What I don't know

I realized this week how inexperienced I am. I may have a college degree, but I am woefully unprepared to serve at the Judicial Process Commission. It's humbling to realize all the things I do not know - and to try to figure out a way of coping with the intimidating learning curve ahead of me.

First off, I have no experience with the criminal system. I studied history in school, and while I minored in pre-law everything we touched on was in the general sense. I have no real experience with what goes on. I do not know the procedures, I don't know the judges, I don't know what matters and what doesn't. I don't even know what I don't know. And I don't know where to start learning. 

And, I know next to nothing about how to help my clients. The population we serve, people with criminal history and ex-offenders, is so discriminated against. Because of mistakes they have made in the past, they might always struggle to find employment, find housing, etc. And in the state of New York, even if they turn their lives around, there is no way to expunge (strike from a criminal record) almost all misdemeanor or felony convictions. It is depressing to realize that they will live with these actions, and with legal discrimination from employers, for the rest of their life. Some of my clients are amazing people, determined to turn their lives around and contribute positively to society - but they will always be judged by their past actions. There are services in Rochester that can assist them with some things and we refer clients to a lot of them - but I don't know those services. 

Because, I'm very new to Rochester (and to NYS). I feel like I would me so much more helpful to my clients if I knew how the system worked here. If I knew social services, or the non-profit sector, or charities where I could refer my clients. I have a list of community resources that is really helpful, but because I don't know Rochester, I don't know what will be helpful to whom when and where. At times I feel like only someone who's been around the city (or even the state) for awhile could even begin to know how to help my clients. Because I don't know how to get them what they need. 

I do not know my clients. JPC has over 6000 clients in our database. We deal with around 1000 clients a year - each with their own needs and issues. And because of the nature of our clientele base (ex-offenders tend to be transient and financially unstable) we may lose touch with clients for months or years at a time. However, as I am learning, any of these clients might simply call us up and ask what is going on with their case. And I simply don't know. Plus it doesn't help that I struggle to understand accents on the phone and more than likely will get a clients name completely wrong (even after asking them to repeat it twice). I am so thankful for the data base - but am in awe of my colleagues and supervisor who can remember a client, and exactly what they were working on with them, even if they haven't been in touch for over 2 years. 

And I'm kinda at a loss for how to go about learning.