Whistle-Blower #5

Breaker!Breaker! This series of posts is about getting my book Black Panther published and the dangers of whistle-blowing. I want to interrupt the present discussion about the danger of not whistle-blowing loudly and widely to tell about how Black Panther is being received. I recently printed copies of page 240 and distributed them to family and friends. I gave one to a Harvard graduate whom I had known for over a year without knowing she graduated from the oldest college of America with my William and Mary being the second oldest. His husband also graduated from Harvard. This very attractive woman keeps her alma mater somewhat of a secret. I had to know if she liked page 240 so I gave it to her very informally. She immediately made time to read it and then sat down with me to ask a few questions about the destruction of the Florida panther in Florida by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission introducing another panther subspecies from Texas, commonly known as the Texas cougar. I answered her, and was delighted with her observation: "This is compelling." It gave me great energy to have a Harvard graduate say my book was compelling. A high compliment.
    To return to my story, Betty Copland, Director of York County Social Services, called in a few days to acknowledge that Tammy indeed was one of their foster children. In other words, it took days for a public social services department to find out who their foster children were. To boot, this was from the social services department that thought it was the best. We were so confident of ourselves at Betty's agency when I worked there that I remember a carload of us passing the Virginia governor's car on Interstate 64 just outside of Richmond. As usual, we York County social workers were late because we were so busy doing good and important things. Gathering up social workers was like rounding up cats! We were attending some training at the Virginia Commonwealth University, and we brazenly passed the governor's car doing around 80 miles an hour, laughing at the state trooper driving it. He wouldn't dare try to arrest us. Those were halcyon days. But I realized those days were long gone as I tried to persuade Betty to get Tammy into counseling for support and ventilation before our foster child Steve told Betty's foster child Tammy that he was not going to marry her. Betty was neutral as she took the information. This was unlike her. Betty was a locomotive. She was either strongly for or against everything. A very decisive, strong woman. That's why most of her loved her. But not all as there were a few in the office who had felt the overwhelming force of her unjustified negativity. The two I knew were very quiet and withdrawn as a result too. Looking back, Betty must have been negative to Tammy getting therapy for some reason. Maybe she was resisting Sue Royster and me. After all, her agency was the best and the leader of social work enlightment. Of course, she couldn't say to me, "We're not trying to put Tammy into therapy just because you want us to!" But Sue Royster, my senior social worker, soon told me that they hadn't put Tammy into therapy. Looking back, I should not have let that happened unquestioned by myself. It points to my passivity and dependency. I should have done something, but I didn't see it then. It was my blind spot. I'm not passing the buck when I say, "If only Sue could have said, 'Does that have to be the end of it, Pete?' I'm a good guard dog. If Sue had said something I would have fought tooth and nail for the lives of Tammy and her unborn baby. But I was the administrator. It was up to me to find another way to skin a cat. I'm good at that. I just wasn't thinking.  Peter Nickerson, MS, MSW. 352-359-0850.