There are roughly over 10,000 cases, within San Diego County, that deal with some kind of child neglect and/or abuse. Those children who are unfortunately removed from their homes due to abuse and/or neglect are often brought to emergency housing, such as Casa de Amparo, for these children to stay. In San Diego County there are about 7,000 children that reside in foster care annually due to some form of abuse or neglect. Casa de Amparo was founded in 1978 as a shelter for children who had been taken from their homes due to abuse and/or neglect of some kind. The name Casa de Amparo means "House of Refuge", which signifies their commitment to this social problem, child abuse, by providing a place of instant protection for those children who have been mistreated. This is a non-profit organization that is devoted to teaching and helping these children thrive and reach their full potential even through the difficult obstacles they face. There are three different locations and facilities associated with Casa; Child Development Center (CDC), Residential Services (RS), and New Directions Transitional Housing (NDTH).
I am currently interning with teenagers from age 14 to 18 years at Residential Services in San Marcos. When the children arrive to facility it is presumed that they are "deviant" and emotionally unstable therefore, the residence automatically provides each child with a therapist and have behavioral groups in attempts to change behaviors in a way that will be "acceptable" to society. The establishment of Casa was to improve and better the lives of those children who are in positions such as neglect and abuse however, the rules that are implemented the children must abide by and are often looked under a deficit light, dehumanizing and marginalizing the residents instead of seeing the worth and value in them. The residents that live at Casa must be "supervised" constantly by staff members and volunteers as well as following rules that are strained through social control.
