The Role of a Community Worker - Assignment Example

Assessment Task One: Short Answer Questions 1 Reflect on your role as a community worker, and, in dot-point form, list your responsibilities to: Responsibility of social workers to Workers: Collaborate with the workers to help in dispersing service Coordinate with workers to initiate potential actions Alliance with worker to help in judgement and decision-making Clients: Advocates on behalf of the clients Counsels clients Monitor and evaluate their clients’ welfare Aid in supervision and consultations Broader Community: Hold intervention groups for the community Provides educational programs and lead in dispersing information to the community Participate in community development Conducts community research and evaluation Dispense social action aids Offer direct service through groups in form of counselling 1. Based on this reflection, outline any boundaries associated with your role. Boundaries A social worker’s roles are limited based on ethical and professional code of conduct. Emotional connection Social and cultural boundaries that defines a community and a family Religious influence causes boundaries on social workers relationship with their clients and the community Economic constrain on clients’ families or community at large Professional ethics that regulate the relationship among the client, worker and the community 2. Access the Australian Community Worker’s Association (ACWA)’s Code of Ethics, available at this link: http://www.acwa.org.au/LiteratureRetrieve.aspx?ID=107823 For each of the following workplace scenarios, and in reference to the code of ethics, state whether or not you believe the correct ethical decision was made, and name an ethical principle or responsibility that applies and could be used to address the scenario. (PC 2.1) Scenario Do you think this is ethically correct? Ethical principles that apply in this scenario A 25 year-old single mother who never finished high school approaches a local community service for advice. She wishes to go back and continue her education, in the hope that this may improve her job prospects. She is discouraged by the community worker from doing this because she is “too old” to go back to school, and is told that she should instead hold onto her job working the till at a local grocery store and focus on raising her child. NO Professional Development. According to this principle it is ethically advisable for any person to embrace and grow their profession through education irrespective of their age. This is strategic in enhancing their social statue and professional scale. Hence, the woman despite her age, she should be encouraged to continue with her education as a way of improving her job prospects. A 19 year-old male approaches a local community service. He is having problems with drug and alcohol abuse, and is seeking information on how he can address these issues. The community worker provides him with information and contact details for some services they think will help, and assists the client to make an appointment with a counsellor who specialises in substance abuse. YES Provision of service and support. In this principle the worker provide appropriate advise on the clients to seek helps which is ethical A elderly, wheelchair-bound man wishes to participate in a weekly book club being held through the local community centre, but is told that he will be unable to attend, because the building in which the activity is being held is not wheelchair-accessible. NO Diversity. This principle embrace the aspect of diversity that is treating people equal whether crippled or not. Thus, denying the old man opportunity to attend the event does not show sign of ethical diversity. 3. Select one of the above scenarios, in which you did not think the correct ethical decision was made. Explain how you would work within the scope of your role to deal with this ethical issue. The scenario of the elderly wheelchair-bound man is not ethical as it violates the principle of ethical diversity. The old man should have access to the event despite his physical structure. Therefore, as a social worker, it would be appropriate to recreate the build by making it accessible for every person irrespective of his or her physical abilities. The build should be accessible even for the wheelchair-bounded individuals. 4. Knowing where to find and how to interpret information about compliance is an important skill for any community worker. a) Refer to Section 1.1.2, 1.1.3 and 1.1.4 of this unit. Select three of these links, and explain why you think these would be most helpful for your understanding of compliance requirements in your work. http://www.tcls.org.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=88 http://www.lawstuff.org.au/ http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/legislation/pages/default.aspx This links are important in addressing the current situation that are experienced by social workers and their relationship to working environment. In addition, they help address the significant of embracing proper ethical framework in working environment b) For each of the links you have selected, find an article, page or quote about a compliance issue that you think falls within the scope of your requirements as a community services worker. Explain what area of your work it relates to, and why you think it is useful. http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/legislation/pages/default.aspx This link focus on the value of maintain good ethical standard when locating health service http://www.lawstuff.org.au/ focuses on the legal platform for the government in Australian and its relations to workers standards http://www.tcls.org.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=8 addresses the legal act such as child act and the way the law protect different sector from unethical practices c) Refer to the three articles, pages or quotes that you discussed in the last question. Outline the potential risks, penalties and consequences of non-compliance in these areas. (Note: you may need to do extra research for this.) Risk of insecurity Individual violation Discrimination Molestation of individuals especially children 5. List three aspects of clear, accessible and well-documented policies and procedures. Must be in simple word and concise Must be factual, consistent and have a logical framework Have a sense of ownership and be understandable 6. Explain how well-written policies and procedures support legal and ethical practice. Well-written policies and procedures provide duty of care Informed consent of every worker within an institution Stipulate the freedom of information and expression It is anti-discriminative to ethical and legal practices 7. When writing policies and procedures, you should always include requirements for documentation and record-keeping. Why do you think doing this might help to protect client information? Documentation and record keeping is crucial in providing easy access of clients’ needs Helps in reporting incidents especially those documented such as fall and providing subsequent action Documentation provide ready information for external agencies such as court report Easy to advocate for clients’ needs and lobby for governmental or other agencies assistance Written and documented policies and procedures provide a sense of security to clients 8. Give an example of a policy area that will require you to nominate various roles for multiple people. Anti-discrimination polices that involve various form of discrimination at work place 9. Give two examples of ways in which you could distribute and communicate policies and procedures to workers. Through workers’ handbook A policy manual guide 10. When should policies, procedures and legal information be distributed to workers? During employees’ training When employment laws changes During employee meeting sessions During recruitment into service In case of breach of any conduct during work 11. Give five examples of work practices and procedures for monitoring and responding to compliance and non-compliance. Pre-activity approval Reviewing work related transactions such as expense reports Staff checklist review Records of customer service calls Attending presentation especially sales 12. The above work practices also need to be consistently monitored, to ensure that your workplace is responding effectively to instances of non-compliance. Give an example of how you might identify whether or not the above practices are proving effective. Accessing feedback response Monitoring objective achieved Accessing business metrics, this is to determine whether the activities meet the requirements Checklist for the outcomes Conducting self and continuous monitoring 13. Do some research (this may be online, or it may involve talking to your supervisor and/or colleagues) about any accreditations or certifications that you will be required to maintain or update for your work role. List and describe them here. Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) this act focus on competency of social worker and health care providers. 14. To whom are you required to refer or report issues or breaches of ethical or legal practice in your workplace? Director, Assistant Director of People Management and Wellbeing sector Merit Protection Commissioner Conduct Case Manager who focuses on code of conduct within an organization Human Resource Manager 15. Give three examples of ways in which you might ensure that your knowledge of legal and ethical requirements remains current. Through state law publications such as the SLP amendments Alert for individual acts Through legislation changes Online updates like Lawlex 16. Give at least three examples of ways in which you might share new information about legal and ethical requirements with your colleagues. Social media Platforms Legal publications Forums and journal publications 17. Give two examples of areas of your work where you may need specialist legal advice when it comes to compliance, or other legal matters. Finance Sector Human resource sector 18. Research and briefly sum up (in your own words) what the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is, and the impact that it might have on frameworks, approaches and instruments used in community services work in Australia. The Declaration of Human Rights is a documentation that provides guideline and protection of human freedom and rights. It provides legal binding that is useful in community service through providing legal obligation of the Australian government to protect peoples’ right and freedom. 19. Explain the relationship between human needs and human rights. Human rights are specific form of human need that are based on the field of freedom. Human needs are individual demand or essentials that a person requires to achieve their satisfaction. 20. Give three examples of ways in which you might proactively engage in review and improvement processes. Having a plan and self-promotion Being decisive Avoid Procrastination Assessment Task Two: Compliance is the process whereby individuals are expected to follow the rules and regulations that are set to govern the organization or the company where they work. In the current world, numerous organizations have come up with strict rules and regulations to control the manner, which the employees are recruited, or the way these employees work. Children in the workplace (a) In the U.S, child labour has reduced in the current days. This is because when children are employed to work in different workplaces, their rights are violated, and end up with injuries. The nation has however stated that for an individual to be employed in any organization, he or she should attain the age of 21years as a legal requirement since it is the age where one can make decisions for himself or herself. https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/youthlabor/agerequirements (b) Working in the community services is related to the requirements that are needed for an individual to work in the U.S in that, age is a common factor that is required for an individual to be considered mature enough or trusted with the community policies. For example, in developing community policies, one must be old enough to solve issues whenever they arise (McMillan 103-104). Codes of conduct/codes of practice/practice standards (a) Brazil is one of the countries that emphasizes more on the codes of conduct among the employees in various companies or organizations. These codes of conduct include; not attacking other employees at work, and prohibition of the illegal materials at the place of work. http://ecgi.org/codes/documents/ibcg_sep2009_en.pdf (b) In the community services, failure to attack other people, management, and community building procedures are part of the code of conduct since they offer or give the people in the community the guideline to follow to stay safe and care for the others Complaints management (a) In China, all the companies through their managers are legally required to listen to every complaint of their customers. This would be imperative since they protect the customers from violation by the companies. http://www.mondaq.com/x/68180/Fund+Management+REITs/China+Strengthens+Its+Regulation+On+Wealth+Management+Products (b) Regarding the community services, listening and solving the complaints of the customers is important since it develops a good relationship between the managers, or the policy makers and the people. For example, as a manager to a certain project in a community, it would be important to involve the people of the members of the community to know the challenges they face in following the policies developed Continuing professional education (a) In Japan for an individual to be a qualified professional, he or she is legally required to ensure or confirm that the data in his or her report are accurate. He or she must indicate or add the client identification number when reporting his or her CPD. http://www.hp.jicpa.or.jp/english/about/education/index.html (b) In U.S continuing professional education requirements relate the work in community services in various ways (McMillan 103-104). For example, the same way an individual is needed or required to ensure that the data on his report is accurate is the same way he or she should be able to ensure that the mentorship program in the community is conducted accurately without misleading other people. Additionally, policies and procedures should also be developed accurately for better performance. Discrimination (a) China as one of the developed nations has legal requirements that prevent employers from discriminating their employees. For example, individual seeking for a job should be given equal opportunity for the interview without considering their background regarding color, sex or race. All individual in China are legally considered equal and are protected by the constitution of China. http://www.chinalawblog.org/law-topics/employment-law/190-china-ani-discrimination-law (b) Equality among people living in an area without considering their sex, race, and color is related to the work in the community service. For example, as a youth leader in the community, one is legally required to treat the others fairly without discriminating others based on their color sex, or race. This would also apply to the policies developed and procedures which are meant to serve everybody equally without selecting others Dignity of risk (a) In the U.S, the dignity of risk has been granted to everybody whereby, the constitution legally advocates for every individual to make their choices freely no matter what other people think of them. For example, in the dignity of work, other people might decide to continue with their smoking habit despite knowing the challenges or the dangers of involving in smoking. http://www.crowsnestcentre.org.au/cncimages/Duty%20of%20Care%20%26%20Dignity%20of%20Risk.pdf (b) The U.S government has granted all its citizens the ability or the legal requirement to make their decisions freely without other people interfering with them. This would be linked or associated with the work in the community service in that, as a youth leader or manager, one is legally required to respect the autonomy of the other people and their self-determination. Duty of care In the U.S, duty of care advocates for the legal protection of the other individuals in their particular state. Some of these cares include hospital care where the medical practitioners care for their patients. http://www.travelweekly.com/Mark-Pestronk/US-companies-have-no-duty-of-care-to-traveling-employees (b) In the U.S, medal practitioners are expected to care for their patients and offer them every assistance they need. This applies to the work in the community service where the area managerial head is constitutionally required to care for his people through the policy making procedures. Human rights (a) Human rights are protected in every nation's constitution; this process involves the protection of citizens without oppressions and discrimination. For example the right to life in U.S is protected by the constitution. https://www.amnestyusa.org/pdfs/NGO_memo_on_Merida_human_rights_requirements_2016%20071416.pdf (b) In the U.S, all individuals are legally required to protect the lives of other people and consider life significant. The right to life is also important in the community where all individuals are needed to protect one another and make laws that help boost life. Informed consent (a) Informed consent requires medical practitioners to attain legal authority before they can conduct a medical check-up on an individual for safety. For example, India offers permits to qualified individuals before they can start their clinics. https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Family+members%27+informed+consent+to+medical+treatment+for+competent...-a0226162642 (b) Attaining of the legal permit or requirements before involving in an activity is associated with the community services and policy making since it makes the people know more about what they want to major in such as starting a church for spiritual growth. Mandatory reporting (a) In the U.S mandatory reporting is a legal requirement that all citizens are required to embrace whenever they observe a legal activity such as child abuse. Importers are also required to make a legal report on the goods they import from other countries. https://us.search.yahoo.com/search?fr=yhs-invalid&p=Mandatory+reporting+requirements (b) These requirements of reporting any legal activity in the U.S are associated with the community services in that, community managers and policy developers are in a position to report to their government whenever they face obstacles in conducting their duties fully Practitioner/client boundary (a) In India, a practitioner is legally required to have enough education or highly qualified before he or she can be allowed to proceed with his or her activity in the country. https://www.ethics.va.gov/docs/necrpts/NEC_Report_20030701_Ethical_Boundaries_Pt-Clinician_Relationship.pdf (b) This legal requirement of education is also associated with the management work in the community services since educated individuals make wise decisions for the benefit of the community members. They also make laws that are an advantage to all the community members. Privacy, confidentiality, and disclosure (a) In Privacy, confidentiality, and disclosure, India requires individual who are in higher positions to keep the secrets of their clients without disclosing to other people. For example, doctors are required not to disclose the secrets of their patients without seeking permission from them. https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/privacy-in-healthcare-policy-guide (b) Maintaining secrets of the clients as a legal requirement is associated with the work of a community health advisor who is required to keep all the secrets of all the community members and make laws that serve all the members including his or her customers. Records management (a) Records management in the U.S has enabled the country to make a step regarding its development. For example, the constitution legally requires all the different organs of the government to keep records of their work. It can be done through electronic way or paper. https://www.ed.gov/open/plan/ed-records-management-program (b) Records management relates to the work of a community counselor who makes the records of the people he or she has counseled and their progress. It also relates to the policy making procedure and the policies themselves since when a policy fails, a new one will be introduced. Rights and responsibilities of workers, employers, and clients (a) In China, workers, employers, and clients have different rights and responsibility that is constitutionally legal. For example, employers are required to treat their employees equal while employees are required to work to their best, and the clients are required to respect the workers and their services. http://www.wangandwang.com/news-articles/articles/hiring-managing-employees-china/ (b) Fair treatment and respect of the services offered is a legal requirement that is related to the work of a community counselor since it gives or creates a good understanding between different people. Policy development and frameworks (a) In U.S before a policy is developed, it is legally required to work in the best interest of the citizens. It is then organized in a way that t will function for many years before it can be changed. https://www.usaid.gov/results-and-data/planning/policy (b) The requirement of the policy to work in the best interest of the people and long service is related to the work of the community manager since he or she requires a policy that would serve all the community members without discrimination. Industrial relations (a) In Japan, the industrial relations advocate for the proper relationship between the employer and the employees for better results. http://www.naukrihub.com/industrialrelations (b) The legal requirement of better relations of the employer and employee in a company is related to the work of a teacher in the community to create a good understanding between himself and the learners. It is also related to the policy making and procedures since it lead to the development of policies that educate the learners on what to do and what not to do. Work health and safety (a) In Japan, the workers are required to be protected by their employees and their safety guaranteed through issuing of protective clothes and medical insurance. http://www.ilo.org/safework/countries/asia/japan/lang--en/index.htm (b) The legal requirements of protecting the worker's health and safety is related to the work of a community medical practitioner who is required to protect his or her clients whenever they visit his or her clinic through the use of gloves. Assessment Task Three: Research Task B There are many legal and ethical responsibilities associated with community services in general (as seen in the ACWA code of ethics). However, individual services will place emphasis on specific ethical and legal areas, according to the services they offer. As well as this, specific practices and prohibitions will be found in different areas of community service. For this task, you will need to conduct research both online, and through conversations and discussions with managers and supervisors in your workplace. 2 Outline the legal responsibilities and liabilities of a manager in your organisation. Managers are entitled to numerous responsibilities in the organizations. For example, it is the responsibility of the manager of an organization to create a good working environment for the employees in the company. It is also the responsibility of the manager of the organization to conduct interviews whenever a vacancy exists. It is also the duty of the manager of the organization to offer promotions of the employees when he or she feels satisfied with the roles conducted by the employees. The manager of the LLC organization is not considered to be personally or individually liable for the debts, obligation, and the liabilities of the company he manages. The manager of LLC is also not liable to any destruction of the assets of the organization and their misuse. 21. Explain the limitations of the role of a manager working in your organisation. There are numerous limitations associated with the manager in the organization. For example, the manager comes to work late. This makes most of the employees also to come to work late since they copy what the manager does. The manager is also high tempered and fails to solve issues in the organization in a more reasonable manner. Additionally, the manager also likes other employees who side with him while those employees who do not side with him are not cared for regarding allowances. The manager also considers the employees in his company as low qualified people; this lowers the self-esteem of the employees who have tried to find a transfer to go and work in other better companies with better managers. This explain how these managerial responsibilities and limitations may be different for another community organisation of your choosing. In LLC organization, the employees are not taken good care of regarding allowances, while in other organizations in the community; the employees are motivated whenever they spend much of their time at work or when they work over time. In LLC organization, the manager does not come to work early enough to inspect and ensure that the organization is run effectively while other community organizations have managers who are punctual to their work and ensure that the employees do the right things for the success of the company. In LLC organization, the manager is not personally liable or individually liable for the obligations and debts of the company while in the other community organizations, the managers are responsible for the obligations and debts of the organizations thus they work hard to ensure that the organization operates effectively. 22. Describe at least three practices in your area of work that are prohibited by law. Attack of other employees or bullying In LLC organization, the employees are not allowed by the law to attack other fellow employee, and whenever there a rises a problem between two employees, they should report to the management to help them solve the problem amicably. Sexual harassment Sexual harassment is also another practice that is prohibited by the law in LLC organization. The employees are expected to stay and respect one another. Thus any cases of sexual harassment should be reported to the management Misuse of time Time misuse has also been prohibited by the law in LLC organization, this is because, for the company or the organization to achieve its objectives, the employees must be ready to work and not spend most of their time idling. 23. Describe the auditing and inspection practices for your area of work. Some of the auditing and inspection practices conducted in the organization include; Safeguarding assets Assets are considered as the economic resources that the organization has, some of these assets include; computers, furniture, and building. The safeguarding of these assets enables the organization to run smoothly without experiencing challenges. Duties segregation Segregation of duties in the organization is also another auditing and inspection practice that is carried out in LLC organization. It enables the employees to work without challenges and majorly specifies on their skills (Quinn et al 138). 24. Select one area of compliance in your workplace, and explain the consequences of non-compliance in this area. Regulatory compliance Regulatory compliance defines the process through which an organization adheres to the rules and the regulations of the organization to achieve its objectives. Consequences of non-compliance Non-compliance is always associated with various fines that the organization experiences. Thus, these fines lead to the low production by the organization. Due to non-compliance, the organization can fail to accomplish its objectives within the specified time since there is no correct plan for the employees (Quinn et al 138) 25. List the kinds of insurance that your organisation has/is required to have. An organization is expected to have numerous insurance for its better performance. Some of this insurance that it is expected to have include; commercial insurance, life insurance, and liberty mutual insurance. 26. Select a regulatory authority that functions in relation your work area. Describe its role in relation to your organisation, or area of work. In LLC organization, the regulatory authority that functions is the administrative body. Role The administrative body that functions in the LLC organization ensures that the laws that are set for every organization are followed including LLC organization. The administrative body also inspects those products and the services that are offered by the organization. Additionally, the administrative body also offers new rules and regulations that suit the performance of the organization. References Quinn, Robert E., et al. (2014). Becoming a master manager: A competing values approach. John Wiley & Sons, Read More