“… We Didn't Connect at All …”

Abstract

This article presents a case study of an episode of service delivery in which a gay man sought counseling in relation to his sexuality from an AIDS service organization. The design was based on institutional ethnography, a research approach that focuses on discovering links between the experiences of marginalized people and the influence of oppressive ideologies on social institutions. Using a narrative approach to data analysis, I show concretely how this man was effectively prevented from accessing help by the silence of his social worker and the agency in relation to issues of same-sex sexual orientation. The study demonstrates the complexity and subtlety of the social relations that allow heterosexism to shape the delivery of social services. Implications for future research are identified.     

The Expansion of the Peer Adviser Workforce: Opportunities and Challenges for Social Work

ABSTRACT

Peer adviser roles are becoming an increasingly common—and celebrated—aspect of agencies where social workers are located. This article reports on a qualitative research study exploring the experiences of staff within a homelessness outreach service in which three peer advisers (people with a lived experience of homelessness) commenced employment. Drawing on action research principles, the study explored the experiences of the peer advisers and the broader team following the introduction of the peer adviser roles. Themes identified include, realising the skills of peer advisers, defining the role, taking a “whole of team” approach, and reflecting on power. This study demonstrates that the introduction of peer adviser roles into human service organisations is a promising strategy for creating services that are more likely to respond effectively to the needs of service users. However, social workers need to be aware of the pitfalls of tokenism and the devaluing of experiential knowledge.

IMPLICATIONS

• Peer advisers in health and welfare agencies add significant benefits to an agency’s capacity to respond to the needs of service users.

• The introduction of the peer workforce is aligned to social work values of service user empowerment and the valuing of experiential knowledge.

• In order to avoid tokenism, the introduction of peer adviser roles should be supported by both the attitudes and actions of other staff members, as well as organisational support structures.

     

Moving Toward Collaboration

Summary

Traditionally, organizations serving children and families have focused service delivery by available funding stream criteria. Federal funding streams supported fragmented services by tightly channeling monies to specific programs for specific needs. The intensity of providing and improving the delivery of services has overshadowed building connectedness across organizations and systems. Service has been the major goal and intense effort has gone into maximizing opportunities and measuring effects through service frequency. Over the past several years, new funding incentives have provided the opportunity for new collaboratives. This article describes an innovative collaboration between the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (IDHW) and Eastern Washington University (EWU) and the unique directions and support that a university/agency partnership can provide for both organizations. Key features of this collaboration include shifts in funding and staffing strategies that contributed to more flexible services and increased levels of collaboration between IDHW, EWU and other community and state organizations and institutions. This article describes how funding can be viewed as a tool to increase the level of collaboration between systems, thus potentially leading to a breakdown of the traditional service delivery system. Finally, this article describes how an agency/higher education partnership played a key role in documenting the success of a school based program in meeting the emergency assistance needs of children and families, and how program evaluation, like funding requirements, can provide a supportive role in building collaborative relationships.     

Medicare Funded Mental Health Social Work: Better Access to What?

ABSTRACT

Better Access to Psychiatrists, Psychologists and General Practitioners through the Medicare Benefits Scheme initiative (Better Access), is an Australian Federal Government scheme aiming to improve access to mental health services. Accredited mental health social workers have been involved in the delivery of services under Better Access for more than a decade. In this time, there have been significant changes in the field of mental health services, with consequent increases in size and costs for Better Access. Better Access now represents public spending of more than one billion dollars per annum, yet there is no ongoing account of its impact. In this paper we consider the policy chronology and evaluation of the program, using current available data to question the impact of Better Access on both the service system and the nature of mental health social work practice. This case highlights the importance of a clear articulation of the scope of mental health social work, and ongoing monitoring of the impact of policy in a policy environment increasingly characterised by individualised funding and service delivery structured according to the principles of New Public Management.

IMPLICATIONS

• Social workers' increasing involvement with Better Access has reshaped the scope of mental health social work practice.

• The impact of Better Access on outcomes for service users and mental health social work is not currently a focus of research attention.

• Better Access is a case study illustrating the potential of the policy context to directly shape social work practice, therefore critical engagement with the impact of Better Access is an essential professional imperative.

     

Social work guanxi: a reflexive account of the social work relationship in the Chinese context

ABSTRACT

In a guanxi-driven acquaintanceship, the worker, the client, and the community are tied together more closely than they are in mutually agreed-upon service contracts. This paper re-examines the contemporary boundaries in the social work relationship, especially in Asian nations such as China, where ‘relationships’ are generally translated and perceived as ‘guanxi’. The indigenisation of social work must be managed with care when translating from West to East. Drawing from the experiences of community development projects in rural Hong Kong, this paper discusses how guanxi among social workers, clients and other stakeholders in Chinese communities might challenge the professionalism of social work and breach the boundaries of social work relationships.     

Rural and Regional Developments in Social Work Higher Education

Abstract

Social work education has traditionally been taught in urban universities in on-campus programs. In the present paper, the author outlines the nature of social work education at Charles Sturt University, a regional Australian university. The author argues that social work education in a rural/regional university is shaped by rural social contextual issues, as well as by changes in the higher education sector. The author notes that social work education fills a significant gap in that it attracts students who are unable to access urban campuses, adds value to rural service delivery, supports rural/regional research, and highlights issues of rural disadvantage. Despite this, the paper argues that rural disadvantage and higher education sector pressures place the delivery of social work education shaped around and responsive to rural social justice issues in regional universities in jeopardy.     

Service-user participation in developing social services: applying the experiment-driven approach

ABSTRACT

Participatory approaches are needed in Finland for service users to participate in designing and developing social services. New collaborative methods are the focus of this research, as this pilot case-study analyses the experiment-driven design approach and its consequences on service users’ agency and participation. This practitioner research belongs to the pragmatist research tradition. The data comprises transcribed focus group and individual interviews of service users and social workers in group operations in a Finnish municipal adult social service organisation. The data are evaluated by content analysis. The experiments with service prototypes allowed the service users to observe the consequences of their actions in practice. Instead of only being heard and consulted, the service users found they could influence the practice in concrete ways. The professionals and organisation shaped the service users’ participation and agency by operating as gatekeepers in sharing power. The service users reported that collaboration with professionals and participation in the group gave them a sense of renewed citizenship, improved social skills and helped to manage with personal illnesses or daily struggles. The research concludes that experimentation can provide a way to utilise experiential knowledge in developing social work collaboratively.     

Integrating Environmental Issues into Social Work Practice: Lessons Learnt from Domestic Energy Auditing

Abstract

This study of domestic energy audit practice draws on current literature and focuses on a program at Kildonan UnitingCare. It explores and highlights the relevance of natural environmental issues for social work practice and includes practical ideas for addressing financial, social, and environmental issues within case work practice and advocacy. The overlap between energy audit and social work practice is said to apply to both service user issues and the professional skill base of social workers. Finally, a transformation in social work thinking practice and education is suggested, within a vision that is community focused and holistically integrated.     

Changing Contexts of Practice: Challenges for Social Work and Community Development

ABSTRACT

In a rapidly changing global environment, there have been renewed calls to position community development more centrally in social work, particularly in the face of contemporary practice challenges. This paper analyses the broad policy contexts of neoliberalism, globalisation, and governance change and discusses how these forces interact with social work and community development, drawing on examples from Australia and Ireland. The paper argues that sociopolitical forces both restrict and present opportunities for social work and community development practice and we seek to reactivate debate about the position of community development within changing and challenging contexts.

IMPLICATIONS

• Contextualises community development practice, policy, and research within contemporary environments of neoliberalism, globalisation, and governance change.

• Critically evaluates implications and new opportunities for social work and community development, drawing on examples from Australia and Ireland.

• Reactivates debate and analysis on the position of community development in contemporary social work as we move forward into the new decade, and the next global agenda for social work and social development.

     

Project Discovery: Social Work Research @ Southern Health

Abstract

The health sector uses a “person-in-environment” perspective reflected in multidisciplinary teamwork to understand and influence human lives. This standpoint accords closely with social work's knowledge and theory base, recognising that material, economic, political, organisational, and social structures interact, creating a complex array of factors impacting on individuals and families. Practice research activities are an effective way of exploring social work's particular contribution to health service provision. We describe and critique various models of practice research reported in the literature. A unique model of practice research that we are developing is discussed. Called Project Discovery: Social Work Research @ Southern Health 18 June 2011, this model demonstrates ways in which practice research may exemplify theoretically-driven and service-based research and in so doing advance social work's knowledgebase.     

An exploratory study examining needs,access, and competent social services for the transgender community in Phoenix,Arizona

ABSTRACT

Phoenix is the sixth largest city in the United States, with a vibrant yet underserved lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) population. Despite an extensive community presence, social service delivery bias persists among members of the LGBTQ community, but more often among transgender individuals. Existing research has examined social services from the perspective of either the client or the practitioner. This exploratory study specifically examines social services in the Phoenix metropolitan area for the transgender community. Data collected from interviews with participants and providers contributed to an assessment of the current level of social services for the transgender community, with a specific emphasis on identifying service gaps and recommendations for culturally competent and comprehensive services.     

A Joint University—Field Agency: Toward the Integration of Classroom and Practicum

Abstract

The authors describe an innovative program designed to create a joint university and local municipality agency in Israel. The agency was structured to be a teaching laboratory that would offer innovative services for social work clients and a unique field placement for students. Four major goals involved joint outcomes for both university and municipality. These included (a) demonstrating evaluation research as a means of accountability and as a tool for practice; (b) using generic social work methods for work with families; (c) reaching out to difficult and high-risk clients with innovative programs; and (d) using the laboratory as a training center for welfare workers, agency supervisors, and students from all levels of the social work programs. The authors describe and evaluate each of the goals, discussing the implications for teaching and for social work practice.     

Broadening the Array of Services: Integrating Legal and Social Work Services for Youth and Families

ABSTRACT

The Community Justice and Legal Assistance Clinic (CJLA) is a unique community-based legal clinic developed through a partnership between a law school and a child and family service agency embedded within a low-income community. This article describes the development of this clinic through a community assessment process; its unique multidisciplinary features; the services provided to clients in three of the agency's service areas; the benefits of the partnership for clients, the social service agency, the participating law students, and the law school; and lessons learned for replication of this type of clinic in other communities.     

Lessons from American Social Work Education: Caution Ahead

Abstract

Similar trends are occurring in Australian and US social work education, as universities increasingly adopt a rigid market orientation to tertiary education. This marketisation shapes social work education in manifold ways, including the pressure to increase revenues (and effect greater efficiencies) by expanding the size of social work programs. The unregulated growth in social work programs leads to lowered admission standards, as programs are forced to compete for students. An oversupply of social workers will also drive salaries downwards as supply eclipses demand. These issues are examined in the context of a “big” versus a “small” (fewer but more highly trained social workers) model of social work. Emphasis is placed on the lessons that Australian social work educators can learn from the challenges facing US social work education.     

“It's Really Not Easy to Get Help”: Services to Drought-Affected Families

Abstract

The present paper details the results of research conducted with drought-affected farm families in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The study reveals the significant health and welfare stresses experienced by families and the lack of access to services and support. The research was conducted in three sites in rural and remote areas of NSW in 2003. Farm family members, service providers, and other community key informants were interviewed. The paper outlines ways that the social work profession can respond to significant natural disasters.     

Being a service user and a social work academic: balancing expert identities

Abstract

I am a service user and academic working in a university social work department. My hybrid identity allows me to draw on different types of knowledge in all aspects of my work, including: academic, practice and experiential wisdom. Service user involvement is mandated across social work education but the scope and breadth of different kinds of participation is developed in diverse ways across university contexts. This article affirms the value of service user involvement in health and social care education, exploring its positive impact on students. When lecturers share personal experience of using services alongside practice and academic wisdom in the course of teaching, sometimes the value of experiential knowledge is doubted and its influence dismissed. I examine the importance of experiential wisdom in social work education, specifically when it is embedded in an academic role in a university social work department, and consider how it can be respected and valued. The parallel experiences of involving peer support workers in mental health services, who use their knowledge of recovery to mentor other service users, are then briefly examined, together with reflection of the concerns across mental health with professionals sharing their experiential wisdom with the people that they support.     

Going beyond training: theory and practice in managing learning

The establishment of new bodies to replace the Central Council for Training and Education in Social Work (CCETSW) and to regulate the social work profession provides the opportunity to establish an improved progressive system of qualifications and continued professional development in the coming years. With the current pressure on social work agency budgets it is imperative that precious training resources—staff and money—are used to make the maximum impact on service delivery. Our involvement in the provision of a range of training programmes leads us to believe that much of the staff development and training effort invested by agencies in their staff often seem to have a limited impact on effectiveness. A change in approach is needed so that learning is placed at the heart of organisational processes to maximise the benefits of affirmation and growing professional confidence. This is essential if we are to continue to ‘nurture’ valuable professional staff and ensure that services remain flexible, creative and responsive in meeting ever‐rising public expectations.

This paper examines some of the challenges of evidence‐based practice and the demands for routine evaluation and objective‐setting. The advantages and disadvantages of a competence specification approach within the development of service and occupational standards as the basis for professional education are discussed. The paper argues that strategies for practice learning require the development of learning organisations and a better academic and agency partnership to support more effective professional education and continued professional development.     

The Federal GPRA Evaluation Mandate

Abstract

The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) mandates inclusion of evaluation in federal agency strategic plans, impacting human service programs receiving federal support. Recommended evaluation methods include flexible ongoing and participatory approaches. Yet social work may not be prepared to appropriately respond to the government's demands for accountability. This paper reviews GPRA and its implications for social work practice, evaluation, and research, offering response strategies. The paper suggests that the creation of a National Center for Social Work Research (S. 70/H.R. 663) could help bridge evaluation gaps, offering a centralized mechanism for monitoring evaluation activities and maximizing federal research resources.     

A Collaborative Approach to Service,Learning, and Scholarship

ABSTRACT

This article describes a research course that was a collaborative endeavor between a school of social work and a community organization. This project was guided by learning, service and scholarship goals. Specifically, the participants in this course provided a pro-bono evaluation for a community benefits district. The benefits district solicited assistance from the authors, with the caveat that district members not be involved in the data collection and analysis. The authors situate this project on a continuum of traditional versus participatory research, and propose a “mixed” model for collaborative university-community efforts. The authors suggest ways of engaging students in “real world” research that benefits the community and facilitates their own training as macro social work practitioners. Factors that facilitate and hinder such a project are also discussed.     

Role-Playing in the Context of Learning Theory in Casework Teaching

Abstract

This paper explores the growing tendency toward formality and legalism in social work field education. The findings of a national study of “field training agreements” is presented. It is the contention of the authors, that the more explicit the Curriculum Policy Statement and the Accreditation Standards become, in relation to the field component of the curriculum—the closer and more complex becomes the relationship between educational institutions and the practice community. This complexity, as well as the evolving legal climate—with concerns over liability—naturally leads to greater formality. Such formality has the potential for strengthening the university/field agency relationship or destroying it.