Brickville
Phase 2

Assess the Client System

Assess the Brickville community and client family system using the bio-psycho-social perspective and tools that display community and family relationships, strengths, and issues to be resolved.

An assessment is a multidimensional examination of the client system. Different system levels (e.g. family or community) and different theoretical perspectives call for different assessment strategies. Nevertheless, assessment in social work generally includes:

Assessment of the strengths and stressors that impact a system’s functioning.

It is the strengths of a system that are used to improve system functioning. In this specific case, what strengths and assets do you identify in Brickville? How might these strengths be leveraged to meet the demands the community is facing?

Assessment of the environmental context.

Understanding the relationships and resources of the system within its environment, including those that need to be developed, is necessary for developing an intervention plan. Assessment is an on-going and continually developing process. What sources of information will be most important for your assessment of the environment affecting Brickville?

Assessment includes development of a plan for change.

Assessment is a shared process. Both the client system and the worker should be clear and in agreement on assessment methods, the system short-term and long-term goals, and the means of attaining those goals.

Conduct a dual assessment

A dual assessment involves examining clients’ goals as well as the policies and programs that either help them or create barriers for them. Each time you begin to assess a new client, you need to also assess the policies and programs that either help them to or hinder them from achieving their goals. In Brickville, that will require understanding relevant policies regarding land use, public financing, infrastructure management, and policymaking procedures, so that you can advocate for policy change where needed and successfully work within the constraints the policies create.

Mapping A Social Problem

Review and take notes on the phases of disasters and their effects on communities

Genogram

My Assess Tasks

Task 1

In the process of working with the community system, you find a family negatively impacted by the potential community changes. Develop an assessment of the family system using the family history and genogram. Also, examine the sample case summary and case contract forms to provide structure and agency records for your assessment.

Task 2

Use the sociogram to better understand the family and community systems. Note the interaction and mutual influence of these systems.

Task 3

Examine your own values. Note the value issues and conflicts resulting from your own background, community interactions, and values. How can you use the Code of Ethics as a guide in resolving these value conflicts?