| TN-79 (II) A 33 year-old woman preparing to leave a treatment facility for alcohol abuse where she has been living with her two young children. [The author's household includes herself and her two sons, two and three months.] Interviewer: Where do you live? Author: I live at Great Starts. Interviewer: For those who won’t know about Great Starts, how would you describe it? Author: Great Starts is an intensive outpatient rehab uh, for women and their children—treats addictions and we go to classes all day, there’s a daycare for our children to stay all day while we’re in classes and that’s about it. Interviewer: Does it help as a resource for your family? Author: Yes. Interviewer: Describe how. Author: They help you with um finding a job, how to budget your money, housing, um help with my kids— Interviewer: How did they help you and your family? Author: Well, individual therapy was the biggest help for me at Great Starts and the other staff—Sheena, Sheryl, my case manager—help me in court, uh we have group therapy every day. It’s a big help. 1. HOUSEHOLD SUPPORT Interviewer: How do you maintain your household on a daily basis? Describe the resources you use to make the household run and how you supervise your children, including any assistance from outside your circle of family and friends. So, how do you run your house from day to day? Author: Uh, I get my kids up in the morning, get ‘em ready, feed ‘em, bring ‘em to daycare and I have to go to classes during the day. Interviewer: What are your evenings like? Author: Evenings, uh, Gus plays with things a little bit, we play together. Uh, its suppertime, we watch a little bit of TV, takes a bath and goes to bed. Interviewer: How do you put food on the table? How do you pay for the things you need to pay? Author: Food stamps. Interviewer: Does food stamps cover all that she needs for feeding her children? Author: Yes. Interviewer: How about for rent? Author: Uh, AFDC. Interviewer: How much time do you supervise your children? Author: Um, a day? About six hours. Interviewer: Where do your children go? Author: During the day they go to daycare. Interviewer: Talk about how you drop them off at daycare and what you do? Author: Um, I get ‘em up every morning like I said and get ‘em ready and bring ‘em just downstairs—‘cause there’s a daycare center where I stay. And then I have to go to classes all day. Interviewer: What other resources help you in parenting your children? Author: Just me and the daycare. Interviewer: How does the daycare help you? Author: A whole lot. They teach Gus [laughs] and feed ‘em breakfast and lunch, learn ‘em in classes uh, he’s grew a lot since he’s been in daycare. They help us with anything we need—diapers, food if we run out. Interviewer: Anything else? Author: [no response] Interviewer: While you are in this program [Great Starts] how do your children get back and forth to doctor’s appointments and things like that? Author: My mother helped me a lot with taking my children to their doctor’s appointments and Great Starts, the place I’m staying a,t helps me with some transportation. Interviewer: Okay. What other assistance do you receive from your family and friends? Author: Just transportation. Interviewer: Can you describe your apartment? Author: Um, its two-bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, living room. Interviewer: Compared to two years ago, supporting my household today is: much harder, harder, unchanged, easier or much easier? Author: I’m gonna say harder because I’m doin’ it all by myself. Interviewer: What are the things that you find harder? Author: Um, taking care of both the babies at the same time [chuckles]. One starts cryin’ and both of them start cryin’ and I just don’t have no help with takin’ care of them. Interviewer: Who helped you two years ago that it was different? Author: My husband. Compared to two years ago, supporting my household today is harder. 2. CHILD WELL-BEING Interviewer: How is your children’s physical health? Author: Good. They’re doin’ good. They keep colds. Gus has an allergy, but other than that they’re doin’ good. Interviewer: What kind of allergy does Gus have? Author: He’s never been tested for—had the allergy test to find out. Interviewer: How does it affect him every day? Author: It really don’t, I mean, runny nose and it causes a lot of sickness, but it doesn’t really affect him. Interviewer: How do you keep your children safe? Author: Um, by bein’ with ‘em. Knowin’ where they’re at at all times—and who they’re with if they’re not with me. Interviewer: Your children’s academic performance in school, how do you think they’re doing? Author: Um, in my opinion, they’re doin’ pretty good. Gus still takes a pacifier so, he’s a little bit slow in his speech, but he’s getting’ better. Interviewer: How is their behavior in school and daycare? Author: Good as far as I know, I’ve not had any complaints. Interviewer: Considering two years ago, how do you think it was: much worse, worse, unchanged, better, much better? Author: Better. Interviewer: Why do you find it better? Author: Uh, because two years ago I was—two years ago I was drinking and wasn’t taking care of myself. Interviewer: And again, you only had one child compared to two children, how much is the difference between having a second child? Author: A big difference [small laugh]. You gotta find time to give attention to both of them. Interviewer: How do you give attention to both kids now? Author: Um, I hold Brandon and play with Gus. We all play together. Interviewer: What kind of things do you do to play with them? Author: Gus likes to read. So he reads a lot. Interviewer: Any other activities? Author: Um, riding, he likes to ride. Compared to two years ago, the general well-being of my children is better. 3. BASIC NEEDS Interviewer: How well is your household meeting its basic needs? Describe some things that affect your family’s ability to meet basic needs, including food and stuff like that. Author: Uh, well, we don’t have no problems with food, ‘cause like I said we get food stamps. I’m [not] finding any problems right now. Interviewer: Nothing with clothing? Author: No, we get donations just about every day at Great Starts. Interviewer: What about housing? Author: Um, since I’m in Great Starts I’ve not had to worry about housing, but— Interviewer: What do you pay for housing while you’re at Great Starts? Author: Um, $15 a month. Interviewer: How about medical care? Author: Both of them are on—have insurance. Interviewer: Do they have TennCare or— Author: Yeah, TennCare. Interviewer: And you have no problems with filling prescriptions and taking care of the children? Author: No. Interviewer: Education, has it covered all their educational needs? Author: Uh huh. Daycare, they do all that. Interviewer: Do you think that your children have everything that they need? Author: Yes, for now. Interviewer: What interferes with making ends meet? Author: Um. I guess my needs. I don’t get everything I need, but my children do. Interviewer: What types of things that you would like to have that you don’t have now, that you don’t get all the time? Author: For myself? Interviewer: Uh huh. Author: Clothes, and transportation. Interviewer: Before Great Starts, did you struggle with your basic needs? Author: Yes. Interviewer: What didn’t you have help for before Great Starts? Author: Well, daycare for Gus um, food—never for Gus. Interviewer: Do the boys have the same father? Author: Yes. Interviewer: Is he involved in helping you make ends meet? Author: Uh huh. Interviewer: Does he have any involvement with in boys’ lives? Author: No. Interviewer: How do you [think] things are compared to two years ago? Author: Um, better. Compared to two years ago, my family's ability to meet its basic needs is better. 4. HOUSING Interviewer: Okay. How well is your housing meeting your family’s needs? How well does it fit the size of your family? Author: It's perfect for the size of my family. Just in time. Interviewer: Physical conditions? Author: Uh, its good. They take care of everything at Great Starts. Interviewer: Safety of the neighborhood? Author: The environments very safe ‘cause— Interviewer: How do you think it's very safe? Author: There’s always somebody here, either staff or security guards and there’s no interference from the outside. Interviewer: Convenience for work, school, childcare, and visiting relatives? Author: Um, I have a little bit of trouble with transportation ‘cause I don’t have any, but, my mother helps me with the childcare and visiting relatives. Right now I don’t have a job. Interviewer: For school, how easy is it to get your kids to school? Author: Very easy. [chuckles] We just have to walk down the stairs. Interviewer: Okay. How often are your relatives allowed to visit? Author: Once a week, on Sundays. Interviewer: Which relatives visit you? Author: My mom and my sister. Interviewer: Are these social visits or are they here to help you in some way? Author: Social visits. Interviewer: Again, compared to two years ago, my housing is much worse, worse, unchanged, better, or much better? Author: Much better. What about it makes it better than you had before? Author: Like I said earlier, I was drinking before—two years ago. I was drinking and I didn’t have two children two years ago. Interviewer: Okay, what about compared to where you were living? Author: Um, it’s a safer environment, cleaner environment—[long silence] Interviewer: No other reason why it would be better? Author: No. Interviewer: What about when you leave Great Starts? Do you know where you will be living? Author: Uh huh. Interviewer: Can you describe you[r] new house? Author: Uh, it’s a two-bedroom apartment on the second floor. It's got a bathroom, kitchen and everything. It’s a good size for me and my kids. Interviewer: When do you move into it? Author: At the end of April. Compared to two years ago, my housing is much better. 5. EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING Interviewer: Okay, emotional well-being. What feelings have you been experiencing the most lately? Author: I guess, um anxiety ‘cause I only got a couple of weeks left in Great Starts and I have to find uh, housing and a job, transportation, so some fear, uh, some loneliness. Interviewer: How do these feelings affect working or parenting your children? Author: Um, it really doesn’t because I don’t take it out on the children. Interviewer: Okay. Have these—and you don’t work, so that is n/a? Author: Uh huh. Interviewer: How do you feel about staying sober? Author: Very good. Very grateful. Interviewer: How do you think you will do with coping? Author: It's gonna be tough, but I can do it. Interviewer: What do you do if it gets too much for you? Author: Talk to my therapist. Interviewer: And when you sought help, how often do you get help with therapy? Author: Once a week. Interviewer: Are you going to continue when you leave [Great Starts]? Author: Yes. Interviewer: How do you deal with your feelings you described on a daily basis? Author: I go talk to my therapist. Interviewer: Compared to two years ago, your emotional well-being—is it much worse, worse, unchanged, better, or much better? Author: Much better. I’m able to think more clearly and work out the problems instead of numbing or, huh, with alcohol. Compared to two years ago, my emotional well-being is much better. 6. EMPLOYMENT Interviewer: Now employment, you don’t have a current job you said. What type of job are you going to look for? Author: I’m trying to look for landscaping because I done it for a year and I really enjoy it. But, right now I’m just going to have to take what I can get so I can take care of my family. Interviewer: Have you started looking for a job yet? Author: Yes. Interviewer: What kinds of places have you looked? Author: Uh, landscaping, restaurants, most of them right now I can’t take because of my situation in having—the times I have to bring the kids to daycare and pick them up. …[unintelligible] I don’t have any support. Interviewer: Have you thought about looking for a job within the time frame of the daycare? Author: I’ve been tryin’. That’s why right now I’m workin’ part-time for my grandmother doin’ some landscaping. Interviewer: What are your plans to fix your transportation problem? Author: I’m just waiting on my income tax return. Interviewer: What were the wages and benefits at the last job that you had? Author: The last job I had was landscaping and it was a very good job—making $8 an hour. Interviewer: Did you have any benefits? Author: Yeah, they had insurance and 401K. Interviewer: What kind of training did you get? Author: Learning on the job. Um, and when I had left I had just moved up to team leader, which meant that I had my own crew to go out and do jobs, then I started drinking and I lost that job and haven’t worked since. But, I’ve had two babies and drug treatment [chuckles]. Interviewer: How long ago was that? Author: 2000. Interviewer: So, is that when you came to Great Starts? Author: No, I came to Great Starts in June of 2002. Interviewer: What did you do with that time in between losing your job and getting into Great Starts? Author: A lot of drinkin’ and I had Gus. Interviewer: Okay, compared to two years ago, your wages and benefits are much worse, worse, unchanged, better, much better? Author: At this point I think it would be worse because unemployed. Compared to two years ago, the wages and benefits of the job I have now are worse. [scale does not apply, author is not currently employed.] 7. BASIC FACTS [summary of basic facts inserted during editing] Neighborhood: Great Starts Gender: Female Last year of school: 10th grade GED: No Race: White Ethnicity: Does your partner, spouse or co-parent live in the household? No Do you currently receive any cash public assistance (TANF)? Yes Do you have anything else you’d like to tell about how welfare has affected you? Author: Its [welfare assistance] has helped me a whole lot because if it wasn’t for the welfare, I’d be—my children wouldn’t have things they needed and I just don’t know what. Interviewer: Can you think of anything else that would be of help to your children? Author: Um, no. |
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