I am currently placed in Brooklyn Kindergarten Society of New York. My position there is Social Work Intern. My function is to meet with students and conduct Academic Assessments to determine what their educational needs are and establish linkages between the students and community resources. I will also establish a rapport with families who are struggling and in need of services. Since 1891 Brooklyn Kindergarten Society of New York’s mission has been to ensure that children develop the social, emotional, physical, and cognitive skills to succeed in kindergarten. The building itself is massive as I previously stated the preschool itself is located in a NYCHA owned building. The building itself appears to need repairs, however you could not tell this by walking through the preschool site. The site itself is beautifully colored and well maintained. There were bulletin boards located outside each classroom is decorated with drawings and colorings designed by the preschoolers. The curriculum is specifically designed to meet their developmental needs. Infants and toddlers are encouraged to learn all through their day as they explore their world with their senses, thus enabling them to gain a sense of security and identity. The classrooms encourage children to move around and explore toys and materials in a safe and healthy environment. The teachers are trained and expected to know that one of the most important factors for healthy infant and toddler development is their ability to establish nurturing and responsive relationships with the children in their care. The client I have chosen to focus my paper on is MD. MD and her son MR. Client MD was notified by Program Social Worker R. Bryce that her son’s attendance is a cause for concern, and if she continues to fail to bring her son to school as required Administration for children services could be notified for educational neglect. MD has been known to be a problematic client, causing many staff members to refuse to interact with her and her family for fear of verbal abuse and placing themselves in a confrontational situation. Prior to meeting with the client, I met with Program Social Worker RB who stated the client can be difficult to work with and has a history of being confrontational with other staff members. R.B. informed me that other staff refuse to contact client unless it’s necessary because the client can become verbally abusive. Upon reading her file I was discovered the full nature of client’s need of services. As per the chart it states that client is a newly single mother who is employed part time as a caterer and her work hours vary. Client is currently residing in a local Domestic Violence Shelter location unknown due to the nature of the population residing there. Client apparently has another child D.R. age 12 who was diagnosed with Autism and is currently receiving services. According to the client’s intake, there was a physical altercation between herself and her husband of 14 years MR. MD stated she was tending to her older son DR and was overwhelmed at this point she asked her husband for help. MD stated her husband ignored her pleas for help with their son, which irritated her and they began arguing. MD stated she was expressing her frustrations and the lack of attention MR gave to their disabled son, when her husband struck her across the face. According to her intake the children did not witness the incident. MD stated when her husband left she called her aunt who helped her leave and it was at that point she had no choice but to enter a family intake shelter and was referred to The New Hope Program. Client stated her husband does not know her location of residence, however he is aware of the location of the school. I made sure to read client’s progress notes and incident reports involving other staff members for insight regarding client’s behavior and what could possibly be triggers that I could avoid.
Upon my initial meeting with the client she was very defensive I explained to her why we scheduled the meeting. Client MD stated she was notified by Program Social Worker R. Bryce that she her son’s attendance is a cause for concern, and if she continues to fail to bring her son to school as required Administration for children services could be notified for educational neglect. Because I knew a little about the client prior to meeting with her and her son I was able to prepare myself with some tools that could be useful during our session. I research parenting a child with autism. The lifelong nature of autism has deep implications on parents of children with the disorder, resulting in a wide range of challenges. This is because parents, especially mothers, are generally the primary caregiver of children
with autism. First, caring for a child with autism is not without emotional consequences. Upon receiving the diagnosis, parents are faced with the loss of expectations for a typically developing child and are faced with uncertainties regarding not only the child’s but also the family’s future (Khan, Ooi, Ong, & Jacob, "A meta-synthesis on parenting a child with autism," n.d.). During our session MD disclosed interest in family reunification. MD stated her husband has never been abusive in the past, and prior to this incident they had a healthy relationship. MD stated her son is getting older and dealing with puberty for the average child is difficult, therefore a child with a disorder such as Autism can put a strain on any relationship. MD stated her husband does not know how to cope with their son. MD inquired about services outside of the Domestic Violence program for the family.
There are numerous family therapy models that are rooted in various schools of thought including psychoanalytic as well as behavioral; however, in relation to conducting family therapy with MD and her family – the narrative therapy model as well as the solution focused brief therapy model seem most appropriate and effective. According to the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapists (AAMFT), solution focused brief therapy is a non-directive approach that assists client’s in exploring exceptions to their current problems; an exception being a point in time when the problem did not exist and the family existed cohesively without the problem. By exploring these exceptions, the family uncovers what can be done differently to diminish the problem and what will be different once the problem is gone. Interventions such as setting small achievable goals for the family as well as asking scaling questions as well as the miracle question assist the family in resolving presenting concerns (Nelson, 2012).
The solution focused brief therapy model appears that it would be most effective in therapy sessions with MD and her husband MR. As aforementioned, MD stated she previously had a healthy, strong bond with her husband MR – as puberty began MR withdrew from his son causing him to isolate himself from her. MR and MD’s relationship presents with an exception; at one point their relationship was positive, healthy and free from physical and emotional isolation and abuse. Because of that exception, MD and her husband can explore what they did differently at that point in time and what they want to do differently moving forward. Furthermore, working with MD and MR we can utilize scaling questions as well as the miracle question to determine how motivated they each are to change and what change would look like to each of them. Based on the answers to those questions MD and MR can set a small goal for their selves to work on until next session.
Utilizing Solution Focused Brief Therapy would be most appropriate in planning treatment for the MD family.
Short Term Goals: The relationship between MD, MR, DR and MR all distant, damaged relationships. It is important that the family’s short-term goals work towards having the family engage each other and function as a cohesive unit – this unity and functionality is needed to achieve medium- and long-term goals. To achieve this the family should attempt to eat dinner together and engage in activities such as board games, card games, etc. subsequent to dinner in order to strengthen the relationships.
Long Term Goals: Essentially, the short-term goals and long-term goals for MD’s family are the same – improving the quality of the relationships within the family. By utilizing the short-term goal activities to repair the dynamics of MD’s family relationships the long-term goal will be met.
Interventions: The most popular intervention within Solution Focused Brief Therapy is the miracle question. By utilizing the miracle question with each family member, the counselor working with the family can grasp an understanding of each family members ‘wants’ and work with the family to effectuate the “wants”. Furthermore, scaling questions can also be utilized to determine client ‘wants’ and explore feelings and possibly help each family member understand the other’s feelings. Also utilizing ‘midsession break’ will hopefully build family morale and increase communication skills. My critique of the information I gathered I believed to be instrumental and assisting the client with supportive services. Although my concern for her safety and the safety of the children is key, I cannot overlook what she believes to be important to her. Family reunification is ultimately what she is aiming for, nevertheless she understands her husband is in need of services and will be required to participate before she can return home. I utilized the Preparatory Reviewing skill, to review all information available to me prior to meeting with the client to gain a better understanding of how the client could benefit from our meeting. When meeting with the social worker and reviewing documentation regarding client’s interactions with other staff members, I was concerned. While meeting with other staff members to discuss client’s behaviors and interactions can prove to be insightful it could also influence my interaction with the client as well in a negative way it is up to me to remain unbiased. I engaged the program social worker to discuss what was the best options and how to assist the client to encourage her son’s attendance. The social worker was able to provide me with some insight on past cases where clients attendance was an issue. She also gave me some ideas and incentives to address with the client to engage the client and her son in services. The client is familiar with the school location; therefore, I scheduled the client to be seen by me during school MR hours. I made the appointment as convenient as possible as we agreed to meet at 8:30 am, allowing her son to be in class during our session and freeing her up from any distractions. I arranged for the meeting to be held in an office where it was her and I alone to avoid interruptions and make the client as comfortable as possible. I can see how the mother could be overwhelmed, she is a single mother of two recently placed in a Domestic Violence Homeless shelter. One of her children has a disability. I was able to envision what a day would be like from her perspective. I did not want to add more grief to her already stressful situation and made sure to clarify when meeting with her I wanted to help her gain some stability and navigate the system for resources. I was able to identify with the client’s struggles regarding being a mother of young children and dealing with everyday life obstacles. I believe I need to explore more in regards to how the client’s negative interactions with other staff members swayed my interaction with her during our session. My readiness to engage the client was definitely influenced by what I was reading and being told by the program Social Worker. During the session I made sure to engage client and encourage her participation during our session.
Services should be family centered, addressing and supporting the needs of the whole family and not just the affected child, to ensure the family’s well-being and quality of life in the face of a diagnosis of autism (Khan, Ooi, Ong, & Jacob, "A meta-synthesis on parenting a child with autism," n.d.). According to MD the majority of the family’s stressors come from the son’s disability. It is reported in many studies that the mother tends to be the main provider for a child with special needs. Advocacy for women who left a domestic violence shelter was associated with lower rates of violence experienced compared to shelter only at two years follow-up, but these benefits were not evident at six months and were not maintained at three years. Mentorship plus counselling for victims of intimate partner violence was associated with a significant reduction in violence at two months but not at 12 to 18 months compared to counselling alone Police and social services outreach to victims did not significantly reduce recidivism rates (Stover, et al.). People with severe mental illness (SMI) are at increased risk for all forms of violent victimization. Domestic and sexual violence victimization is common among people with SMI, and victims show higher levels of psychosocial morbidity following violence than in the general population (Anderson, et al.).
The prevalence of childhood maltreatment among people with SMI is extremely high. Experiences of childhood maltreatment are associated with more severe psychiatric symptoms and more complex clinical manifestations among people with SMI. People with SMI also have a much higher prevalence of both past-year and lifetime experiences of domestic and sexual violence compared to general population. Childhood maltreatment refers to both childhood abuse (emotional, physical and sexual) and childhood neglect (emotional and physical). In the general population there is strong evidence for the association between childhood abuse and adult abuse and trauma (Anderson, et al.). My concern is not only for the mother MD but for her son DR. DR although never physically abused by his father, appears to be neglected at the very least by his father MR. I have witness first hand during session how genuine and emotionally support MD is to her children especially DR. MD is aware that if the father cannot implement changes to his interaction with his son than she will not be returning home. I acknowledged client’s efforts in trying to create a stable environment for her children and the courage it took to leave her home and her husband. During our session MD and I were able to discuss Intervention plan.
Improved parenting skills, knowledge of child development, and more realistic expectations for child behavior.
Increase use of community services and enhanced social support
Safety planning: General safety strategies Individuals should have a list of important phone numbers with them at all times, as well as change for phone calls. Some important numbers include: police department, domestic violence hotline, domestic violence shelters, schools, friends, and family.
Documentation: In preparation for the possibility that charges are brought against the offender, it is important to have a paper trail documenting the abuse. Not only is this important for the victim to do, but also those individuals working with her/him. Things to include in your documentation include:
• The nature and circumstances of the assault(s)
Location, nature, and severity of any physical injuries (mental health professionals should assist the client with scheduling an appointment with a physician)
Property damage
History of the relationship and violence in the relationship (the history should include the first incident, the most recent incident, and the most severe incident) The individuals functioning and response following previous assaults (if appropriate) Abuse of children in the home (of course, if it is discovered that children in the home have been abused, a report to Child Protective Services will have to be made)
Individual Treatment: Treatment intervention with victims of domestic violence should include psychoeducation on the dynamics of and risk factors for violent relationships.
• The cycle of violence (e.g., the honeymoon phase, growing tension, explosion of violence; escalation in the severity and frequency of violence over time) with the caveat that not all relationships demonstrate the same patterns of violence
Use of power and control in abusive dating relationships (e.g., isolation, jealousy and possessiveness)
Characteristics of batterers
Myths about domestic violence
Referrals: At the onset of treatment and throughout the course of treatment, it is important that the worker assess the need to refer the client to other providers for additional assistance. Possible referral sources include:
• Local domestic violence center
Family physician
Law enforcement agencies
Legal assistance
Victim assistance programs and organizations
Support groups
Therapist to assess children’s need for treatment or services
Social Worker RB and I were able to create a template from an online program to develop a SMART goal template to discuss with MD and work on some of the areas we both agreed are important to family reunification and in compliance with BKSNY program requirements. It is my understanding after a few sessions with the client MD her son’s attendance issues are a result of her environmental dilemmas. If we can address and alleviate some of these environmental stressors her son’s attendance will drastically improve.