Client Satisfaction Survey aka Stakeholder Survey -- Public Copy for the Record

 

 

Entranceway Bulletin Board --Ongoing Long-term Project by Sr. Director

Dear Reviewers,
   Thank you for the complex work that you engage in for our behalf. This is my fifth year at Mount Carmel House for women, and I am happy to state that I have tried to continue to contribute to the happiness and well being of residents here. For instance, the therapeutic garden is still being maintained, and this year two shrubs are added to the garden, paid by me out of pocket, in addition to the herbs (rosemary, thyme, chives, strawberry, mint, oregano, etc). These are in pots, and anyone is welcome to take a cutting to try to grow or use.

   Enclosed is the review (stakeholder/client satisfaction survey) and some remarks. We have a new caseworker and the comments are with regard to her, who I will call P. (Paula) to keep things simple and confidential. Please understand, that outside this home, I do have a variety of friends and resources, and even other African-American social-workers who have been very nice, extremely helpful or understanding about disabled people and their needs. So I am not just "inventing stuff" here on purpose. Kim is my neighbor and I am very discreet, however, some of the stuff I draw from, well, you can't help sort of intuiting or overhearing if you are all packed together so closely...

   So I really really hope that you are considerate enough to keep this confidential and "cherrypick" what can be shared with the MCH staff, because they will try to retaliate or plot new ways to try to make my life more miserable here. I mean, I can or should forward this to the homeless care services committee but I will refrain from doing this because P. is new, and maybe the Catholic Charities counseling manual can be amended to include a few more paragraphs about "re-imagining it can also happen to you" as I was taught about in Special Education, that we all suffer or will eventually suffer from disabilities.

    Thank you very much for reading all this, and I know that you have tried to help us in the past, even if we are not always aware of exactly how.
    Sincerely,
       Christine K, #24
       Mt. Carmel House, 471 G Place NW, Washington, DC 20001

1. Length of stay in the program (since 11/2018, five years)

2. I am satisfied with my case management services.

Disagree, and I would not like to receive case management services (opt-out). The new caseworker is not a licensed social worker and her undergraduate work is in sociology, which is not really the same as social work. Her background and comportment is that of in Daycare work, so while she brings a lot of energy to the house, it is displaced because we are older women, mothers, grandmothers, adults, not in pre-school or K-6. She is even trying to convert parts of the dining room for "activity center" space. The bulletin boards which had a community postings type of orientation is being converted into teacher-style bulletin boards. This kind of authoritarianism seems manipulative. In the community meeting, she had already pre-volunteered one resident (Kim) for leading most of the activities, which seems divisive. (I had a handout which I misplaced but it showed her leading for almost all the activities: jewelry-making, scrapbook, movie night, game night, auction, field trip, birthday party, dinner-night, arts and crafts, etc.) In other ways P. seems used to coercing or forcing herself or her presence in ways that indicate that she cannot or will not address matters with flexibility or with consideration because pre-K children are rarely able to raise objections. Because she already seems willing to overstep boundaries, and is opinionated, I feel uncomfortable with counseling, which generally requires an emphasis on establishing trust, first and foremost. Not a pedagogical agenda that is imported and forcibly introduced without consideration while taking away from community dining room space or resources. Her attitude about this has been "Well, that is how it is going to be from now on, because I say so!" (As a past educator, I buy my own supplies if I want to create activities, not take away meaningful items such as magazine trays. In fact, nothing I have done around here, especially for the herb garden and gardening and planning, is reimbursed! I wouldn't even be surprised if the staff asked for reimbursement based on my efforts in the garden or from buying a new ironing board cover, for themselves.) For instance, we also have clients here with recidivism tendencies, and they appear to have slipped back into, yet these are still favored or treated as special clients even, which can create or foster serious breaches in confidentiality and endanger the safety, security, and well-being of the clients in this house.

3. I understand what is expected of me in this program.

Neutral. This is because while we all study the Program Guidelines, a lot of mixed-messages happen in the execution and delivery of services. For instance, right now the stairwell bulletin board is being "re-decorated" and like other two, it appears to require such a conscious effort, taking many hours to re-do compared to the relative number of hours in an educational facility that a real teacher devotes---often after school, done on her own time, and therefore done with economy and even haste. These new "Teacher-Style" bulletin boards are redone in a style that appears to nullify a "community" feeling; placards are being posted all in plastic sheets, and the wording large and simplified. Other items that used to be on the board are no longer there for our benefit. (Ms. Stephanie's door has all kinds of information tacked on there by now, just like the old bulletin boards).

This kind of "new programming" is obviously done after some conscious-planning that may be produced by the staff "echo-chamber effect" since all (4)-(5) staff appear to be from the same sociodemographic in gender, race, pay, cultural values, contemporary outlook, etc.  It would seem that while we have immutable values (Golden Rule), there are also corporate values (House Mission), then there are cultural values, and contemporary (in-group) values, and what these ladies do for recreation does have a tendency to transmute the performance into a parallell of promotion of false-programming. For instance, if by a secret Satanist, the efforts may be intentionally coded with occult symbols and/or messages, for instance images or memes, that promote or support "evil" behaviors.

4. I understand that is expected of me according to my lease or rental agreement.
Agree. They are prompt and swift in providing receipts.

5. I know how to file a complaint about the program if I have one.
Neutral. However as various residents note, there is double-edged sword almost in filing a request, grievance, or maintenance request. Maintenance requests are ignored or can remain unaddressed for long periods of time, even never addressed. If you keep filing the same complaint, it even gets "round filed" and I suspect Nakia does this with my past suggestion box ideas, as when I mention if the director received it, she nodded her head, no. With requests, if done in writing and marked urgent in the topic email, Ms. G. who is a Catholic Charities director, does try to address, and the other director also who addresses anti-bullying issues.

6. I understand the process for requesting reasonable accommodation within the program.
Disagree. We need to have better accommodation for the older women here who are on walkers---they should not have to file written requests if the staff are here all day long. They should be able to speak about their needs and secure some kind of response if it is reasonable within the same week. For instance, I have observed we have an elderly person here who is still on the second floor when they should be on the first floor, and she is not able to fix regular meals for herself anymore. I have requested or talked about having meal delivery here (such as DC Central Kitchen) as this is also a transitional shelter categorically.

7. I know how to request language translation and interpretation services within the program if or when needed.
Disagree. Right now, because of all the "bulletin board re-doing" the entrance hallway bulletin board is now a blank space with yellow poster paper backing and the title is "Having Positive Feelings" or something like that, with descriptors of positive feelings. Completely meaningless because all the useful community information is tacked on Ms. Ford's door, which looks like a crowded bulletin board, and there it appears to remain. So any consideration for people who need translation services...appears to be a disproportionate nonconcern.

8. I am provided with the resources and referrals that best fit my needs and help me achieve my goals.
Disagree. Any resources and referrals I have always done on my own or with outside help. This is in part because of my advanced and specialty qualifications, but also because of concerns of breaches in confidentiality. It is not encouraging to hear the staff trivialize or make denigrating remarks or even plot to paint the client as more disabled than they are. This is even worse if they secretly signal or send messages to clients on how to harass certain other clients, which we have only indirect evidence for. For instance, promoting Kim as the peer-leader here, giving her "Secretary" status for leading social-activities, is not only divisive, but also purporting to hold her up as a role model, when in fact, she may not really be if we are looking at immutable values, but maybe if we are primarily looking at it from a promotion of trendist "red light" street-culture values. We have many other hard-working women here and they are often not even around during most of the days, but they are completely ignored as role models.

Both community computers unfixed and unplugged, printer also

Another issue is that the Director and caseworker are more excited about planning social activities than getting the two broken computers and printer fixed at the "computer center" in the basement? We haven't had any working community computers for almost 2 years! I thought one of the goals in this house was encouraging us to look for work, enroll in training programs, learn new skills, etc, not do all these "social" activities. According to the program, our time is supposed to be spent in volunteering, mentoring, polishing resume writing and job search skills, interviewing skills, entrepreneurial or business skills, and develop depth and understanding in areas of health, spirituality, personal growth, etc. 

"Game","Movie","Scrapbook" nights, no distracting messages

The caseworker is pointing us to the MLK library for business and skills development. That is just very obvious and shows a very low bar of investment for us; and it also matches the afore mentioned prioritizing of favoring the "red-light" clique inside this house and elevating them to a "teacher status" around here, which is pretty darned weird since neither of them have ever taught in public high schools (like I have). In fact, I am not even certain that two of the staff are not into that themselves, the "red light" stuff. But never mind and of course, you put me in danger if you share all of this information outright. It's not like you live next to someone who is calling their special minders at all hours, or is into Haitian-style voodoo. So it's really disgusting and corrupt how deep it goes and how superficial and shallow the staff truly are. Their only saving grace is that it's getting that way all across the country now practically, so maybe it's cool in their view, how low our country is sinking, worse than a third-world country morally and ethically, while lying about maintaining standards.

9. I am satisfied with the conditions and cleanliness of the site I am staying at and receiving services at.
Neutral. I do a lot of extra chores here, which nobody even recognizes anymore. Taking out the kitchen trash, dining room table clean up, kitchen sink clean up, refrigerator clean up (a bottom bracket was broken and red meat fluid had fouled up the bottom of the refrigerator, but no one noticed or cared to clean this up; then I had to create a prop to keep that shelf level), replacing ironing board cloth, even emptying the cigarette butt containers outside! I have informed the staff about people not doing their chores, but they appear to do nothing about it. I also inform them about the side-door not being latched shut, which they also ignore. I also clean the laundry room (which Ella stopped cleaning after an altercation with Sharon), and even cleaning the walls which were stained with hair dye. However on the balance, being outside allows me to also do some gardening. When I do my own regular chore, Bathroom #3, it appears that some gals delight in dirtying it back up immediately for my benefit, as if they like to have to see me keep cleaning up after them. So this kind of behavior is inconsiderate, and the staff never do any cleaning themselves. When the new refrigerators were delivered there were stacks of cardboard boxes outside, and I ended up tearing them apart so they could fit in the recyle bins. Again, this was not noticed or thanked. I guess there are administrative rules against the staff actually doing any cleaning or maintenance, so they can sit all day long.  

10. I am satisfied with the meals provided at the site I am staying and receiving services at.
Neutral. No meals are delivered here except what residents order for themselves. The only time food is furnished is as part of an event, meeting, or donation from the church, about once or twice a year. The snacks are provided for meetings, it appears, as part of a budget, since it is highly doubtful that P. who cannot even afford to pay for her teacher materials out of pocket, but borrows stuff from the house to use, will pay for anything but the cheapest low-quality junk food on her own. Also, on a slightly different angle, nobody seems cognizant that our country is in the midst of three wars (Ukraine-Russia, Middle East, Taiwan), and preparing for war-time, so if the country were to shut-down, would they even care that we had adequate food and water for survival?? No, because all they do is follow what the program books tell them to do, so it is too "outside-the-box" for them to conceive of such a thing on their own. If they really cared, they would help us prepare for our "bugout" bags and buy some survival-food buckets and emergency water bottles to store in the basement, and tell us where we can go in emergency. Instead, they will probably say, well just follow what DC government tells you to do, and go were FEMA tells you to go...

11. I feel safe at the site I am staying and receiving services at.
Disagree. We have several serious cases of recidivism happening here, even it it appears "below the radar." This one person, Robin, appears to be on drugs or abusing them, at least once a week, usually on the weekends, and then she goes into the bathroom and sits for up to an hour vomiting. Several others are doing this---Tonya, Kim (drinking), etc. And this is aside from other stuff happening that usually happens in the red-light Chinatown district, to fulfill the expectations of local residents and tourists, that Chinatown is indeed, exciting. At least they need to try to shut the door behind them when they go out so the door is locked, however sometimes, even the front door is not even properly shut. 

12. My case manager and other program staff treat me with respect.
Neutral. At least on the surface they appear to try to treat me with respect, for instance, Stephanie and Jeannette were reasonably nice when I had to leave town for a while after my father passed away late last year. However we do have a current issue right now with the new caseworker P. who appears to be unduly concerned with "adopting the right attitude" towards us as a class, not as individual persons. We are not this label, that label, or "clients" pronounced with a distasteful sneer. This comes from the direction of the director most likely, but it can't be known for sure, as it also appears to be part of the corporate and contemporary culture. For instance, the activity baskets for April had "notable events for the days of April" and "addressing anxiety disorder" in another basket. Well, we have lots of types of disability here, so why single that one out? Also the magazines are full of self-help information and encouragement, so is this why she wanted to sort of hide those magazines away by taking away the magazine trays? Then the "thought of the month" stuff is really---just so tasteless in my opinion. We have twenty women here, and at dinner time, it gets really crowded even pre-Covid with women trying to fetch food to eat, cook, prepare, etc. So all the side tables were used even, but she has absolutely no consideration for that. Maybe she should try to stay overnight here and think about what the extra common space means. (It's not just the table she uses but also the wall above, and even the window frame, so it's almost like she is trying to move part of her office into the Dining Room to "help mind us.")

13. I feel comfortable voicing my needs and concerns to my case manager and other program staff.
Disagree. I already mentioned there appears to be an "echo chamber" effect happening where the staff are very adamant about an "us" vs "them" boundaries and especially if we are non-African-American. There is one caseworker (?) who is here during the day that I have not even been introduced to, but every time I see her, and say hello, she stares at me for 15 seconds before she says hello back, as if I were a "freak of nature." So this kind of attitude is very stigmatizing, not to mention if you catch the staff at a wrong moment. Most of the residents are rarely going downstairs during the day because in the past, they might be confronted with questions and concerns spoken in an antagonizing or challenging tone by the staff. So intimidation is also a part of their gaming and baiting the residents whenever or if they believe they can get away with it. For instance, just because I had "anxiety disorder nos"; they purposely adopt the most intimidating mannerisms, or even set up my meeting times, so that other residents are in the vicinity serving as distractants or "minding me" indirectly. This is how they use our information against us, because rather than being truly accommodating, they are infact, exploiting that as a weakness to make the client feel uncomfortable or to bait the client intentionally (for a possible write-up, which they try to use to conduct "interrogation-style" meetings).

14. My case manager is easy to reach and responds to my needs in a timely manner.
Disagree. In the past, the staff were easy to reach during off-hours; you could text them, call them. However after Ms. Hinnant came on board as director that changed, and now they are only available 9-5 weekdays. If you need anything on the weekends you must wait for Nakia to come in. Sometimes they do respond to texts, but mostly they do not, and they can even use your text message to respond by flaming you about another matter. I do not expect to be able to reach P. easily, and she is already being encouraged to be minimally responsive to our needs, and since she is underqualified or has not a strong social-worker counseling background (neither does Ms. Hinnant), she is not able to stand on her own feet in a professional manner, such as Mr. Brown pretty much tried to.

15. Meetings with my case manager are informative and productive.
Disagree. We are able to talk about what is needed for filling out the form, which does not take long. They try to pump you for information which they then use to conduct surveillance and monitoring, and that may be illegal if it concerns my relatives and friends or my social safety net. Also they share information back with clients on the sly, which is also illegal and outright dangerous for our safety and well-being. These do not feel like natural communication meetings, more like orchestrated "interrogation sessions." I have no criminal record and am a respectable citizen, albeit lower-income, for instance, I have a masters degree and professional engineering license as well as bachelors and associate degree certificates. I have working experiences which required FBI clearances, and I was always able to pass those with no problem. However they treat everyone here as if we all came from D.C. Jail system! So this is really quite odious that they have such low-expectations for us, that they practice "disempowerment" that is contrary to the program goals for fostering self-esteem and autonomy. Because P. comes from a pre-K daycare background, she is being trained to "infantalize" this program for working women even more, and create an authoritarian atmosphere, while faking a community environment that is filled with recreational activities worthy of AARP if we had the time and money for that. The point is, that they are oblivious of this country being in war, being in war-time, and that if the country were to shut-down, would they even care that we had adequate food and water for survival? No, because all they do is follow what the program books tell them to do, so it is too "outside-the-box" for them to develop such initiatives. If they really cared, they would help us prepare for our "bugout" bags and buy some survival-food buckets and emergency water bottles to store in the basement. They don't even hardly bother to connect us with senior community centers or area-wide community programs, much less order meaningful things which would improve our connection to the world, such as a Time magazine news subscription.

16. My case manager assists me if I have maintenance concerns in my unit.
Agree. However slow it is, it is eventually addressed. Sometimes it takes up to six months, but if it is with regard to bathroom or kitchen, usually in a week or so.

ADDENDUM: 

Here are some additional photos of the Political-Social-Cultural Agenda that is happening, that has political distractions to support: War, Monopoly, Fraud, Global Dominion, and authoritarianism. We just might get our wish! Last night some B52s were loaded with 12 nuclear bombs heading to Europe per HalTurnerRadioShow.com. (Enclosed new photos of yellow board, with a sticker added every day, the wonderful Games night, Movie night flyer. Plus the two dead computers and printer.) Also, I wonder why the ladies can't think of making an AIDS quilt for the Sofa because the seat is falling apart? We can have a sewing circle and donate goods to the church to prove that we are capable women? 

This very educational movie for low-income women to appreciate!