Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Ethics versus politics

My "boss" is the Juvenile Officer.  Well, not really, because I am a contract worker, hired as required by my state, by the county and not any agency.  But, in practical day to day operation, my "boss" is the JO.  The JO is an incredible person, knows a ton, and should be an attorney (but isn't).  The JO is also very very Type A, in a way that is increasingly causing the movement on cases to slow to a dead halt. 

So, up till the last three months, the JO and I have had a cordial (not close) working relationship.  I pretty much always agreed with her, perhaps due to my own newness at the job and perhaps due to trusting her knowledge on cases.  Recently I have begun to be more independent in recommendations, as required by statutory changes.

The independence plus success of many of my recommendations has become a really big problem, it seems.  My relationship with the JO has soured to almost nonexistence.  This is fine with me personally, but politically and perhaps even in terms of keeping my job, it is bad news.

This is scary.  I have four kids depending on me to have a job in a bad economy, and the job I have barely pays the bills.

At the same time, statutory requirements of my position are clear, and so are my own personal ethics; I cannot change the things I am doing.

Advice welcome.

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