Competency 9
EVALUATE INDIVIDUALS, FAMILIES, GROUPS, ORGANIZATIONS, AND COMMUNITIES
EVALUATE INDIVIDUALS, FAMILIES, GROUPS, ORGANIZATIONS, AND COMMUNITIES
Social workers understand that evaluation is an ongoing component of the dynamic and interactive process of social work practice with, and on behalf of, diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities. Social workers recognize the importance of evaluating processes and outcomes to advance practice, policy, and service delivery effectiveness. Social workers understand theories of human behavior and the social environment, and critically evaluate and apply this knowledge in evaluating outcomes. Social workers understand qualitative and quantitative methods for evaluating outcomes and practice effectiveness.
To best represent my understanding and growth within Competency 9, the fist artifact I have selected is my use of Certified Languages International, a translation service I frequently use at my field placement that allows me to evaluate interactions with clients using language appropriate practices. For my second artifact, in order to highlight my evaluation skills in terms of reflection, I selected a paper from the course Interviewing in Social Work. The paper is about working with reluctant clients, and it reflects upon one of my visits to the simulation center, where I held the role of a counselor and spoke with an actor who was instructed to be reluctant to speak with me. This assignment taught me how to evaluate my own skills and reflect on ways I could improve my competency when interacting with clients.
Certified Languages International
My first artifact is to represent my engagement with the translation service Certified Languages International. CLI is an over the phone service that allows you to call and arrange for an interpreter for a foreign language, whether you are in person with someone you require a translator for, or if you need to make a call to someone. I use this service frequently at my internship, Samaritas, as the clients I work with are refugees, and more often than not, do not speak English, and usually do not have someone with them that does and can translate for them. The primary languages I typically require translation for are Kinyarwanda, Arabic, and Swahili. Because I do not speak these languages, when I interact with clients, I typically assess whether they require translation services, or would be more comfortable using a translator in order to ensure the client understands both myself and any other people we may be interacting with. I have found that becoming familiar with communicating through a translator has helped my skills grow within Competency 9; I have learned how to evaluate on the spot a client's understanding of the English language, have learned how to communicate with a client appropriately, as in talking directly with them rather than to the translator, and have been able to use this tool to facilitate a client's engagement with other institutions. Using translation effectively has allowed me to evaluate client's I wouldn't otherwise be able to communicate with.
SW 316: Working with Reluctant Clients Paper
My second artifact shows my grasp of evaluating my own performance when engaging with clients. In the course SW 316: Interviewing in Social Work, we learned how to appropriately work with client's as a therapist or counselor. Throughout the semester, we attended the Simulation Center at GVSU, where we would be timed and would work with an actor, who portrayed a patient with their own backstory and issues to address, and would simulate a counseling session with them. We had to practice using appropriate body language, make eye contact, using our full attention to listen without formulating responses, and then to mirror what the client was saying, and help them talk through the issue without interjecting suggestion or opinion, but rather facilitating the client's arrival at solutions on their own accord. Then, we would observe other classmates doing the same and peer review their session, would later have access to our own recording of the sessions we conducted, and then would write a reflective paper that evaluated what went well, what didn't, and what we would like to improve on. For this paper in particular, the actor was instructed beforehand to be particularly reluctant and a little more difficult to work with, and I had to evaluate the client's demeanor and closed off-demeanor, and then decide how to best converse with them in order for them to be more willing to share and be comfortable speaking with me. Although nerve-wracking, this assignment was actually extremely helpful to my development within the social work program, and my understanding of client engagement and personal evaluation.
Before reflecting upon Competency 9, I found that this was the competency I had the least connection to and most undeveloped understanding of. I found it difficult to distinguish the differences between Competency 7, assessing, and Competency 9, evaluating. These seemed like reiterations of each other. However, now that I pushed myself to think of evaluation in other ways, I realized that I have practiced evaluation whether I recognized it or not. Evaluation is more outcome based, and entails the how and why we do things. I have learned to view evaluation in terms of reflection, which is a practice I have found to be very beneficial as I am learning to become a social worker.