Assessment is a vital component to all social work practice. Increasing
competency in this area will result in an increase in skill performance and
critical thinking in your overall practice. Additionally, it is almost
impossible to work in any field of human services and not have any
connection to child protection services. It is important for all social
workers to learn about child welfare assessments and protocols as part of
their academic program.
Narrative:
Select a case situation from your field placement which involves existing
or potential child protection concerns (i.e., child abuse or neglect or
potential concerns in these areas). The case situation should be one where
you have had significant involvement and you have access to sufficient
background knowledge and information. Contact the instructor if you do not
have access to an appropriate case through your field placement, previous
field placement or employment history. Alternatively, you can watch the
film “Once Were Warriors" and use that as the basis for your assessment and
intervention assignments. If you chose that option, please ‘relocate’ the
family to your jurisdiction. Do note that this film has an “R” rating with
content and audio that can be triggering. I encourage you to ensure that
you have supports immediately available if you choose this option.
This assignment is to be completed from the perspective of a child
protection worker/agency. Child protection agencies provide a broad range
of interventions ranging from preventative services to services to children
in care and to foster families. There are many other agencies and
organizations that also provide services to families at risk. For the
purposes of this paper and this course, the term "child protection" agency
refers specifically to agencies mandated (legislated) to apprehend children
at risk and to hold the guardianship of apprehended children either
temporarily or permanently. As noted, these agencies generally provide a
much broader range of services than apprehension, but it is the mandate to
apprehend that sets these agencies apart from other service providers. In
Manitoba, these agencies are generally known as "Child & Family Services"
agencies, in Ontario they are often referred to as "CAS" agencies (though
these terms are certainly evolving as well). In Alberta services are
offered by the provincial government as “Child Intervention”. Handing in
an assignment completed on a collateral service provider (i.e. an agency
who provides services to children/families at risk but does not hold the
mandate to apprehend/hold guardianship) will result in a significant
reduction in marks for this assignment. Please contact the instructor if
you are not in a child welfare placement AND this requirement has caused
you undue hardship.
No identifiable information is to be included in this assignment; names of
all involved must be changed to ensure case anonymity and confidentiality.
Please use pseudonyms that are not initials (such as Mr. X or TMI) and/or
are not the names of famous people (such as Kim and Kanye). This is
distracting to the reader and detracts from your work.
Ensure that your completed document does not read like an elongated “case
note”; this is not to be a chronological outline of your conversations or
interventions with the family and collaterals. The first several elements
are essentially completed forms. The holistic assessment and comparison
sections will include much more original writing.
Deliverable
An assessment document. This is to be submitted into the assignment folder
titled “Assignment 5: Case Assessment Paper opens in new window
https://universityofmanitoba.desire2learn.com/d2l/common/dialogs/quickLink/quickLink.d2l?ou=402807&type=dropbox&rcode=UManitoba-1260725”
on your UMLearn site. Please ensure you have noted the due date and have
addressed each of the elements listed below.
Your holistic assessment and comparison elements must be written in APA
format. You should use a minimum of four credible sources of information
(properly cited and referenced) within these two elements. The word count
for the assessment and comparison sections will be 2000 - 3000 words.
1.
Create a single page “face sheet” or “intake sheet” for the family you
have identified. This can be one used in your placement agency, one that
you have created, or one that you have modified from another source
(remember to document the source). The intake sheet needs to include the
family demographics (names, addresses, DOB etc.), the reason for referral,
any agency case history and so forth.
-
This can be submitted as a part of your overall document or as a
separate file. It does not apply to your 'word count' of the assignment.
1.
Complete an initial assessment of the family using the Structured
Decision-Making Model suite of tools. The tools are available here:
Structured
Decision Making Model (SDM) opens in new window
http://www.sfnfci.ca/pages/sdm.html and you will need to complete the
following:
SDM Safety
SDM Risk
-
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Note what, if any, interventions needed to be undertaken due to the
initial safety assessment
You are also able to access additional resources for SDM on the internet
and through the Library in completing these elements
Note: Proper application of the SDM tools requires specialized training,
supervision, and support. You have been provided publicly available
information and as such, you are not being graded on your accuracy of
utilization of the tools, the expectation is that you demonstrate
familiarity with the language and the supporting theories behind the model
-
These tools can be submitted as appendices in the overall document or as
separate files. They do not count towards your 'word count' in the document
overall.
- Complete your own holistic assessment of the family. This would be
reflective of your work with a family over several meetings, not just the
initial safety assessment. You can format this as a
bio-psycho-social-spiritual assessment, as a Medicine Wheel assessment, as
an assessment using the Person in Environment model or any other assessment
structure that includes multiple aspects of family functioning.
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Ensure that you reference what model you are using
- Compare and contrast the two assessments on each of the following
dimensions. For each dimension ensure you support your statement with
references to academic literature and illustrate each with examples from
the two assessments you have just completed.
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Identify what theories underpin the SDM assessment, and what theories
underpin your chosen assessment model.
Discuss what prompted you to choose the model you did
Identify what elements of each assessment were child centred, and what
strengths based. If you cannot identify any, note where you might have
leaned more heavily on these perspectives.
Identify what elements of each assessment are anti-oppressive in nature.
If you cannot identify any, note where you could have utilized this stance
more productively.
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Note what structural elements of oppression the family is constrained by
Highlight at least two strengths and two deficiencies of each assessment
Sample Solution