Discussion Group One: Socializing in the Community

Today I met with seven students in their residential unit. We had an informal discussion group in their living room about socializing in the community. The students shared their frustrations with the process of making friends in the community while adhering to the safety laws of their residential program at Cardinal Cushing.  All of these students work independently in the community at local businesses. They make friends at work and want to invite them over or hang out during the weekends.

In order for the students to get permission to do something in the community they need their new friend to get a CORI check and have a staff supervise the outing. Needless to say this does not make it easy for the student to make plans.

We brainstormed ways the students could make these connections with their coworkers and make plans. We talked about acceptable use of social networking outlets like facebook and effective ways to describe their living situation to someone who may not be familiar with a residential program.