COMPETENCY 10

Devon Mauldin

COMPETENCY 10

Engage, assess, intervene, and evaluate with individuals, families, groups,

organizations, and communities.

COMPETENCY 10

Professional practice involves the dynamic and interactive processes of

engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation at multiple levels.
Social workers have the knowledge and skills to practice with individuals,
families, groups, organizations, and communities. Practice knowledge
includes identifying, analyzing, and implementing evidence-based
interventions designed to achieve client goals; using research and
technological advances; evaluating program outcomes and practice
effectiveness; developing, analyzing, advocating, and providing leadership
for policies and services; and promoting social and economic justice.

10.1

Substantively and affectively prepare for action with individuals,

families, groups, organizations and communities.
I prepare to help clients by obtaining information on first the client themselves by
reviewing their folder and seeing prior interventions put in place for them and what
they responded to and what they do not respond to. Then I gain information and
insight on the services they need and how they can obtain these services within the
agency or within the community.

10.2

Use empathy and other interpersonal skills

As a school social work intern I talk with students and get them to communicate
their problems to me so that we can develop solutions together that will be
effective for them as the client.

10.3

Develop a mutually agreed-on focus of work and desired outcomes

As a school social work intern I assist my supervisor in understanding a clear
agenda to asses the progress of many students that we interact with so that we
may then project our desired outcomes and timelines.

10.4

Collect, organize, and interpret client data.

As a school social work intern I have attended many meetings with parents of
students with outside agencies such as the Autism Society and DSS present, at
these meeting it is important that all necessary client data be shared so that
adequate services and interventions can be put in place.

10.5

Assess client strengths and limitations

As a school social work intern I participated in IEP meetings in which assessing
the strengths of the student were just as important as assessing the limitations to
realize where the student was at so we could meet and help our clients at their
level.

10.6

Develop mutually agreed-on intervention goals and objectives.

At the end of a clients IEP upon setting up a re-evaluation date we also outline
the goals expected from the interventions we put in place so that we can asses
client progress and growth.

10.7

Select appropriate intervention strategies

As a school social work intern we have to tailor our selected interventions to fit
each individual student we work with. There is no cookie cutter way to complete
tasks we have to asses the client and see what would be suit them and alter our
plans when we see fit to assure that the client benefits fully from the intervention
being implemented and experiences no adverse reactions from it.

10.8

Initiate actions to achieve organizational goals

The goal of my school agency was to have all 6th and 7th graders educated on the
effects of bullying and to be fully aware of reporting details. My supervisor and I
completed a series of classes over a months time to educate these targeted group
of students to achieve our agency goal of raising bullying awareness.

10.9

Implement prevention interventions that enhance client capacities

Within the school setting we address problems as they arise and are often able to
intervene on an issue between students before an action has occurred. We
conduct sessions if we see upset students or students acting abnormally to
understand what is going on with them before anything escalates. By talking with
them we can put their minds at ease and de-escalate a potential situation.

10.10

Help clients resolve problems

As a school social work intern we help students sole problems every day from the
small problems to the big problems. We have mediated on friendship conflicts
and we have conducted home visits to determine needed services within a
household.

10.11

Negotiate, mediate, and advocate for clients.

In the school setting when we have to address divorced parents on the needs of
their child we have to advocate for many services for the child because often
times the parents when they are no longer together want different things for their
child.

10.12

Facilitate transitions and endings

Working in a school and specifically the guidance department, we are at a middle
school level where transitioning from different grades or different schools is
particularly difficult on many students. We often talk with them and try to initiate
certain actions that might allow them to be more comfortable in this new
environment. We often see kids whom once had a difficult time finding a place
fitting right in a short time later and that is a wonderful feeling to experience.

10.13

Social workers critically analyze, monitor and evaluate

interventions.
After putting in place action plans with truant students to get them to be in
school we often follow up with observation of the student and contacting of the
parents to assess the changes and improvements that the student has made or not
made in their attendance.