Paul Risk:
CLASS OF 1969
Lake Forest High SchoolClass of 1969
Lake forest, IL
Paul's Story
I married a wonderful lady from Belleville Ill. having met her when attending her brother's wedding and quickly knew she was the love of my life. 46 years later we have two children and two grandchildren who as you can imagine are what makes life wonderful. Unfortunately we don't get much "family" time since our son lives outside New Orleans and our daughter lives in Boston. Being retired we are fortunate we can travel to see them and they enjoy coming "home" for holidays or when time permits.
I started my professional career in social work in southern Illinois in Mt. Vernon and Centralia before we moved to Charlotte NC to take a job in a adolescent residential treatment program. I then moved on to directing a non profit agency serving children who had been sexually abuse through a out patient treatment program, residential program for sibling groups, and in-home support services for families that experienced sever neglect. In addition we provided child abuse prevention services for the community, professionals, medical staff, DCFS, etc. Due to my history in mental health services, child welfare, and community advocacy I decided to join the public child welfare system in Mecklenburg County / Charlotte and was there until I retired after 21 years as the director for the last 8 years of the largest public child welfare program in North Carolina. In North Carolina we have a county run, state administered system which is different then the child welfare system in Illinois.
I learned a lot about myself over the years and I am very thankful for the foundation of caring, empathy, and the need to advocate for less fortunate that I learned from my fo...Expand for more
rmative years in Lake Bluff and Lake Forest. As the "values" I grew up with helped me be the person I am so did some of my peers life experiences helped direct me into social work and working with youth and families. The public side of child welfare showed me much more then I ever experienced growing up but it also always underscored how important it is to protect our children while serving the whole family system. If you ever have an opportunity to thank someone who works / worked in child welfare I encourage you to do so. It is a very difficult and emotionally challenging profession be it be direct service or administration and there is a cost to each social worker's family given the long hours, toxic nature of the job, or the missed family activities since they have "other" families to help protect. I was lucky to have a very supportive / loving family during my working years.
I encourage all parents and grandparents to support their young ones, listen to them, and give them the internal controls they will need in adulthood. Listening and being that safe adult in the neighborhood can help a child when they need it and don't hesitate to make a call to child protective services if you feel a child is being neglected or abused. It's not always easy but the professionals who respond will know how to evaluate what may be needed. Currently we are hearing a lot about the sexual abuse of children and sadly it does occur and please know there is help for a child or an adult.
Have a great 50th everyone, I'll be in St. Louis with family and maybe a Cubs / Cardinals game but I will be thinking of you on 8/3 and our years growing up together. Paul
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