MSWPG7107 Social Work Practice : Welfare Services

Identifying policy, practice frameworks and legislative frameworks that impact practice (500 words). Develop a written document regarding my role as a School Welfare Officer for Asma, with respect to the attached case study that outlines:

• The professional’s role and service context in which welfare officers work

• Practice frameworks, legislative frameworks and policies that inform.

Developing an integrated approach to family support 

Drawing on relevant practice frameworks and academic literature, develop a plan as to how the professionals in your team( as their would be other people describing their roles as Child First Case Worker, Family Support worker, Mental Health social worker, Youth worker, Parenting support worker) might best work together to support and meet the needs of the family.(my role will only focus on the school welfare officer)

• A set of guiding principles to ensure your group practice is family centred (drawing on relevant academic literature)

• A discussion about how your professional roles in the team differ and/or overlap

Answers:

Welfare Officer

Social welfare services are programs and services that are provided to address social needs and provide a platform for people to identify their potential. As a welfare officer my primary role in ensuring that children do not live in a threatening environment that is harmful or unfavorable condition ( Buchbinder and Shoob, 2013).. Additionally, in most scenarios, I deal with emotional conditions affecting the child and in some situations may lead to permanent or temporary separation of the child from the parents and thus the children been put in a secure alternative placement. Some of the additional duties that I undertake as a welfare officer include: compliant investigation, home assessment, taking part in the court hearings and advising services (Watkins-Hayes, 2009).  In order to become a social worker they are some of the requirements that an individual should attain that may include:  bachelor’s degree in social work which may be in the field of sociology or psychology which entails social research ,methods and risk populations that may incur several hours of field experience (Butler, McLaughlin, Hayes and  Percy, 2017).

In the Younis family case study, it is vital to know that Asma needs guidance that can be segmented in these stages such as primary prevention, early intervention, interventions that require proper responses and postvention measures for general wellbeing restoration. As welfare officer am being tasked with the responsibility of ensuring Asmas wellbeing through her lens education. These levels of service delivery spread the standard of care provision and in some cases overlap the support that may be required by the children to the additional alternative that may be needed in case of a crisis. In this case the strategy that has been put in place to improve Asma attendance may function as both an early intervention initiative to address her recent unexplained absence from school, as well can be termed as an initiative that will address one of the multiple risk factors that have been tabled for a complex solution.

It is highly recommended that for proper wellbeing of Asma and other children, I should work closely and partner up with community-based services, school professionals and early childhood providers to ensure a seamless and holistic service delivery through and across all the domains that are needed (Edwards, Lunt and  Stamou, 2010).. Seemingly, escalation of Asma through this service domain should follow a staged response that is informed by a comprehensive assessment that is carried by a relevant professional. As social welfare worker, I should enhance the primary preventions strategies that should be put in place since they are the most effective way in promoting the wellbeing and health of Asma and should comprise a vast of majority programs that are being delivered in the school (Bull, et al. 2015)

Furthermore, it builds belonging that facilitate the well-being of Asma thus enhancing emotional and social health, hence this can be achieved by creating awareness about what makes the entire students resilient and the developing strategies that will reduce the vulnerabilities and thus increase the coping skills.

I collaboratively work with health and other wellbeing services to support the school and group activities that will in hand play a role in improving Asmas capacity and skills in making good decisions and choices that will result to a wellbeing outcome and robust health. These are the strategies that I need to incorporate in the lens school to promote the wellbeing of Asma: implementing a comprehensive curriculum that will engage all the students, propagating mutual respect and safety in the school by establishing policies and procedures that will offer appropriate guidance by involving parents and the communities to be part of the school community through reasonable consultations and information dissemination. Moreover, there is a need to enhance the student's attendance through establishing of programs, policies, response and follow up care. Inclusive learning and teaching should also be observed thus respect and accommodate all the students depending on their backgrounds and regardless of gender, sexuality, culture, disability or ability.

Integrated Family Support Approach

Occasionally, they are some of the children who need a complex response strategy thus as primary welfare officer there is need to work within an integrated approach to coordinate the adequate support, monitoring and the intervention that is required to create a suitable individual education based plan. Firstly, it is critical to ensure that there is a reliable and well-understood channel for relevant community services and specialists.

Nevertheless, family difficulties can contribute to a student being in a crisis which can lead to significant behavioural issues such as truancy, bullying and violence (Byrne and Taylor, 2007). Thus, there is a need to partner up as a social welfare worker with the other community workers for action to prevent any diversity development and the family breakdown ( Sisselman-Borgia and Bonanno, 2017).. The family bond must be bridged, and the reunion strengthened between parents and the children that are part of the family just as the Asma's case. These are some of the policies that need to be implemented include; easy access to counselling and treatment, stable advocate or mentor, robust support frameworks for interventions that may consist of students learning plan that is supported by both the parents and school professionals (Muradian, et al. 2017). On the other hand, a strong partnership among families, students and relevant community, provide a social, tailored and a holistic intervention. Celebrating the success of the students provides a platform of unity among the family members and in the school premises and this is propagated by professionals and primary welfare officers.

Reviewing the already existing procedures and policies enables the welfare officer to be able to identify or recognize the strength and the weakness in the current health and welfare. Assessing the risk and understanding the children’s need is very vital when considering the underlying factors that can be addressed in the school. Lastly, developing and implementing evidence-based programs improves parents, students and teaches skills and knowledge and the ability to interact and socialize among each other.

Additionally, other professional roles that I undertake as welfare officer that differ with other workers include the ability to coordinate the integrated support for families and the children by aiming to identify risk and vulnerability before the emergence of a more complex problem.  The support that is provided has a positive impact thus it changes the student's development pathway and maximizes on the outcome that will influence the future to be bright. Similarly, as a welfare officer, I have to undertake typical coordination with the school which will generally enhance the development of school strategies that targets children based groups that are needed and incur challenges like learning, gender, age, cultural, social and other considerations that are valid.

In conclusion, the implementation of a stronger partnership with the local government, other governmental agencies and community-based services promote holistic and integrated services provisions for an open referral pathway.

References

Buchbinder, E., & Shoob, T. (2013). Essential partnership: Child welfare officers’ perceptions of cooperation with Rabbis in the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Israel. Journal of Social Service Research, 39(2), 204-217.

Bull, S., Thandi, G., Keeling, M., Chesnokov, M., Greenberg, N., Jones, N., ... & Hatch, S. L. (2015). Medical and Welfare Officers beliefs about post-deployment screening for mental health disorders in the UK Armed Forces: a qualitative study. BMC public health, 15(1), 338.

Butler, M., McLaughlin, A., Hayes, D., & Percy, A. (2017). Using the voluntary sector to provide services to children and families with complex needs as an alternative to social work services-what are the benefits and risks?.

Byrne, D., & Taylor, B. (2007). Children at risk from domestic violence and their educational attainment: Perspectives of education welfare officers, social workers and teachers. Child Care in Practice, 13(3), 185-201.

Edwards, A., Lunt, I., & Stamou, E. (2010). Inter?professional work and expertise: new roles at the boundaries of schools. British Educational Research Journal, 36(1), 27-45.

Muradian, R., Corbera, E., Pascual, U., Kosoy, N., & May, P. H. (2010). Reconciling theory and practice: An alternative conceptual framework for understanding payments for environmental services. Ecological economics, 69(6), 1202-1208.

Sisselman-Borgia, A., & Bonanno, R. (2017). Rabbinical response to domestic violence: A qualitative study. Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought, 36(4), 434-455.

Watkins-Hayes, C. (2009). The new welfare bureaucrats: Entanglements of race, class, and policy reform. University of Chicago Press.