Case of Kristopher-2

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Chicago School of Professional Psychology *

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Dec 6, 2023

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Running head: CASE OF KRISTOPHER 1 a Case of Kristopher Kayla White The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

Running head: CASE OF KRISTOPHER 2 Case of Kristopher Background of Case Kristopher is the only child born as a result of the relationship between his elderly Mexican American father and his much younger African American mother that were never married. His mother began using crack cocaine shortly after her relationship with Mr. Ramirez began, and she continued to use crack cocaine throughout her pregnancy with Kristopher resulting Kristopher to be born drug exposed and approximately two months premature. There were no major complications noted at his birth. Three months after Kristopher’s birth, his mother began to leave the infant with Mr. Ramirez while on drug binges for days at a time. Kristopher’s and his mom’s relationship ended when he was six months old. The father was evicted from his apartment and subsequently sought assistance through a local Catholic Church where he met Ms. Johanna Lopez. Ms. Lopez agreed to take Kristopher and his father in to her home to assist with the rearing of the child. The two remained in Ms. Lopez’s home for several years. Eventually, Mr. Ramirez moved out, yet permitted Ms. Lopez to continue caring full-time for his son. At four years old, Kristopher was hospitalized for two weeks to undergo observation due to his behavioral outburst and was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Ms. Lopez stated that Kristopher was prescribed Ritalin and the medication was helpful in calming his behavior. However, was prematurely terminated due to Kristopher seeming overly sedated, which resulted in his behavioral problems reappearing. Kristopher was hospitalized a second time at eight years of age due to “aggression.” Mr. Ramirez acknowledged that his son was prescribed medication again; but was prematurely terminated due to side effects of the medication (e.g., sleeping in class). Mr. Ramirez reported that Kristopher first began counseling and therapy following his first hospitalization as recommended, but was also prematurely

Running head: CASE OF KRISTOPHER 3 terminated due to the feeling of services being ineffective in assisting with Kristopher’s behavior. In the 10 years that Kristopher lived with Ms. Lopez, Kristopher became increasingly disobedient, destructive, and aggressive, both verbally and physically. Ms. Lopez also reported that Kristopher began to steal from her when he was about eight years old. Kristopher moved in with his father due to her changing work schedule and Ms. Lopez often visits on the weekend. Currently, Kristopher reported that he and his father live alone in a one-bedroom apartment, where the two share a bedroom. According to Ms. Lopez, she notified the Family and Protective Services Department in 2004 due to the unsanitary state of the home and Mr. Ramirez’s inability to provide for his educational needs, but no report was taken. Kristopher indicated that his home is often disorderly. Kristopher reported that he and his father argue perhaps twice a week about Kristopher not coming home on time and sneaking out. In terms of his education, Kristopher reported that he was never in special education nor held back, despite his current special education status. Unaware of his son’s classification, Mr. Ramirez reported that his son should be in special education. Mr. Ramirez acknowledged that his child has always had difficulty following rules and respecting adult authority figures. Kristopher stated that he first began to use marijuana and alcohol in 2004. He reported that he does not drink or smoke marijuana in his home, maintaining that to do so would be disrespectful to his father. Mr. Ramirez is aware of his son’s marijuana and alcohol consumption and stated that he now only gives his son enough money for “a soda or something” due to fear that he will purchase these substances on his own. Kristopher reported that he joined a local gang a couple of years ago because he thought it would be “cool” and knew some of the members. Mr. Ramirez stated that on several occasions, the police have brought Kristopher home after engaging in various activities with gang members. With regard to Kristopher’s legal involvement, he stated that he has been arrested three times for

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Running head: CASE OF KRISTOPHER 4 trespassing; he is typically arrested at school for returning to campus following suspensions. He also reported that he has been arrested 4 times for battery due to fighting with adults and students during school and twice for taking his godmother’s (Ms. Lopez) car without permission. Lastly, Kristopher reported that both remaining arrests were for violations of probation. He stated that he has been in detention four times and indicated that all arrests occurred within the last year. Kristopher reported that once he became a gang member, his behavior deteriorated further. Realistic Protective Factors Adverse Childhood Experiences are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood from the age range of 0-17 (Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences, 2019). Some examples are parental separation, witness violence in the home or community, witness to substance abuse in the home or community, experiencing any form of abuse, neglect, mental health problems, etc. In Kristopher’s life, he had experiences many adverse childhood experiences throughout his prenatal to early adolescence years. Some of these ACE’s that he has experienced were, being exposed to cocaine while in the womb, premature birth, parental separation, being evicted from home, and housing instability. Adverse Childhood Experiences can lead to both short-term and long-term developmental issues. Some of these issues can be chronic health issues, mental illness, substance misuse in adulthood, unemployment, negative performance in school, and behavioral issues. In Kristopher’s life, some of his short-term and long-term developmental issue outcomes were defiant behavior, poor school performance, and premature birth, diagnosis with ADHD, substance misuse, and gang affiliation. With these adverse childhood experiences outcomes; there are also many protective factors. Protective factors are those that may help protect families from vulnerabilities and help promote resilience ( Risk and Protective Factors,

Running head: CASE OF KRISTOPHER 5 2007 ). There are some protective factors that could positively influence Kristopher’s level of resilience and future development now at the age of 14 and into his future. Middle Childhood Protective Factors In the middle childhood stage, Kristopher was exposed to verbal arguments with Ms. Lopez, and back living with dad. Some intermediate developmental outcomes are anxiety, stress due to constant moving, and home insecurities. Some of the long term developmental outcomes are health issues (high blood pressure and depression), and higher risk of being homeless due to inconsistencies of home security. There are many protective factors that could have been in place to prevent these developmental outcomes that are stated at the top. Some of the protective factors are anger management services, unbiased mediator, and adequate housing (permanent housing). Kristopher has expressed to wanting to fight and argue all the time and sometimes have a hard time self- regulating his emotions when angry. This could be due to built-up frustration of his mom leaving him at the age of 6 months. Kristopher has stated “She left me for drugs. She liked that better than me”, which seems to me that he is still hurt by her choice of leaving him and needs the proper support around him to process his moms actions and his feelings about her actions. They way Kristopher could be getting this support is by receiving free counseling/therapy through his school for his anger management issues. “School counselors, also known as guidance counselors often help students mediate conflicts with their peers, teachers, or parents. Many school counselors also provide therapy and counseling services to students during school hours. Counseling is designed to facilitate student achievement, improve student behavior and attendance, and help students develop socially” (Team G.T.E, 2018). While therapy/counseling services are highly recommended for Kristopher, I believe medication consultation would be

Running head: CASE OF KRISTOPHER 6 beneficial. Given the information that Mr. Ramirez has stated he has no access to a doctor to get medication for his son, I would recommend their case to an organization that works with at-risk youth who are beyond control of parent and have behavior problems. Many of these organizations are free to the public and are beneficial. For example, Alternatives, Inc. is an organization that provides therapy, case management, and restorative justice services to at rick youth between the ages of 12-17. Alternatives provides trained, licensed master’s level therapist who use a strength- based approach to provide short-and long-term therapy and case management, emphasizing family communication, conflict resolution, discipline, and life-skills development (Alternatives, Inc. supports Youth Shaping Positive Change, 2020). The way they provide these services are through individual, family, and group therapy that are offered through school-based health centers and within their Youth Center. This is to support youth experiencing a range of issues that including family behavioral/emotional challenges. An organization like Alternatives, Inc would be beneficial to Kristopher because with free therapy services and medicine consultation by the psychiatrics would cost them no money and Kristopher can be in the program until he turns 18. Early Adolescence Protective Factors In the Adolescence stage, Kristopher was exposed to sharing bed with his dad, dirty apartment, lack of proper schooling, and arguments with dad. Some intermediate developmental outcomes are lack of privacy, anxiety, depression, and stress for constant failing grades. Some of the long term developmental outcomes are obsession with privacy, depression, health Problems (chronic sickness, infections, breathing problems, etc.), anxiety, unemployment, chronic involvement with the law (chronic arrests), and stress. Based off Kristopher’s background, he is already in the legal system with at least 4 arrests, currently on probation, gang involved, poor

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Running head: CASE OF KRISTOPHER 7 academic performance, hanging out on the street with his delinquent peers, no positive activities, and have anger management issues. There are many protective factors that could have been in place to prevent these developmental outcomes that are stated at the top. Some of the protective factors are adequate housing needs, teaching of cleaning skills, mentorship, tutoring, anger management services, , and unbiased mediator. Housing needs (getting an extra bed) can be met through a social service that provides necessities to people who are experiencing housing issues. Many schools offer free after school mentorship and tutoring to students who are in need of improving their grades and behaviors. There are also outside agencies like Boys & Girls Clubs of America that provide one on one mentoring to at risk youth. “We never take a single approach to help kids succeed. It takes caring mentors, such as our trained Club staff. It takes a safe place, like our Clubs that are consistently there for the kids they serve. It takes innovative, quality programs designed to empower youth to excel in school and lead healthy, productive lives. We do whatever it takes to ensure all kids have a great future” (About us, n.d.). In this mentorship programs, Kristopher can learn cleaning skills and anger management skills to become an independent citizen with improved behavior. Because Kristopher is involved in the legal system already at such a young age, it is best to address this issue now while he is young. By addressing this issue early on can help prevent this issue becoming a bigger one when he becomes an adult. The best approach is to help Kristopher become aware of his emotions before her commits the illegal act, what illegal action has be committed, and what is and will be his consequences following that illegal action. I would also refer his case to the same organization previously stated above, which is Alternatives, Inc. Alternatives, Inc. has a program called Restorative justice that empowers students to become leaders in violence prevention, conflict transformation, and school safety while also offering

Running head: CASE OF KRISTOPHER 8 positive, skill-building alternatives to suspension and detention (Alternatives, Inc. supports Youth Shaping Positive Change, 2020). In this program they focus on youth that have been around violence or has been in contact with legal system. They provide the youth with afterschool activities, mentorship, learning how to identify peace and create it, and changing negative behaviors. An organization like this would be very beneficial to Kristopher because it is free and it will help him not repeat the illegal activities he has done and prevent new illegal activities to be committed. Conclusion Every human on this planet with have adverse childhood experiences will have immediate developmental outcomes and long-term developmental outcomes. Having protective factors put into place can reduce the long-term developmental outcomes. Each person’s ACE will look different and the outcomes will vary. Kristopher had many adverse childhood experiences from the time he was in the womb to now at the age of 14. Some of these experiences were parental separation, exposure to cocaine, mother abandonment, and housing instability. These experiences resulted in his defiant behavior, anger management issues, multiple arrests, delinquent peers, gang affiliation, and disrespecting authority figures. If Kristopher has protector factors in place, then these outcomes can be reduces and not develop into bigger issues as he gets older. Some of these protector factors could be medication consultation, re-entry into therapy services, being connected to free organizations, and supportive family members and friends.

Running head: CASE OF KRISTOPHER 9 References About Us. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.bgca.org/about-us Alternatives, Inc. supports Youth Shaping Positive Change. (2020, January 16). Retrieved from https://www.alternativesyouth.org/ Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences |Violence Prevention|Injury Center|CDC. (2019, December 31). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/aces/fastfact.html? CDC_AA_refVal=https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/acestudy/about ace.html Risk and Protective Factors. (2007). Retrieved from https://training.cfsrportal.acf.hhs.gov/section-2- understanding-child-welfare-system/2984 Team, G. T. E. (2018, December 1). School Counseling. Retrieved from https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/modes/school-counseling

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Running head: CASE OF KRISTOPHER 10

Case of Kristopher-2

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