Week 3 Team Assignment
Legal requirements of a social worker
“A social workers responsibility is to ensure the attorney, judge and jury have an opportunity to hear about the defendant’s mental health, substance abuse, brain development, medical conditions, social development and age”(Betsy Biben, 2012). When the social worker documents and enters his/her report, the report will give information and assessments about the clients and the plans in place to rehabilitate, and help with making better decisions. After preparing a profile that describes and explain the client’s impairments and the inability to afford payments for resources and programs needed prepare him/her to be armed with tools and skills to return back to the community, which will allow a successful change of becoming a productive member of society. The report will give information and assessments about the clients and the plans to rehabilitate, and help with making better decisions. After preparing a profile that describes and explain the client’s impairments, the social worker will explain the client’s financial circumstances that does not include the ability to pay for programs necessary to start rehabilitation. A social worker has to acknowledge and legally support the client’s legal confidentiality right, unless the documents includes child abuse or potentials to cause harm to themselves or others. In a case like this, the laws of the courts, with agreed limitations, can supersede the confidentiality agreement and the social worker can request what can and cannot be disclosed in court.
“Social workers in public defenders’ offices, ensure defendants have a right to explain their story, and they promote the benefits of rehabilitation” (Betsy Biben, 2012). Retrieved from: http://www.socialworksearch.com/html/nasw.shtml What situations may represent a conflict for a human service professional in protecting children? As mentioned previously a social worker does have to keep the client’s privacy is confidential unless it has to do with child abuse, hurting themselves or hurting others. I think confidentiality may become a problem if the human service professional builds more than a working relationship with the client. This can become a conflict if there’s a situation where the client tells them they abused a child or are thinking about hurting the child. The professional might not want to report them thinking that they can help them because of the friendship that they build. This can be dangerous for the child if the client does not listen to the professional. The professional has to make sure that they go by the code of ethics that they learned and make sure that they report the situation. A child’s best interest should always be put first in any situation. This may represent a conflict for a human service professional when protecting a child because they may go by their gut instinct and assume that they can may know what the child’s best interest is going to be. For example, a professional may think something is happening to a child and may not want to report it because they do not want the child to be taken away from their mother. Due the professional assuming the child was better off with the mother the child later on was sent to the hospital because he “accidentally“ fell down the stairs. After the hospital reports it and they start investigating the accident they find that he has been getting abused by the stepfather. This can put the professional’s career in jeopardy because he should have reported it before an accident actually happened. It is always important to report any signs so that they may be investigated.