ClientAssessment

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1 Client Assessment Maria Gans Department of Social Work, Delaware State University SCWK 633: Field Practium I Kaneisha Wheelock, LCSW, LCSW-C November 19, 2023

2 Theoretical Orientation I believe there are a lot of different circumstances that aid in the current state of this client’s life. To truly assess this client, I believe understanding her life as a whole will give me a better understanding. I want to be able to identify not only individual strengths and challenges but the impacts of her social environment as well. This understanding will help with informing me on helpful intervention strategies that address both the client’s immediate needs and underlying systemic factors. By identifying and addressing systemic factors contributing to her problems, I can help her to prevent issues from escalating and becoming more severe than if I solely dive into individual aspects of her life. Therefore, I am going to utilize the systems theory for this client assessment. Biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy proposed that any element is best understood by considering its interactions with its constituent parts as well as its interactions with larger systems of which it is a part (Hutchinson 2016). This assessment will help to detect Myesha’s needs, available resources, strengths, and challenges she’s facing. To assess her, I would utilize a standardized questionnaire, I believe that would give me the best opportunity to fully understand, and a way to give me the best results as to what the presenting problem is and why it exists. I don’t believe there is one presenting problem in this case. Case Description Myesha is a 26-year African American female, who did not graduate high school. She was the 6 th child born to a drug addicted mother. Her mother was never sure of who her biological father was, none of her siblings’ fathers were present. Throughout her childhood with her mother, they stayed anywhere they could, with different men, shelters, friends of her mother’s or in abandoned homes. Her mother passed away from a drug overdose when Myesha was 9 years old, her and her siblings were all placed into foster care where they lost touch.

3 Myesha states she was mentally, emotionally, and sexually abused for years. Myesha was placed into affordable housing when she aged out of foster care but was evicted 2 years later due to non- payment and had been staying wherever she could since with her 3 children. Myesha was not born into the best of circumstances. Adult Blacks and African Americans are more likely to have feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and worthlessness than adult whites. Myesha reports she often feels sad and hopeless and is dealing with some mental health issues, she is currently suffering from depression, and PTSD, she deals with her depression by using drugs and drinking alcohol heavily and consistently. Her depression has been exacerbated since her children were removed from her care by the Department of Human Services (DHS) a year ago. Two of the children were placed in foster care and the 3 rd was placed in the care of their father. Myesha has a paramour whom she has been with for the last 7 months and she just found out that she is 9 weeks pregnant. This case will require a lot of empathy and self- awareness. Role of Social Work Values and Ethics The ethics and values that underpin social work practice are dedicated to social justice and recognition of the fundamental worth of all individuals, I want to be of service to her, by assisting her in a way that includes and empowers her as an individual. Myesha is currently homeless, and in social work we have ethical principles and core values to serve people in need and address social problems. Firstly, we need to address her homelessness, stabilized housing will help her become stabilized, including being able to obtain gainful employment and treatment for her mental health and drug abuse issues, which can ultimately lead to her regaining custody of her children. Her lack of housing is a lack of a necessity and is having a significant impact on her life overall. Social workers must treat each person with dignity and respect to advance their

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4 clients’ capability and opportunity to tackle their own needs and improve their personal situations. Myesha has been through some trauma and therefore trust will need to be established, I intend to act in a way to create trust so that I am able to empower Myesha to better her life. Ecological Perspective Her upbringing sheds light on Myesha having 3 children with 3 different men, she never had any stability and not knowing her father could have aided in her looking for love continoulsy in the wrong men. On the micro-level, the ecological model can be used to study the impact of her father not being present, her mother, her mother's boyfriends and her foster care family on Myesha’s growth and development. Specifically, the impact of these factors on Myesha’s challenging behaviors including getting expelled from high school, drug use and promiscuity. Her mother wasn’t present for her growing up, and once she went into foster care she was neglected and abused. She never had an adult figure that she could look up to or count on and unfortunately that spilled over into her adult life as a parent. She witnessed her mother using drugs and now she uses drugs as well. Myesha reports that her mother did not graduate High School and now she lacks a high school education and therefore that makes it difficult to obtain employment, that would be suitable to raise 3 children. On the Meso-level, Myesha dealt with abuse and neglect at home which could have ultimately led to difficulties with her emotional development as well as her interacting positively with her teachers and peers. Myesha reports never having any real friends, and never really connecting with any of her teachers. Her emotional development appears to be damaged due to her upbringing. I believe Myesha’s environment weighs heavily on her current situation.

5 Problem-Solving Process The key to identifying problems is that the client must express a desire to work on the problem either independently or in collaboration with the social worker. The basic process of the approach includes identifying the problem as identified by the client, exploring the problem in detail, selecting the problem that is causing the client the most distress as the target for intervention, defining a goal which removes or diminishes the problem, establishing tasks for both the client and social worker that should be established. We will utilize the problem centered aspect which focuses on solving clients’ problems as they arise. They respond to change in problems by developing and implementing responsibilities as the problem occurs. Respect for clients to be more influential in their own outcome will aid in helping the client reach the intended goal and evaluating the end work. The problems presented in this case are homelessness, lack of financial stability, lack of education, depression, feeling hopeless, drug abuse and loss of custody of children. I will focus on Myesha identifying what her needs are and go from there. Myesha reports that her needs are housing, help with getting her children back and employment. To help Myesha establish autonomy I will focus on the needs she expressed first, by connecting her with resume building classes and job fairs. I will also help her to apply for low-income housing and connect her with programs that work solely with people looking for housing. I will also reach out to her DHS worker to see how we can collaborate to potentially assist Myesha in regaining custody of her children. The strength perspective emphasizes that everyone, regardless of their circumstances, possesses strengths and resources that can be mobilized for personal and collective growth. By

6 adopting this perspective, social workers can foster resilience, empower clients, and promote positive change in individuals and communities (Hutchinson 2016). Myesha’s strengths include persistence, dedication, flexibility, creativity, and determination to turn her life around. The goals we are setting for Myesha are to enroll in GED classes, attend job fairs, apply to at least 3 jobs weekly, and follow all rules given by her DHS worker. Together we have applied for low-income housing, and I was also able to connect with the DHS worker and they are willing to assist with move-in costs for Myesha once she secures housing. They will also assist with vouchers for furniture and other household items. I will also recommend therapy for Myesha to address the trauma from her past, as well as her losing custody of her children and currently being pregnant. Myesha and I will meet weekly to discuss goals and re-work them if necessary to make sure she stays on the correct path. Overall, I want to empower Myesha while focusing on her strengths and making sure she is aware that she has control over her future. Theory and It’s impact on the case Social work involves considering many factors of an individual’s life. Although there are many theories in social work, systems theory is a distinctive way of tackling human behavior in terms of these multi-multifaceted environments and relationships. Systems theory plays a key role in the advancement of society. Only by looking at all the moving parts can we have a greater understanding of the whole and how it works. The theory suggests that an effective system is based on individual needs, rewards, expectations, and characteristics of the people within the system. The key concept of systems theory, regardless of which discipline it’s being applied to, is that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory is one of the most accepted explanations regarding the influence of social environments on human development. This theory claims that the environment you grow up in affects every facet

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7 of your life. The ecological systems theory holds that we encounter different environments throughout our lifespan that may influence our behavior in different ways. These systems include the micro system, the mesosystem, the ecosystem, the macrosystem, and the chronosystem. Ecological systems theory indicates that human development depends on various types of environmental systems. This theoretical theory aids us in understanding why individuals conduct themselves in a specific manner, by looking for patterns that compare behavior at home with behavior outside of the home like at work or at school, for example. At the interface point it focuses on the connections between the individual and the environment, this includes input and output of energy, social environment, coping and person-in-environment. Within systems theory, individual problems are often addressed collectively because of the interconnected nature of the theory. I am utilizing this theory because I believe that Myesha’s past and upbringing plays a major role in her current situation and to really help her better understand and overcome these challenges her past needs to be looked at in detail. Although she reports that her depression is worse since her children have been removed from her custody, I believe that her depression stems from her traumatic childhood. I believe that in this case we need to focus on goal setting and the connection between her emotions and actions. I believe that once Myesha truly faces her past, processes it and deals with it she can better understand her own actions. To explain one of Myesha’s presenting problems, which is lack of financial stability, I would utilize Psychoanalysis/Psychodynamic Theory. Myesha keeps jumping from man to man because she is financial stability, that internal need drives her to different men. She was never married, so most likely she isn’t seeking love, she is looking for financial security in different partners, same as she reported about her mother. She didn’t finish high school and has yet to get

8 a GED years after dropping out of high school, which makes it appear that she wasn’t really motivated to become financially secure on her own. Populations at risk and human rights Homelessness is an egregious violation of human rights occurring in all countries, threatening the health and life of the most marginalized. Human rights are rights we have merely because we exist as human beings. These universal rights are inherent to us all, regardless of nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status. Social workers advocate for change to make certain that all individuals have equal access to the resources and opportunities needed to meet basic needs and develop fully (Holland & Kilpatrick 1991). Myesha is part of an at-risk population currently because she is homeless. Human rights are particularly important for social workers when making decisions that concern the future care needs of individuals. Conclusion My intervention plan for this case would also include family therapy, housing resources, educational resources to help Myesha obtain her GED, referrals to support groups such as growing up without a father, growing up with drug addicted parents, and sexual abuse survivors as well as employment resources. I would also connect Myesha with prenatal care. I will be evaluating Myesha’s social and emotional stability, and her empowerment. Her success will be measured by if she is experiencing a decrease in trauma symptoms, has she come out of her depression, is she now able to meet her own basic needs, has she built meaningful social connections, is she keeping up with her prenatal care, and whether or not she is able to regain custody of her children.

9 References Baron, S., Colomina, C., Pereira, T., & Stanley, T. (2019). Strengths-based approach: Practice framework and practice handbook. Department of Health & Social Care, United Kingdom. Bronfenbrenner, U., & Evans, G. W. (2000). Developmental science in the 21st century: Emerging questions, theoretical models, research designs and empirical findings. Social development, 9 (1), 115-125 Holland, T. P., & Kilpatrick, A. C. (1991). Ethical Issues in Social Work: Toward a Grounded Theory of Professional Ethics. Social Work, 36(2), 138–144. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23715498 Hutchison, E. D. (2016). Essentials of Human Behavior: Integrating Person, Environment, and the Life Course. Los Angeles: SAGE. Jason LA, Bobak T. Using Systems Theory to Improve Intervention Outcomes. Prof Psychol Res Pr. 2022 Aug;53(4):415-422. doi: 10.1037/pro0000467. Epub 2022 Jun 2. PMID: 37063246; PMCID: PMC10100444. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Housing/HomelessSummary_en.pdf Ward, K and Mama, R. (2020) Breaking out of the box: adventure-based field instruction (4th edition) Oxford University Press Lyceum Group. (NY:NY)

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Genogram Great grandparent parents 11 Helen Unknown Monica Unknown Myesha Paramour (Not the father of any of the 3 children) Milo Mila Milan No data collected from Paramour

ClientAssessment

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