Social Worker as Case Manager for People New in America - Essay Example

A case manager works as a leader in that they form policy and make reports on clients, and they also work as a communicator because they are not separate from dealing with clients on a face to face basis. They must play many roles and broker many different situations with clients and fellow professionals. Many of these clients are immigrants, and in terms of advocacy, it is important for the caseworker to advocate bilingual programs, especially in areas where there are a lot of people who simply need social welfare services, but do not speak English. “ Following immigration protests in May 2006, DHS and ICE have increased their raids, arrests, and deportations, creating a hostile climate for all immigrants regardless of their legal status and making undocumented immigrants, their families, and communities especially vulnerable” (Padilla et al, 2008).

For the case manager, the social work client interview takes place on many systemic levels, including the ability of the social worker professional to show core values of empathy and understanding for client populations while maintaining a sense of authority. This process of communication will optimally result in a situation in which, for the client, there will be positive communication in terms of disclosure and also a higher than normal rate of trust and empathy between the client and the caregiver.

Trust must be established with this sort of client before overtures toward empowerment are made effectively. From this point, treatment can proceed. This is why communication is so important in this type of caregiver-client relationship in immigrant populations in particular: it opens channels that reflect on the theoretical value of positive communication and empowerment., in the sense of the US being a bilingual society, especially between English and Spanish speaking people.  The conventional wisdom, especially among conservative US residents, is that Hispanic immigrants generally try to avoid learning English and would prefer to be in a situation in which they would be living in the US and speaking Spanish only.