Practice Behaviors:
5.1: Identify social policy at the local, state, and federal level that impacts well-being, service delivery, and access to social services.
5.2: Assess how social welfare and economic policies impact the delivery of and access to social services.
5.3: Apply critical thinking to analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice.
Competency 5 Narrative:
As social workers, it is imperative that we recognize the values embedded within our profession are mediated by the implementation of policy. As a competent social worker, I recognize policy as being the primary component that impacts well-being, access to social services, and service delivery. I advocate for and participate in social policy and practices that reflect the values of the NASW code of ethics through continual engagement in policy practice at the local, state, and federal levels.
Evidence 1 (Field):
At the Department of Children’s Services, we have access to several local resources to assist the families we serve. These resources include WIC, TennCare, and counseling services. Through the utilization of these resources, I was able to continually witness the affect policy has on the delivery of services. My instructor and I were working with a nine-year-old who, primarily due to the trauma she was exposed to at a very young age, had been demonstrating homicidal and suicidal tendencies. Despite being given the recommendation for residential mental health treatment, the young girl’s insurance company denied the request. Thankfully, after several phone calls and assistance from the Juvenile Court’s mental health consultant, we were able to resolve the insurance issues through providing documentation outlining our client’s recommendation and secure our client’s placement at a treatment center. The detailed journal entry I wrote regarding this can be viewed here. (Week 3, January 29)
Evidence 2 (Class):
In the Social Welfare and Policy class I took during the Fall 2019 semester, we were given the opportunity to write a policy brief outlining a bill of our choice to present to staff members of U.S. Congress. My classmates and I chose a bill sponsored by Senator Jeff Merkley aimed at stopping the cruelty towards migrant children currently housed in Immigration Detention Centers across the United States. In October, my classmates and I presented our policy brief to staff members of Senator Martha Blackburn with the goal that she would become a co-sponsor and vote it through the judiciary committee. A copy of the policy brief can be viewed here .
Evidence 3 (Additional):
In Dean Wilder’s policy class, we learned the crucial role that policy plays within social work practice and that voting is the first step we can take in engaging in policy practice through choosing elected officials that will ensure policies reflecting our values are implemented. I presented a voter engagement initiative to social work students at Cleveland State Community College that simultaneously stressed the importance of voting while demonstrating a strong connection between voting and the competencies of the social work profession. The powerpoint presentation from this event can be viewed here . A reflection I wrote explaining my initiative as well as the correlation between voting and social work practice can be viewed here .
Skills Used: Skills I demonstrated within these practice behaviors are interpersonal skills, particularly when engaging with students during my voter presentation and when interacting with Marsha Blackburn’s staffers. Two other skills I demonstrated were professionalism and public speaking skills during both my voter engagement presentation and my presentation of the S. 2113 bill in Washington, D.C..
Knowledge Used: For these skills, I utilized knowledge obtained in Social Welfare and Policy, such as how to engage and present to staffers of U.S. Congress and the tools needed in order to effectively advocate for policies that reflect social work values. Additionally, I implemented skills I learned while taking Introduction to Speech Communication, which taught me how to properly present and speak to a group of people.
Values Present: Values evident in the practice behaviors listed above directly reflect those present in the NASW Code of Ethics: Through my advocacy for the S. 2113 bill, I demonstrated social justice and dignity and worth of the person, as this bill serves to protect the well-being of innocent immigrants currently detained in U.S. Immigration Centers. I demonstrated service and competence through my extensive voter presentation, which detailed the importance of voting and how doing so correlates directly with the competencies of social work practice.
Cognitive Processes Used: Through my voter engagement presentation, I demonstrated the ability to recognize and recall (knowledge domain) information obtained and communicate this to those I presented to. For my policy brief, I developed (application domain) a well-written page that summarized pertinent information from S. 2113 and interpreted this information effectively through my presentation in D.C..
Affective Processes Used: For the practice behaviors demonstrated, I successfully cooperated (responding domain) with my classmates during our policy brief presentation to staffers of our local representative, Marsha Blackburn. I also learned how crucial and valuable advocacy is to social work practice and integrated (organization domain) this value through each practice behavior implemented.
Theoretical Foundation: A theory that correlates with this competency is the Social Influence Theory, a theory in which the central theme is that an individual’s attitudes, beliefs, and subsequent actions or behaviors are influenced by others. It is essential that, as social workers, we are able to challenge significant social influences that go against the values of our profession in order to effectively advocate for policies that advance human rights and social justice.