Instructions: This is a 7 page APA paper with 4 references. It’s from the eyes of yourself a white young intern social worker, working with an African American client in her mid 40′s with 3 sons. that called the agency seeking financial assistance and counseling. I HAVE ATTACHED 2 WORD DOCUMENTS 1 IS A RUBRIC AND SAMPLE and CASE NOTES ABOUT CLIENT ′X′. Find Attached files for more instructions
Client’s Message: it’s written from the eyes of a college social work intern that has been working with this client for a few months and there’s a sample and a rubric and photos with the case study notes about client “x”
Rubric
1) Basics – Your report must adhere to APA (6th edition) standards, including at a minimum the
following elements: a cover page, running head, page numbers, headings, citation style, and
reference page (style). The paper should be 7 pages and a reference page.
2) Writing style – The use of the first person in your study, for example, the use of the pronoun “I”
is permitted for this paper.
1) Application of theory – You are expected to incorporate relevant theory and concepts from all of
your courses. Write the study to demonstrate your ability to integrate theory and practice 1) define
your concepts, and 2) apply the content in the context of your project. This type of application will
require that you provide support throughout your written report. The number of sources required is 4-
6 (these can include a combination of books from the curriculum, journal articles, and online sources –
the resources cannot be all online sources). You should aim for a project report that is well supported,
a. Examples of questions to ask yourself as you begin to apply concepts: What content from
Human Development and systems courses are relevant? How can you incorporate
knowledge and skills from your Practice courses into your case study? What content from
Social Welfare and Social Policies are applicable? How will you use content from
Research in the Micro Case Study?
3) Anonymity: Disguise your client system (names and locations)
4) Planned Change Process – the planned change process serves as the framework for the micro
case intervention and report. Your micro case report is to reflect upon your competence (i.e., your
knowledge, attitudes, and skills) in implementing planned change with a microsystem. In your
report, you are to provide details of the client system’s situation(s), feelings, attitudes, and actions
throughout the change process. You are to describe your specific activities, i.e. the interventions
and interpersonal strategies and techniques you used. You will also identify your reaction(s) to
the client system and throughout the planned change process.
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Organize your Micro Case Study into the following twelve sections (those sections
underlined reflect the steps of the planned change process):
1. Introduction: Write an introduction that provides background information
about your client. You may include other pertinent details about your case and
agency here.
2. Contact and Engagement: Describe the first contact with the client. What
skills were used to reach for information and feelings and to engage the client
in a mutual beginning working relationship? (PB 29, 30)
3. Problem Identification: What sources of knowledge, specific actions, and
skills, were undertaken to identify problems? Specify the problem identified.
(PB 11)
4. Data Collection: In collecting, organizing, and interpreting client data, what
data collection methods were used? (PB 11, 32)
5. Assessment: Collect, organize, and interpret client data. What is your system-
in-environment assessment of the case? Assess client strengths and
limitations; be aware of the mechanisms of oppression and recognize the
the extent to which a culture’s structures and values may oppress, marginalize,
alienate, or create or enhance privilege and power when assessing the client.
(PB 14, 18, 29, 33)
6. Contracting (Setting Goals and Objectives): Describe the contracting
process. What goals, objectives, and tasks were agreed to? (PB 34)
7. Implementation: Give specific examples of the interventions used. Specify
micro techniques used, or to be used. Include appropriate selected
intervention strategies and implement prevention interventions that
enhanced client capacities (PB 12, 20, 35, 37)
8. Evaluation: Discuss monitoring/evaluation methods and tools employed and
to be employed. Is the treatment effective in this case? What was the assessment
of progress made (by both you and the client)? Can future results be
improved? Can intervention and evaluation procedures be improved? (PB 40)
9. Termination/Follow-up: How did you or will you prepare the client for
termination? What reactions to termination were evident or are expected?
What preparations of the client and relevant others were or should be done for
the future? (PB 40, 41)
10. Need for Macro Change: In what ways has this micro case illustrated a need
for macro change? How might micro-level needs be better addressed through a
macro system change? Specify areas of needed macro change. In reviewing
agency policies, are there any that specifically impact the clients served? If so,
how?
11. Reflection section: In this part of your paper, analyze which micro-skills are
evident in your study. Also, identify which classroom theories and concepts
were incorporated into your study and critique how well you integrated theory
and practice.
12. Conclusion: Provide a summary of your case including, at a minimum, problem identification,
goals, implementation, outcomes, and recommendations. (PB 13)
Micro Case Study: Jane Doe
I have been working as an intern at SafeHouse of Seminole County for the last four
months. SafeHouse is a domestic violence shelter that primarily serves Seminole County,
Florida but also accepts out-of-county and out-of-state residents. The main service SafeHouse
provides is an emergency shelter for survivors of domestic violence. In addition, we have legal
assistance, case management, a food pantry, an emergency hotline, career services, and a
transitional housing program to further assist residents during their time at the shelter. One of
my many duties as an intern at SafeHouse is case management with residents who have entered
our transitional housing program.
SafeHouse’s transitional housing program is a six-month program for families that have
participated in emergency shelters. It allows residents to be able to remain in a safe, confidential
location while actively increasing their income in order to find permanent housing. In order to
be considered for transitional housing, a resident must be an official Seminole County resident as
seen on their ID (SafeHouse has a way to allow out-of-county residents to gain Seminole County
residence). In addition, a resident must have stable employment for at least one month proven
through paystubs and verification of employment. They also must be able to save forty percent
of their income after completing an assessment of their budget. Proof of these savings must be
documented through a bank statement. The concept of saving forty percent gives residents a
sense of “paying rent” while being able to save money for deposits, rent, and any emergency
expenses once they complete the program and move into more permanent housing. Residents
have to be referred to the transitional housing program by their case manager as well as have the
decision staffed between the transitional housing case manager and the shelter manager.
One of the residents I have been assigned to work with is Jane Doe, a Hispanic woman in
her mid-30s. Jane Doe came to SafeHouse from another county to seek emergency shelter
services from her abusive boyfriend. She has two children: a twelve-year-old boy attending
middle school and a five-year-old boy attending elementary school. Jane is currently employed
full-time Monday through Friday at a construction company a few cities over in a management
position earning $16 an hour. Jane’s case manager made a referral for her to participate in our
transitional housing program after seeing her progress and determining that it would be
beneficial in completing her case plan. She was determined eligible for the transitional housing
program after gaining Seminole County residence and stable employment for at least one month.
The purpose of this paper is to show the implementation of the planned change process with Jane
Doe at SafeHouse.
Contact and Engagement
I had met Jane Doe when I first started interning at SafeHouse when she was in
the emergency shelter. My first encounter with her was when I was watching her children in our
after-school program. I had introduced myself as one of the interns at SafeHouse and made some
small talk with her to make her comfortable with me. When I was assigned to work with Jane, I
re-introduced myself and stated “Jane, I will be your case manager in our transitional housing
program. I’m looking forward to working with you”. I displayed warmth and genuineness
through my tone of voice and smile. These two qualities can help enhance the worker-client
relationship (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2012). She seemed hesitant to work with me at first since I
had mentioned I was only an intern still. I addressed her concerns and empathized with her,
stating that “I can appreciate why you would be hesitant to work with someone who may not
have as much experience as my task supervisor. While I am still an intern, I have been learning
skills for the last two years in school that will help me throughout our process”. I also assured
her that my task supervisor would be with me in all meetings if questions were to arise (Kirst-
Ashman & Hull, 2012). Afterward, I had asked her about what her schedule looked like so we
could best set a date to conduct our initial meeting and complete paperwork. We had both
agreed upon a date and planned to meet a week later.
My task supervisor and I conducted our initial meeting in her office, a small room that
was also being used for storage. Due to the residential nature of SafeHouse, it can be difficult to
find a private location to complete interviews. It is important that while the office space my task
supervisor currently has is not ideal, it does ensure that privacy and confidentiality of
information discussed in our interview are maintained (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2012). At the
beginning of the meeting, both my task supervisor and I explained our role as Jane’s case
managers for the transitional housing program. In addition, we explained the purpose of the
initial interview: to complete the intake, lease signing, and budget and goals for the transitional
housing program.
Problem Identification
My client Jane has several strengths. She has stable employment, is able to effectively
parent her two children, and is a survivor of domestic violence. She is very resilient and
motivated to make positive changes. Despite these noteworthy strengths, she has challenges that
she is currently facing that must be addressed while she is in the transitional housing program.
Jane currently has an eviction on her record. This will affect her as she searches for more
permanent housing while in our program. She must either pay it off or seek housing through a
private landlord that would accommodate her situation, which would severely limit her options.
As Jane progresses through the transitional housing program, there are other challenges that may
arise. One challenge is being able to find affordable childcare for her children before and after
school that Jane trusts. She is very protective of her children due to what happened in her past
abusive relationship. Another challenge is determining where she would like to move to once
she completes the program. Jane really likes the schools that her children go to in Seminole
County, but she currently works an hour away at her job that pays her well.
As Jane and I discussed what challenges she is currently facing, she identified three
specific challenges that she wanted to work on while in transitional housing. Her first challenge
was trying to raise her children’s grades since they have been falling behind due to having to
move away from the abuser in the middle of the school year. Her next self-identified challenge
was trying to find housing in either Seminole County or closer to her job, as well as paying off
her eviction. Her last challenge was trying to implement more self-care. Jane stated “It is hard
to take care of yourself when you have so much going on” in reference to her job and taking care
of her kids.
Data Collection and Assessment
Throughout the initial intake, multiple items of data were collected from Jane. While
Jane has already been a participant in the emergency shelter program, we needed to complete
departure paperwork for the emergency shelter program and an intake form for the transitional
housing program. Jane provided me and my task supervisor with one month’s worth of paystubs
from her job in addition to a verification of employment letter from her boss. This is to prove
that she has a source of income and stable employment since it is a requirement of the program.
Jane also provided us with her bank account statement for a savings account where she will save
forty percent of her income. We also needed Jane to sign two releases of information: one for
Homelessness Services Network and one for Seminole County. Normally, all records at the
shelter are kept strictly confidential due to the nature of the agency and the need to protect
survivor’s information. However, both Homelessness Services Network and Seminole County
audit the transitional housing files to ensure that they are being completed accurately. Explaining
the purpose of these releases of information as well as emphasizing the necessity for the client to
consent is extremely important to protecting the confidentiality of a client’s information (Sidell,
2011).
Once we received this information from Jane, my task supervisor and I completed the
Income Calculation Worksheet by adding up her gross pay from each of her pay stubs and
multiplying it by twelve to determine her annual income. To assess if she is eligible for the
the program, we compare this income to eighty percent of the median income for the Orlando-
Kissimmee-Sanford metropolitan area. Since her income was below the eighty percent mark,
Jane’s income makes her eligible to participate in the transitional housing program. We also
complete a Homeless Certification Checklist, which also determines her eligibility for the
program. Lastly, we also complete a Budget Sheet to determine if she is able to save forty
percent of her income. This budget sheet adds up her income and any supplemental income that
she receives and subtracts her monthly expenses such as food, car insurance, and cellphone bills.
After completing an assessment of her budget, my task supervisor and I determined that Jane
would be able to save well over forty percent of her income while in our transitional housing
program.
Contracting
My task supervisor and I explained to Jane Doe the requirements of staying in the
transitional housing program as defined in the Program Requirements sheet, the Lease, and the
Unit Agreement. We explained that the program is a six-month program and that her eligibility
is determined on a monthly basis. She has to maintain stable employment throughout her entire
time in transitional housing. In addition, she must save a minimum of forty percent of her
income each month as “rent”. She also must meet with me and my task supervisor once a month
to discuss her budget and goals as well as once a month to sign her lease. Every lease signing,
she must provide me and my task supervisor with a month’s worth of paystubs as well as her
bank account statement proving that she has saved forty percent of her income. My client agreed
to these terms and signed a written contract.
Jane also agreed to start working on some goals while in the transitional housing
program. These goals were directly related to her self-identified challenges: housing, raising her
children’s grades, and self-care. In addition, we discussed with Jane what steps she could take to
achieve these goals. In terms of raising her children’s grades, Jane stated she would have to
contact her children’s teachers and attend a student evaluation for her children to see if they need
an Individualized Education Plan. For housing, she determined that she needed to create a
budget, choose a place to live and save money for deposits. Lastly, for self-care, Jane identified
that she wanted to start attending counseling and to start scheduling time for herself during the
day. My task supervisor and I documented these goals on her Goal Sheet. My supervisor,
Jane, and I all agreed to meet again in two weeks to see what progress she has made with her
goals.
Implementation
The first step in the implementation process was to have Jane attend a budgeting class
which is required for all transitional housing participants. This would help her directly with her
housing goal since she wanted to learn how to budget. My task supervisor informed Jane before
the end of our first meeting that she would be facilitating a budgeting class in a few weeks. She
recommended that Jane should go since it would be on shelter property and childcare would be
provided.
After the initial meeting, my task supervisor, Jane, and I would meet together two weeks
later to look at her goals. We have not met at the time of writing this paper, but my task
supervisor has explained what the process looks like to me for when we do meet. We would see
that she has made progress in her housing goal as she has intentions on attending the budgeting
class. We would ask her what progress she has made in her other two goals and provide her with
any resources or information that she made need to make progress. For example, Jane may
decide she wants to meet her objective of saving up $2,000 before looking for housing. Once
Jane meets her goal of saving $2,000, my task supervisor and I would visit her objective of
choosing a location for housing. We discuss together the pros and cons of living in Seminole
County versus living closer to her job to help her make a decision. We would then move to the
objective of finding housing options for her and would discuss with her what her needs were for
housing in order to provide her with options at a later meeting. My task supervisor and I would
conduct a meeting like this once a month, although we would both be available to meet with Jane
at other times to discuss her goals if necessary.
One month after the initial meeting, my task supervisor, Jane, and I would meet to sign
her monthly lease. At this meeting, we would look at her paystubs and her bank statements to
determine if she is saving the required forty percent of her income. If she is, then we are able to
renew her lease for another month. If not, then my task supervisor and I would explore with Jane
what had happened during the month that prevented her from saving money. This could be due
to added expenses such as eating fast food several times a month or an emergency such as
getting a new tire for her car. Another option would be to find a way to increase income,
although it would not help in Jane’s situation since she is very close to making eighty percent of
the metropolitan area’s median income.
Evaluation
Since Jane will depart the transitional housing program after I complete my internship, I
will be unable to evaluate how effective transitional housing was for her and her children. If
I was to be there, my task supervisor and I would complete an Exit Interview with her to
determine how the program worked for her. The Exit Interview includes questions such as what
goals Jane has accomplished while in transitional housing and if there is anything she would like
changed about the program. In addition, Jane would complete a Feedback Survey. Lastly, my
task supervisor and I would give Jane the option to receive SafeHouse Outreach services.
In addition, my task supervisor would update the digital Persons Served Worksheet on
the computer. This sheet is updated quarterly for all clients in transitional housing. Once Jane
completes the program, my task supervisor would update the field about what her housing
situation is once she departs the program. The ideal answers are either “homeownership” or
“renting”. However, there are other options such as “housing project”, “public housing”, and
“transitional housing program”, which are possible and likely but show that the program was not
as effective since the ultimate goal of the program is stable housing. Since Jane is still
participating in the program, her housing situation at the end of the program is unknown.
Termination/Follow-Up
Because I will be departing from my internship within the next two weeks, I will not be
able to work with Jane for her entire stay in the transitional housing program. I have to terminate
our relationship in a scheduled and ethical way. Services should only be terminated if they are
no longer meeting a client’s need or if they are not serving the interests of the client, and
referrals for continued services should be provided if the termination is abrupt (Kirst-Ashman &
Hull, 2012). My task supervisor has already informed me that she would take over Jane’s case
upon my departure. I have already told Jane that I will only be interning at SafeHouse until the
last week of April. However, it will be important to remind her in our next meeting about my
last day at SafeHouse so she is not surprised that I am not there to work with her. I will make
sure to provide emotional support and empathy since the termination process can be difficult,
especially when it is abrupt.
On the Exit Interview that Jane would complete upon departing the transitional housing
program, there is a question that asks all participants if they would like to provide a phone
number so a shelter staff member could follow up with the participant. Jane could leave us her
phone number so that we could check in with how she is doing. However, due to the demands of
the agency, it has been difficult to complete follow-up services with most of the past residents.
Despite this, many past residents have also participated in SafeHouse Outreach services, which
Jane might participate after moving out of transitional housing. This is an indirect way for
shelter staff to follow-up with residents and sees their progress after they have left the shelter
since many of the shelter staff work with outreach services as well.
Need for Macro Change
SafeHouse’s transitional housing program is about to lose funding from Housing and
Urban Development (HUD) at the end of April because HUD has shifted from funding
“treatment first” programs to “housing first” programs for homelessness. The “treatment first”
perspective, which has been the norm for many years, consisted of placing homeless persons in a
shelter setting and having them receive services, such as career services or counseling so that
they can achieve permanent housing (Stanich, 2015). On the other hand, “housing first”
emphasizes stabilizing homeless persons by placing them in permanent housing initially and then
offering them support services. In addition, “housing first” programs have been proven to be
successful, and that participants in these programs are much less likely to receive emergency
room care or end up in jail (Stanich, 2015). Since SafeHouse’s program is categorized as
transitional housing, it is considered a “treatment first” program and will lose HUD funding.
Several clients will be impacted by this change, including my client Jane. Transitional
housing for survivors of domestic violence has certain benefits that “housing first” programs
simply do not offer. One of the benefits is that it allows clients to still receive supportive
services offered by the shelter. In addition, one of the main benefits is that on-site transitional
housing allows survivors to remain in a safe and confidential location until they can secure safe
housing. In addition, they have been proven to have helped women especially achieve a sense of
independence after leaving an abusive relationship (Baker, Niolon, & Oliphant 2009).
In order to allow clients such as Jane to continue to receive transitional housing services
that benefit them in unique ways, additional funding must be secured from other sources. One
option is to attain funding from the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) for transitional
housing. VAWA will provide transitional housing funds under the stipulation that all services
offered to participants must be voluntary instead of mandatory (Baker et al., 2009). Due to
SafeHouse’s program requiring case management services and career services to participate in
the program, we would not be eligible for these funds. SafeHouse would have to look into other
grants and programs in order to find funding. Conversely, HUD could also provide separate
funds that would still fund transitional housing programs on the provision that they have to be
within the shelter setting to allow participants to still receive the necessary safety and support.
Reflection and Conclusion
I found myself using many social work skills while working with Jane. I definitely used
a lot of simple encouragement when eliciting information from Jane. The use of simple
encouragement shows that the worker is indeed listening to the client and encourages them to
continue to speak (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2012). Another skill I noticed I used frequently was
reflective responding or the verbal translation of the client’s feelings based upon their verbal and
nonverbal behavior (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2012). These two skills were essential to
empathizing with Jane about her situation and building that worker-client relationship with her.
SafeHouse utilizes an empowerment-based approach when implementing case
management services with clients in both emergency shelters and transitional housing. This
perspective encourages individuals to play an active part in managing their lives and seeks to
increase personal, interpersonal, and political power within marginalized and oppressed
individuals. In addition, feminist theory is applied in order to educate clients that domestic
violence and feelings of shame and inadequacy due to the abuse stem from patriarchal societal
values (Turner & Maschi, 2015). While we as case managers may see challenges that our clients
may not see, we want to empower our clients to identify what challenges they may be facing on
their own and give them more control of the process. This is important because many of our
clients possibly have never been given the chance to decide for themselves due to their abusive
relationships. This empowerment-based approach aligns directly with one of NASW’s Code of
Ethics Ethical Standards: respecting and promoting client self-determination (National
Association of Social Workers, 2008).
While Jane Doe has not completed the transitional housing program yet, her outcomes
look favorable once she finishes the program. She has enough income and stable employment to
remain eligible for the program and save forty percent for deposits and rent. Jane has realistic
goals that she wants to complete while in transitional housing including self-care, raising her
children’s grades, and finding housing. While Jane does have challenges in attaining her goals
including a past eviction, she seemed very motivated for change within my time of working with
her. Since I will not get to see the planned change process to completion, I can only hope that
she will be able to find stable housing in the end with the services provided by SafeHouse’s
transitional housing program.