Children in Out of Home Care - Literature review Example

Children (0-12) in Out of Home Care Children (0-12) in Out of Home Care Social work plays a fundamental role in the society as it assists vulnerable groups and individuals to achieve both individual and social wellbeing by working to address the inherent injustices and inequalities that these people are facing. Through the activities of social workers children in out of home care can continue receiving their standard social amenities with the help of social workers that work to ensure their fundamental rights are protected. Most children who are in out of home care are specifically vulnerable individuals in the sense that they do not have parents or their parents have proved not capable of providing them with the essential care that they need (Maluccio, Pine, & Tracy, 2002). Purpose of Social Work to Children in Out of Home Care Children that are under the care of out of home facilities depend on the support of the social workers and other well-wishers that are responsible for that service to cater for their upkeep. Some of the purposes of social work in out of home care are elaborated as follows. The initial purpose of social work for this particular client is to engage them in interpersonal practices with this group that includes; counselling, clinical intervention, working with individuals , families and partners to address both individual and system problems that might be facing them. In this case the social workers holds sessions with the clients to determine any underlying challenge or rather problem both from their side or from the side of the system in this case the out of home care facility that might be bothering them (Webb, 2011). The objective of this practice is to iron out any impending hurdle that might be jeopardizing service delivery within the facility with the aim of ensuring that the children receive utmost care and support while under the care of the facility. Similarly, social work has the duty to research within the facility by engaging administrators, supervisors and other relevant stakeholders with the aim of educating, supervising, training and evaluating the practices at the facility to ensure everything is conducted to enhance both social and human wellbeing of the children. It is the mandate of social work regardless of the client that is involved. Social work is at all times aimed at ensuring that the practices that are done are promoting human and social wellbeing of the group that is involved (Walsh, 2009). Social work has the obligation on checking on the progress of the children in the out of home facility by monitoring their upkeep through formulation and reviewing the care plans that are implemented at the facility with the aim of ensuring they are in line with the changes in the social and cultural environment to ensure the children are not disadvantaged as compared to their counterparts who are receiving home care. That notwithstanding, social workers will engage the children and the parents to determine their wishes and thus come up with an elaborate plan that will accommodate those desires in the placements where they will be accommodated. The social workers will visit the placement centers prior to administering them with the children to ascertain that they will indeed meet the wishes of the children and thus contribute to upholding their social wellbeing. Additionally, social workers will coordinate with parents, the children and other professionals to come up with elaborate plans as far as the future of children is concerned. The fact that the children are being brought up in an out of home set up should not act as a hurdle that will hinder them to pursue their dreams or desires thus planning for their future is vital (Fraser, 2009). Social Values and Ethics That Underpin Social Work Practice The practice of social work is essentially service to humanity with the aim of alleviating the lives of vulnerable groups to ensure their social well-being is safeguarded. The practice of social work to children in out of home care is premised on three primary values; social justice, respect for people and professional integrity. Respect of People Regarding persons is the first value that underscores the practice of social work. Whenever social work is being done to the clients and in this case to the children in out of home care facilities respect for other peoples’ dignity, integrity and autonomy is highly emphasized since at the end of the day social work is meant to harness for human and social equality and well-being in the society. All the partners and stakeholders who will be partnering without social work practice will be handled with the utmost respect for their service and contribution to the course of high importance. Social work practice is also premised on the notion of respect for human rights of all the people that are engaged in the program (Butler and Hickman, 2011). The children, parents and all other well-wishers that are involved in the program will be treated in a manner that promotes their fundamental rights. Children in the care facilities should be able to exercise their rights and privileges in an unrestricted manner, as well as their parents will not be hindered from exercising their human rights obligation a far as their children are concerned. Before any major decision on the children is undertaken the parents have to be informed and incorporated in the process of formulating the decision to avoid any form of conflict. The services that social work offers to children in the care facility are all conducted in a humane manner by taking into consideration the feelings of the individuals involved to avoid causing any form of harm to them. Additionally, the practice of social work in the context of the children in the facility will be conducted in manner that recognizes and respects the autonomy and differences among the children to ensure they are free to exercise their uniqueness without any form of violation (Webb, 2011). Social Justice Social justice is yet another value that underlies the practice of social work. The objective of social work initiatives in caring for children in out of home facilities will be founded on promoting equality and social fairness by coming up with strategies that reduce any form of barriers in the society and expand the potential for all individuals to achieve their aspirations. The activities of social work will be aimed at advocating for change in the manner in which the society views certain aspects such as the children in care facilities they are not needy or weak it is only that the circumstances they were brought up with would not allow them to exploit their full potential thus they had to be accommodated by out of home care facilities to given the right kind of care. The practice of social work strives to oppose or condemn any forms of violation of human rights that might be taking place both in the facilities and the society in general to ensure social and human equality is achieved and all individuals in the community have level access to any opportunities (Walsh, 2009). Professional Integrity Professional ethos has to be followed by the social workers in line with their duties. While undertaking our social work practice with the children in the out of home care facility as our clients the training will emphasize the application of skills and knowledge in a manner that considers the interests of others rather than the individual interest of the social workers. Relatively, the power and authority that will be bestowed on us will not be misused for other purposes other than the primary objective of serving humankind by promoting their social well-being in the society. Conversely, social work ethics advocates for ethical decisions that support a high level of responsibility and dignity for other subjects (Wodarski and Feit, 2009). Theories of Social Work Systems Theory Systems theory will be the primary approach that will underpin the manner in which the practice of social work to our clients will be conducted. According to the theory, people should not be isolated by any means but should be integrated with a manner that ensures they work as part of a larger system. The children who are receiving care in the out of home facilities should not be isolated from the rest but the operations and activities that are being carried out there should align them to the larger system that, in this case, is the family and school set up. In some instances, some challenges may arise as there will be some misfit between the children and the system; however elaborate measures should be undertaken to ensure the system supports any changes that light be evident in the clients to promote their wellbeing and in line with achieving their overall objectives (Butler and Hickman, 2011). Person-Centered Approach This theory is vital in the social work practice as it outlines congruence, empathy and unconditional positive regard to as the fundamental in bonding the relationship between the social workers and the clients, in this case, the children. The approach is non-directive in nature thus social work is done in a flexible manner that fits the situation at hand. Person-centered approach perfectly fits this particular initiative as it is founded on the premise that everything can grow and thus the children in the care facility are capable of achieving their full potential as nothing will prevent them from excelling (Butler and Hickman, 2011). Challenges Facing Social Workers Social work is faced with a number of challenges that the workers need to overcome in order to achieve efficiently the objective of their practice some of the issues are discussed as follows. Client relationship is a possible challenge that workers will face as they will find difficulties forging a perfect working relationship with their clients as some of them may turn out to be hostile or intolerant to new people. Working with children requires a great deal of involvement and dedication the workers will be prone to fatigue since they will be dedicating a significant amount of their time to this practice. At times the psychological and emotional circumstances that the children may be undergoing might cause emotional distress to the social worker since most of the times they create a parent-like relationship with the client. It is prudent that the employee will undergo emotional distress often as he/she will be attending children with various needs. Social workers are bound to face legal issues especially in cases where they are reporting incidents of child abuse to authorities. They may be slapped with legal suits in instances where they do not have enough proof to substantiate their claims in a court of law (Fraser, 2009). References Butler, I., & Hickman, C. (2011). Social work with children and families: Getting into practice. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Fraser, M. W. (2009). Intervention research: Developing social programs. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Maluccio, A. N., Pine, B. A., & Tracy, E. M. (2002). Social work practice with families and children. New York: Columbia University Press. Walsh, J. (2009). Generalist social work practice: Intervention methods. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole Cenage Learning. Webb, N. B. (2011). Social work practice with children. New York: Guilford Press. Wodarski, J. S., & Feit, M. D. (2009). Evidence-based Interventions in Social Work: A Practitioners Manual. Springfield: Charles C Thomas Publisher, LTD. Read More