatize the victim.

In short, if you blame a victim, you are traumatizing the victim. You are showing a callous disregard for their experience. In my experience of talking with victims and victim advocates, victims of crimes–especially victims of a sexual assault–already have an inordinate amount of guilt and shame. Victims feel as if other people are holding them responsible for their victimization. These feelings, for some victims, continue inward to the point where a victim blames oneself for their pain. As a result of this emotional trauma, they begin to feel that they have this pain coming, that they have somehow deserved this because they are bad, stupid or “slutty.”

Blaming a victim is one step away from abusing the victim.

I honestly do not care if this is considered too harsh. I have seen multiple generations of families suffering from victim blaming. I have read far too many victim statements and talk to far too many State’s Attorneys who have told me far too much about how the victim “is spiraling out of control and no one is able to help her.”

When a person is victimized, the offender is the one that is responsible for their trauma. They are the ones who chose to cross boundaries. They are the ones who decided to violate societal norms for their own needs. If you want to blame society for sexualizing young women and having conflicting sexual mores, feel free to do so. But if you are going to blame a victim, recognize that you have far too much in common with an offender than I am comfortable with.

If you’re uncomfortable with the dissonance you might feel, then change your mind about victim blaming. Don’t rationalize it. Do not justify it. Change it.