Introduction and Summary
Social work is an important aspect that integrates, accounts for, and involves extensive executions, ideals, and ideologies, among other details. Getting the optimal results for a given engagement requires an intricate and careful exploration of the ideas, stakeholder collaboration, and the associated legislation (Fook, 2022). This assessment details the particular steps, processes, and strategies alongside the outcomes of the interview with Becca Enns, a divorced mother of two who is the subject of this social work exploration. The interview follows a response to the claims made by a neighbor who believes that Becca’s parenting situation is likely to be jeopardizing the welfare of the kids. A particular inference, according to the concern report, cites her recent behavior as the reason for a likely negative impact on the children.
The background information establishes that the mother, Becca Enns, is a 31-year-old Caucasian woman who works as an educational assistant. Becca is a low-medium income earner, while her estranged husband hails from a medium-income socioeconomic arrangement. Kelvin works as a firefighter. Preliminary findings also indicate that her two daughters, ages eight and ten, are under the custody of her ex-husband, Kevin, during weekdays, and she only accesses them during weekends. The concerned caller noted that Becca exhibits signs and evidence of increased alcohol consumption and a huge decline in her self-care. The caller asserted that Becca’s home upkeep has been on the decline since Kevon took custody of the children. The event occurred on Friday, and the girls were left unsupervised until the neighbor contacted Kevin.
As a social worker under the Children’s Aid Society intervention, this interview and the subject analysis were structured to meet Becca, explain the nature of concern and referral, and conduct a thorough analysis of her home environment to assess if there are any protection concerns for the girls. Besides this interview was also structured to determine if there are any available social services and supports that could benefit the family in their current situation. It is vital to note that before this interview, the information about the subject custody of the daughters revealed apparent child protection concerns. Therefore, the goal of the decided activities was to gather the necessary details of what transpired, advise the parents, safeguard the daughters’ wellbeing, and pick out any areas of potential needs or risks.
Objectives and Strategies
The objectives for this interview include assessing Becca’s current living condition, understanding the child custody issue from her perspective, and determining the need or availability of any urgent child protection concerns. The strategies selected will be carefully constructed to resonate with her situation. Also, general similar-case strategies like a non-judgmental attitude, active listening skills, and appreciation of her efforts made the interview run in a collaborative environment to allow her to opt for open communication.
Particular insights into the goal of this interview included the structuring of how Becca could be reasonably engaged to attain the necessary information objectively. Therefore, this interview sought to build rapport and make the interviewee feel comfortable in disclosing the information necessary for evaluating the situation. The effective execution of this procedural engagement included gathering the details about the Friday incident while assessing the underlying issues that may necessitate the deployment of child protection services. This was achieved through active listening, open body language, validation of concerns, and utilization of open body language. Also, open-ended questions, clarification of the subject details, and assessment of the risk factors formed the threshold executions for gathering the incident findings.
Furthermore, as a part of the diligent assessment of social services, this interview accounted for the interviewee’s support and coping. Through strategies like inquiring about her social supports, access to resources, self-care, and provision of referrals as required, it was possible to practically and evidently analyze Becca’s coping and social support facets. Finally, the most vital aspect of this interview was to create an informed and evidence-based safety plan for Becca’s children. As outlined, the neighbor’s concern was likely valid, and the need to create a safety plan for the children is feasible and necessary. This particular aspect would be gained by identifying the strengths and discussing the most appropriate and applicable alternative arrangements as required. This objective could also be attained by providing the children and Becca with the resources or linking them with social services.
Interview Setting Circumstances and Physical Setting
As outlined in the social service thresholds and guidelines, it is necessary to achieve the right balance in the interview process. An interview that is founded on the qualities of efficiency, accuracy, and legalities will not only extract the required information but also allow the interviewee to feel at ease (Tajima et al., 2022). Selecting an interview setting is one of the vital elements of this undertaking. Social services guidelines indicate the need for careful consideration of this facet as it allows both the interviewer and the interviewee the ability to contribute actively in the process. Most importantly, the selection of the interview venue and physical settings must be crafted in a way that the interviewee feels at ease and encouraged to engage without feeling judged or compromised.
The pre-arranged meeting was executed at Becca’s house. She promptly answered the door despite appearing nervous. An overall assessment proved that she was cooperative, and the conversation began on the grounds of safety hazards. She sat across the room, and her body language, alongside her hygiene and dressing, were appropriate. Throughout the interview, she maintained a fairly constant and appropriate eye contact and an open body posture. These attributes indicated her willingness and ability to engage and partake in the conversation. To complement this situation, I opted for a supportive and non-judgmental approach while emphasizing the role of social workers in child welfare and child protection services. These approaches, as used throughout the entire interview, were aimed at underscoring the importance of caring for the children rather than criticizing or accusing Becca.
Evaluation of Exercise
The interview process with Becca was affiliated with several attributes of Becca’s living conditions, strategy implementation, learning summary, and communication skills. It is vital to note that these factors interacted to lead to the overall interview outcomes. The prospected interview objectives were partially met in this information collection and rapport-building interview. Through the meeting, I established and identified key attributes of the incident. This in-depth activity led to a clarification of the areas that might require attention or immediate additional support. The inability to fully attain the projected interview objectives can be attributed to several internal and external issues. Becca’s personality and relational skills did not allow her to form the right attitude and trust to engage fully and freely. Also, the inability to exhaustively meet the meeting demands might have been caused by time constraints. Due to these factors, it is necessary to enhance the collaboration on formal safety planning in the follow-up interview session.
However, it is essential to acknowledge that the rapport-building process was largely successful largely because of the proper execution of active listening, validating emotions, and maintaining a non-judgmental, supportive stance. The wide-range executions allowed for the creation of the necessary space for transparent and meaningful disclosure of the events that led to the girls being left unattended. While this incident warrants a procedural follow-up, the interview’s preliminary outcomes indicate no apparent or emergent issues that heavily undermine Becca’s ability to access a support network and support the children. Overall, it is necessary to execute a contingency safety plan to account for the next steps and the expected accountability threshold from Becca.
On the other hand, most of my planned interview and interactional strategies effectively worked for this interview. The intricate deployment of these factors led to an open, practical, and productive discussion. Notably, the use of open-ended questions allowed for enhanced clarity and the identification of particular indicative issues to suggest the associated safety issues in the girls (Leckey et al., 20220. Also, the interview utilized reflective responses to indicate active listening and, overall, supported the dissemination of relevant information. I employed a validation technique for Becca’s feelings to normalize the situation’s complexity. By integrating a neutral inquiry position, I objectively inspired the interviewee to be engaged and openly share her experience and how the current events manifested.
Despite the associated success of this interview process, there is a need for the follow-up interview to be strictly based on more direct questions. There are some sections of this interview that I progressed too quickly and, thus, was unable to acquire the precise details around timelines or circumstances factually. Social work guidelines are based on the ability to acquire precise information to assess the risk and formulate collaborative solutions effectively. Furthermore, it is necessary to probe the interviewees in assertive and transparent executions that facilitate the optimal understanding of child protection.
In conclusion, this interview experience allowed for an experiential insight that reinforced the enhanced understanding of the core concepts of building meaningful client rapport. Besides, the interview process was an opportunity to allow for the execution of the ideals that would reflect a non-judgmental and well-elaborated approach that guided the interviewees to disclose important details that would help facilitate the course of action. Nevertheless, I identified particular attributes of the interview process that need enhancement and improvement. For example, I will have to improve on the clarity-seeking questions and ensure that they focus on specific details and facts. Also, my assessment skills could be strengthened by getting more comfortable asking clients hard questions to get the necessary information, which may feel intrusive but is vital for child protection roles. In the future, I will integrate the insights I learned and practically improve the interview process. By meeting these adjustments, I am likely to have productive, holistic discussions focused on unraveling the truth alongside fully focusing on the protection of vulnerable protections.
References
Fook, J. (2022). Social work: A critical approach to practice. Social Work, 1-100.
Leckey, R., Schmieder-Gropen, R., Nnebe, C., & Clouthier, M. (2022). Indigenous parents and child welfare: Mistrust, epistemic injustice, and training. Social & Legal Studies, 31(4), 559-579.
Tajima, E. A., Day, A. G., Kanuha, V. K., Rodriquez-JenKins, J., & Pryce, J. A. (2022). What counts as evidence in child welfare research? Research on Social Work Practice, 32(5), 514-520.
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