Definition of the Field of Practice
One may ask what defines the field of practice pertaining to children and youth in addition to what this field consists of. A definition of this field is being able to supply services for, or in the best interests of, individuals that are under the age of 18 as well as the members residing with them in their households (National Association of Social Workers, n.d.). These services include the reconstruction of psychological and social functioning of an individual, providing support, and considering the fact that there are issues that affect this population (National Association of Social Workers, n.d.). Social workers in this field build upon the strengths within the child 's family and community in order
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Furthermore, a social worker in this field can be located in either public and private child welfare agencies, residential facilities, family service agencies, schools, mental health centers, chemical dependency and addiction treatment programs, agencies that provide for people with disabilities, and healthcare settings (Berg-Weger, 2013). Some other settings include funded, nonprofit, or for-profit. Approximately 50% of social workers in this field are in a private nonprofit setting, 41% work in the public sector, and 11% are in the private for-profit setting (Berg-Weger, 2013). Amongst the range of various settings, there is also a range of areas a children and youth social worker can specialize in. The basic areas involve administration, supervision, education, advocacy, direct practice, research, program development, program evaluation, and policy (National Association of Social Workers, n.d.).
In order to work in this particular field, a social worker has to obtain a bachelor 's degree in social work, also known as a BSW, from an accredited university, a year of approximately 1,500 hours of work experience that allowed one to engage with children and youth post-BSW, and a minimum of three years of supervision with approximately 4,500 hours post-BSW. (National Association of Social Workers, n.d.). Furthermore, social workers can obtain their licensing and
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A credential signifies that one possesses the knowledge and experience that is needed at the national level (National Association of Social Workers, n.d.). There are two types of credentials a children and youth social worker can maintain. A social worker with a BSW can obtain a Certified Children, Youth, and Family Social Worker (C-CYFSW) credential while a social worker with a master 's in social work, or a MSW, can obtain a Certified Advanced Children, Youth, and Family Social Worker (C-ACYFSW) credential. A C-CYFSW credential allows a social worker to work in various settings in order to make the social and psychological functioning of children and youth better (NASW Credentialing Center, n.d.), A C-ACYFSW credential allows the social worker to do the same as a social worker that possesses a C-CYFSW credential, yet it also allows them to be capable of forming a professional identity, as well as committing themselves to restore families (NASW Credentialing Center,
Describe 3 social service settings and provide an example for each. There are many types of social service setting that occur. The first setting is those who work with children, families. These social workers can often be found in schools helping children with issues that they may be experiencing either in home or at school. Another type is Medical social workers.
It is the on-going social worker’s responsibility to provide professional child welfare social work services, through home visits, to the family. This is done by assessing the family’s strengths and needs, developing
Social workers have several responsibilities. They have to provide service, justice, and dignity to a client. They have to possess integrity, competence, and patience. Social workers need to possess knowledge of human rights, and how to perform scientific inquiry. Social workers occasionally have cases in which problems ensue and a solution is not found within a certain time frame.
She stated that typically a Bachelor’s degree is required in Social Work or a related field, such as, Psychology, Criminal Justice, or Sociology to be considered for this position. Further, experience in a human services field is strongly recommended, as this position requires comfort working with people for diverse backgrounds, economic statues, and belief systems while refraining from judgement. Rachel said, that having prior experience working at Social Services helped her a lot in her position as a FSS, since she had already become comfortable dealing with the general public. FSS, spend the majority of their time communicating with foster families, the family that the child was removed from, the child, and the court system. From her educational background, Rachel stated that her studies in Criminal Justice aided her greatly working with the court systems, especially regarding procedures for her cases for removal and placement of the
The whole system focus of social work is universal, but the priorities of social work practice will differ from one country to the next, and from time to time depending on historical, cultural, political and socio-economic conditions. It is the responsibility of social workers across the world to defend, enrich and realize the values and principles reflected in this definition. A social work definition can be meaningful when social workers committed to its values and vision. Thus social work is amazingly a meaningful career.
Identifying myself as a professional representative for those who require access to social work services is imperative to my field. The competency of my knowledge with the NASW core values and guiding principles will help me preserve the social work reputation and will give confidence to the public in our abilities to provide services in the many areas of this diverse profession. Investing my time in developing professional expertise through continuing educations, seminars, and conventions will help me build up myself as a specialist. Similarly, reading new information in social work practices and keeping inform of government programs will help me expand my knowledge in order to provide proficient services. As a result, other specialists
In this paper, I will assess my identity and my personal history and how it relates to social work professions. I first address my personal history and cultural background, where I came from, as well as my experience in working in the community. I then talk about my overall strengths, both in personal and professional lives. My strengths are listening skills, open-mindedness, respect for diversity and eagerness to learn and improve my weaknesses. Afterward, I discuss my weaknesses, such as nonassertive communication skill and low self-esteem problems, and how I plan to address these issues.
Social workers’ efforts are focused primarily on issues of poverty, unemployment, discrimination and other forms of social justice. Social workers should avoid discrimination against people on the basis of age, gender, race ethnicity, sexual orientation and so on. The NASW Code of Ethics further identifies the social workers ethical responsibilities to the boarder society by listing the following
Being a social worker is often a challenging, yet rewarding career. Social workers are responsible for helping individuals, families, and groups of people to cope with problems they’re facing to improve their patients’ lives. Social workers are also trained caseworkers in social service agencies who perform several functions which they use different components of the practice framework, the theoretical underpinnings to in order to build helping relationships. After interviewing a caseworker in a specific social agency there were advantages and disadvantages of methods along with challenges encountered in working in that specific agency. With all of this the functions, roles and responsibilities of a caseworker is what helps any agency to uphold
Modern social workers are frequently tasked with certain objectives by their agencies, which leave little room for any work beyond specific treatments and timeframes (Gitterman & Knight, 2016). Although social workers are bound to the set of ethics put forth by the NASW, practitioners are often limited to focusing on the issues of the individual rather than the larger societal issues that may be behind those concerns. Additionally, many social work students end up working in direct practice, rather than macro work. There is a need for social workers to engage at the macro level in order to facilitate community organization and empowerment. Critics suggest this theory may not take into account the unique experiences of each individual and perhaps key characteristics of the individual or group are not taken into consideration (Sadan, 1997).
Social work is a career that I have recently become interested in pursuing. I spent many years with misconceptions concerning the sector. However, following three years of working close by these experts, I have picked up a more profound comprehension of the significance of the work. I am especially interested in working in child welfare along with terminally ill children. I have got to a stage in my career where I have started to search out instruction that will make me more efficient in creating plans and providing services for vulnerable people.
My passion for helping and supporting those whose economic and financial standings have hindered their growth in our society, has driven me towards social work. I feel I have exhausted every possible avenue in my current degree field. Pursuing a master’s in Social Work, will give me the diversity that I need, while aiding me in bringing my dreams of working more in depth with clients, by helping assist them with their individual needs and issues to reality. The Social work field also offers versatility which allows me to work in many dimensions, such as clinical, case management, and many other composites which enables me to help every population. Becoming a social worker gives me other benchmarks in which I can use to evaluate programs,
Social work is a profession that dedicates its efforts to ensure the well-being of individuals and the well-being of the society as a whole. The primary mission of social workers is to meet the fundamental needs of every person, especially the ones with special needs such as those who are oppressed, vulnerable and the people living in poverty. As a social worker, I intend to use these core values such as service, integrity, and dignity as guidelines to my work to make a difference in the lives of as many needy people as I can. My main goal will be to offer services to needy people to help them solve and overcome social problems that they encounter each day in their lives.
I am also able to implement a range of interventions based on a comprehensive client assessment. I also have the ability to apply social work knowledge and theory to practice using critical thinking in a practice approaches and decisions. It also gives me the ability to engage in social work practice that is sensitive to issues of culture, ethnicity, religion, race, class, sexual orientation, age, gender, and physical and mental abilities. It also instill in me the appropriate and the effective communication skills. I am also able to demonstrate self-discipline, the ability to reflect upon and resolve ethical dilemmas.
Although these are the minimal requirements many child welfare social workers have a masters degree in social work. You want to take electives in child welfare social work if you are interested in this certain field. It is also a must to complete coursework. “Social workers must complete mandated training in child abuse and neglect, as all social workers are required to report suspected issues of child abuse or neglect to the appropriate authorities” (College). Social workers work hard to protect children from deplorable situations.