The paper offers a written account of the social work field with regards to taking care of the vulnerable in the community. Interviewing a social worker provides relevant information regarding social work. The agency of interest was the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS). The agency investigates cases of abuse, exploitation, and neglect of vulnerable individuals, for example, the elderly, disabled individuals, and children. John Knight, Ph.D., LMSW in mental health, a supervisor at the department that offers care services to women and children, is the interviewee.
Agency
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services’ primary missions is protecting the state’s most vulnerable persons, which include the elderly, children, and disabled adults who might be having health care needs. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services focuses on preventing abuse, neglect, and exploitation. In this case, exploitation means when an individual misuses an individual’s property or money.
Services
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services offers various services such as the Adult Protective Services, Child Protective Services, Childcare Licensing, Statewide Intakes and the Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI) Services. Adult services mainly focus on the elderly and adults with disabilities by addressing their issues so they can safely stay in their homes. For the children’s services, the department investigates and protects children from abuse and neglect by supporting foster care, family support services, and adoption services. The Statewide intakes take in reports of neglect, exploitation, and abuse. The PEI services funds and collaborates with community-based programs that focus on preventing child abuse, delinquency, and child neglect.
Population served
John Knight operates as a supervisor at the department that offers care services to women and children is the interviewee. The population served is mainly children and women, and the department works on reports of abuse, neglect, and exploitation. For the children in the case, the department determines that the children’s safety is under threat they incur if the parents are willing to manage the issues or threats adequately. In case the children are not safe, then the caseworker starts the protective services procedure. The duty of a social worker, in this case, is reporting in a case of abuse or neglect while stating whether the child is at risk of neglect or abuse. Once a child has an open case, the goal of the social worker is to ensure that the child is in a safe environment. A safe environment refers to ensuring children are at their homes and providing them with Family-Based Safety Services such as medical referrals, mental health support, violence prevention services, and daycare services. The Family-Based Safety services are to keep children and adults with disabilities safe, making it possible for them to stay at home while reducing their safety threats safely.
In case the safety of a child or a woman I reasonable assured, a social worker in this department aims at offering in-home services that stabilize the family while reducing the future risks of abuse and neglect. Most of the people receiving these services stay at home while the social worker works with the family. Though in some cases, the vulnerable individuals might be placed in a safe environment temporarily, usually close friends and family until safety is assured in their homes.
For vulnerable individuals, a social worker might offer services such as family counseling, substance abuse treatment, daycare services, domestic violence interventions, and crisis interventions. Currently, a social worker might also offer one-on-one parenting and homemaker skills.
Job activities and professional role
John Knight, who kindly agreed to the interview, is a supervisor at the department that offers care services to women and children is the interviewee. There are different roles of a social worker, and John Knight acts as a manager at the department that helps the vulnerable (women and children). In this line of duty, John plans and implements programs that meet the emotional and social needs of the vulnerable persons in the health care settings. After release from treatment, John also develops plans for patient care while also providing direct services as a social worker to the clients and the families. This means that John works directly with the clients who need help at home, in the institution, or in hospitals. Predominantly, the clients are mainly children or women, and he helps them live a stable and happy life while ensuring their safety where they live. Apart from that, he collaborates with nurses, physicians, and family members in assessing the social need of the client while monitoring his or her condition.
Apart from that, John acts as a leader in the department as he supervises the professional staff while preparing departmental budgets and reports. John manages the daily activities on the subordinate staff while ensuring that the departmental goals and objectives have been met, and they adhere to the approved budget.
Work History
Though John pursued an undergraduate degree in psychology though he backed away from the field, stating it mostly downplayed the key environmental factors that influence the outcomes of people or groups. One instance is when he went to a whole unit on depression and women without the instructor stating about gender bias and sexism. After college, he engaged in a local chapter of the National Organization for women. Many of his friends were in the group as social workers, and he liked the philosophy of social work, which is to create the best possible fit between the environment and the people. Besides, the NASW Code of Ethics posed a challenge to John as it offers social workers the ability to identify and rectify social issues. When John was ready to go back to school, he had a precise sector of focus Masters in Social work, considering he had interest in the medical field, and a majority of the classes were gerontology and healthcare.
After the Master’s in Social Work, John landed an opportunity at the International Educational Services. John’s duty was to offer high-quality medical services and humanitarian care to the immigrant children who were sent to shelters. John also helped in resolving children’s immigrant status while collaborating with the legal professions. The program helped John have interest and passion in working with children and giving them support as they are vulnerable. This interest made him pursue his Ph.D. in Social Work. The passion and the education qualification landed him an opportunity at the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services as a manager in the department caring for women and children.
Opportunities for advancement and what he does for development
In the career of a social worker, progressing with education is mandatory, considering that the state of knowledge of different social work fields is rapidly evolving. For professional development, John makes friends with fellow social workers because it allows the exchange of knowledge around them. Besides, he is part of a professional organization such as NASW. Due to the rapidly changing knowledge, he subscribed to professional journals in the field of social work. At times buying books can be expensive; therefore, reading books from the public library is worth it. Educational seminars help offer John an opportunity for advancement.
Job satisfaction
John is highly satisfied because seeing vulnerable children and women happy is one of his most significant accomplishments. Ever since he was introduced to social work, he knew he loved it, and this has not led to boredom and frustration. Women and children are highly vulnerable, ensuring they are happy and safe is satisfying. Examples of self-care taken by John are seeking counseling and maintain a vibrant social support network. Any social health worker is vulnerable to issues such as compassion, fatigue, burnout, or post-traumatic stress disorder; therefore, counseling is useful in solving such problems. Healthy choices is another self-care strategy used as it involves sleeping 8 hours a night, drinking plenty of water, eating healthy foods, and engaging in exercise thrice a week.
- Analysis of interview
For social work, persons should be understandings and empathetic to clients. Listening carefully is mandatory as it established trust between the vulnerable individuals (women and children). Some individuals cannot clearly state their need; thus, an effective worker will read in between the lines and interpret the thoughts held within. Self-care is mandatory to improve personal performance.
Discussion and Reflection on Clientele, type of work
Women and children are the most vulnerable worldwide in case of any issues. Due to the daily threats, they are highly in need of help.
To be a good social worker while working with the children and women, the following traits are a must:
Empathy, not sympathy. One will never help vulnerable children and women by telling them that you “feel sorry for them.” One will help them by trying to understand them and putting oneself in their shoes.
Kindness- One will cover more ground by being kind. Even if it’s a bad day for, do not take it out on the client. Stay kind, and they will eventually open up to you, making for a good session.
Organization-If one is disorganized; it will show in your sessions. Always be on time for sessions-this speaks for itself. Clients pay the worker; being late shows disrespect.
Personal awareness is crucial as one cannot help others become aware or help them at all if they are not self-aware. Take care of oneself, and the benefits will lead to sessions that decrease burnout.
Social Work ethics and values
Critical thinking is of utmost importance in social work because through this, social workers know the principles of logic, reasoned discernment, and scientific inquiry. Through critical thinking, John thinks outside the box (Webb, 2016), while ensuring the ethics boundary is not surpassed to offer clients a favorable solution. In the line of Duty, John engages in effective oral and written communication with clients, colleagues, communities, and organizations.
Ethical practice is another practice used by John.
Cultural competence is facilitated by John through active listening and not pretending to know what the client is going through. This helps in building a strong rapport with the clients while ensuring effective collaboration with the client.