Update from (behind) the Magic 8-Ball

I had a Magic 8 Ball when I was in the Hunstville Institute. Told the girls to use it to answer their guy questions instead of going through three layers of "what ifs" and getting upset over guys who weren't even there.

Of course, we haven't seen the 8 Ball since the fire....

Anyway, this is what we were told Tuesday, second hand from the Executive Commissioner:

The RiF will be announced next week. We weren't told the numbers, but the JCO supervisors were, so we know 6 Case Managers are getting the RiF. Just as we originally thought.

Anyone RiFed will be offered a spot in the agency, or possibly with another state agency. One of our veterans pointed out that the "other state agencies" line is an empty promise.

Anbother veteran who had been RiFed previously mentioned that if we get relocated to another facility as part of a RiF transfer, we'd get reimbursed for the move. One of us youngbucks who did some proactive research pointed out that the reimbursement is only $500. (I was the one who quoted the policies on RiF determinations and notifications. My officemate offered to show the run down on who was where on the RiF rankings. It was almost funny that the people on the chopping block were the ones that had done the research, but the ones that should be safe did the most panicking.) We were then told that the EC stated she didn't know if they would be able to provide that benefit for us.

The Sunset Review panel will meet again on January 15th, after the new Legislature is seated. We should know by the end of January which facility, if any, will be closed. There are at least 3 on the chopping block. We're on it for purely political reasons. It has been noted that the lege gave us a budget that was short by exactly the amount needed to keep WTSS open. The EC has stated that she might decrease each facility's budget a bit to allow all to remain open. She likes defying the lege because she know the Senator behind all this is a pompous jerk.

Whichever facility gets the axe will be closed in short order. No dragging things out; it'll be done by March. Just enough time to make arrangements for prison buses to move the youths to the other facilities. Last one out, turn off the lights.

The EC's main concern for here is Specialized treatment (licensed counselors doing specialized programs such as Chemical Dependency, etc.). My officemate has his license, and can also supervise counseling interns. We can have specilized programs in place in 30 days if they'd let us. Our Superintendent went out of his way to point out these facts.

Of course, depending on how they count the Security Case Manager positions towards the RiF, my officemate may get cut. That's when things will get messy, because for him to get cut, they'd have to assign a Security CM to a dorm caseload, even though her disabilities are such that she can't do the job at all. She is already heavily accommodated in her Security CM job. She is close to retirement, and could buy out her remaining 18 months. Of course, she was also oblivious to the RiF as of Tuesday. When I explained the situation to her, she was saddened that I was on the chopping block and commented that they should keep people based on how effective they are.

Scuttlebutt from my dorm's JCO supervisor who was RiFed from our boot camp program last year was that they were given only 2 weeks to get out of housing. Of course, their facility got closed out from under them (they did it to themselves by panicking and not coming to work when there was only the slight hint that they might close).

Boils down to this: Worst case scenario is we're out of here by the end of January. The facility itself may close by March, so surviving the RiF may just be delaying the inevitable for a few months.

Still no calls for interviews, but they'll probably happen when the holidays are over and people get back into full operational mode. We know the Lord has a plan for us. We're just chomping at the bit to find out what so we can slap the details on the bug-out plan and make it happen.

On the Axia front, I start my final 4 weeks of training on January 13th, then I'll start teaching classes and getting paid. Just in time, it seems. I found this out the same time we were getting some official info on the RiF.

So, should we start taking guesses as to the whens and wheres? Don't forget I might take a RiF job offer just to buy a bit more time. Not exactly feeling very loyal at this point.