SOCIAL WORK PROCESSES

Assessment

a process and a product of understanding on which action is based. This involves the collection of necessary information, analysis and interpretation to reach an understanding of the client, the problem, and the social context in which it exists. The social worker’s tasks include information gathering and problem definition based on the client and the worker agreed upon. In gathering data, various sources are available from which relevant information can be obtained to have an accurate definition of the client's problem.

Primary source

the client (whether an individual, group or a community) is the primary source of data. Data is gathered through intake procedures.

Secondary source

the significant others with whom the client has personal relationships. These include the parents, siblings, relatives, and friends in case the client is an individual. In the case of communities, this may be staff or consultants who are previously or currently involved in the said community.

Existing data

these can be records or reports from other professionals (e.g. physicians, teachers, psychologists, etc.) or documents from other agencies such as census data, research, and evaluation reports, among others.  

Worker's observation

the use of observation is very helpful in gathering, supplementing, and validating information about the client, the worker can observe the client through the latter's interaction and relationship with others. In the case of communities, observation through seeing and experiencing the physical condition, economic activities, community interaction, resources, culture, and traditions are very essential in identifying the problem.

Walk-in

The client (an individual, a group, or a community) initiates the contact and seeks the assistance of the agency social worker about a particular concern or problem with the belief that the worker is in the position to provide help.

Referral

The client is referred to the worker or a social welfare agency by an interested or concerned party or entity (i.e. a relative, neighbor, teacher, school, church, barangay council, or another social Welfare agency) with the hope that the client can avail of any services from the worker and/or the agency in addressing the client's problem or concern. 

Outreach

The agency, through its social worker/s, reaches out to prospective clients to offer help and eventually agrees to engage in a helping relationship after intake. Intake is the process by which an individual, group, or community (a potential client) achieves the status of the client.

Planning

is the link between assessment and intervention and its process of the content of assessment into a goal statement that describes results and is concerned with identifying the means to reach the worker, with the participation of the client, to move from definition to problem solution towards achieving a planned change. Planning involves two major tasks: formulating goals that directly relate to the client's problem and defining the specific actions or interventions necessary to achieve the goals. Goals are desired or expected outcomes or the "ends" of a certain while plans are means to achieve them which consist of the actions or steps to be done to reach the goals. Plans are by the worker and the client.

Intervention

has a lot of terms in social work literature which include action, plan implementation, and treatment. Intervention is concerned with the action that would solve the client's problem. It involves rendering specific and interrelated services that are deemed appropriate to address or respond to the client's problem. 

Evaluation

is defined as the collection of data about outcomes of the program of action relative to goals and objectives set in advance of the implementation of that program (Johnson, 1986, p. 385). In social work, it is a continuous process of gathering information that can be utilized in an ongoing reassessment of objectives, intervention plans, and even the problem definition which is referred to as ongoing evaluation.

Termination

The helping process has a time limit therefore a social worker is expected to discuss with the client the expected duration of the helping relationship. Also, the client should be made aware that the client-worker relationship will not last long and that the interventions and services will not stay for them forever. It should be made clear to the client that disengagement is the natural conclusion to such a relationship.