Assignment help
Need help with a case on claudia
For this Assignment, read the case study for Claudia and find two to three scholarly articles on social issues surrounding immigrant families.
In a 2- to 4-page paper, explain how the literature informs you about Claudia and her family when assessing her situation.
Describe two social issues related to the course-specific case study for Claudia that inform a culturally competent social worker.
Describe culturally competent strategies you might use to assess the needs of children.
Describe the types of data you would collect from Claudia and her family in order to best serve them.
Identify other resources that may offer you further information about Claudias case.
Create an eco-map to represent Claudias situation. Describe how the ecological perspective of assessment influenced how the social worker interacted with Claudia.
Describe how the social worker in the case used a strengths perspective and multiple tools in her assessment of Claudia. Explain how those factors contributed to the therapeutic relationship with Claudia and her family.
PRACTICE
13
Working With Children
and Adolescents:
The Case of Claudia
Claudia is a 6-year-old, Hispanic female residing with her
biological mother and father in an urban area. Claudia was born
in the United States 6 months after her mother and father moved
to the country from Nicaragua. There is currently no extended
family living in the area, but Claudias parents have made friends
in the neighborhood. Claudias family struggles economically and
has also struggled to obtain legal residency in this country. Her
father inconsistently finds work in manual labor, and her mother
recently began working three nights a week at a nail salon. While
Claudia is bilingual in Spanish and English, Spanish is the sole
language spoken in her household. She is currently enrolled in a
large public school, attending kindergarten.
Claudias family lives in an impoverished urban neighborhood
with a rising crime rate. After Claudia witnessed a mugging in her
neighborhood, her mother reported that she became very anxious
and needy. She cried frequently and refused to be in a room
alone without a parent. Claudia made her parents lock the doors
after returning home and would ask her parents to check the locks
repeatedly. When walking in the neighborhood, Claudia would
ask her parents if people passing are bad or if an approaching
person is going to hurt them. Claudia had difficulty going to bed
on nights when her mother worked, often crying when her mother
left. Although she was frequently nervous, Claudia was comforted
by her parents and has a good relationship with them. Claudias
nervousness was exhibited throughout the school day as well. She
asked her teachers to lock doors and spoke with staff and peers
about potential intruders on a daily basis.
Claudias mother, Paula, was initially hesitant to seek therapy
services for her daughter due to the familys undocumented
status in the country. I met with Claudias mother and utilized
the initial meeting to explain the nature of services offered at
the agency, as well as the policies of confidentiality. Prior to the
SOCIAL WORK CASE STUDIES: CONCENTRATION YEAR
14
meeting, I translated all relevant forms to Spanish to increase
Paulas comfort. Within several minutes of talking, Paula notice-
ably relaxed, openly sharing the familys history and her concerns
regarding Claudias nervousness. Goals set for Claudia included
increasing Claudias ability to cope with anxiety and increasing her
ability to maintain attention throughout her school day.
Using child-centered and directed play therapy approaches,
I began working with Claudia to explore her world. Claudia was
intrigued by the sand tray in my office and selected a variety
of figures, informing me that each figure was either good or
bad. She would then construct scenes in the sand tray in which
she would create protective barriers around the good figures,
protecting them from the bad. I reflected upon this theme of good
versus bad, and Claudia developed the ability to verbalize her
desire to protect good people.
I continued meeting with Claudia once a week, and Claudia
continued exploring the theme of good versus bad in the sand tray
for 2 months. Utilizing a daily feelings check-in, Claudia developed
the ability to engage in affect identification, verbalizing her feelings
and often sharing relevant stories. Claudia slowly began asking me
questions about people in the building and office, inquiring if they
were bad or good, and I supported Claudia in exploring these
inquiries. Claudia would frequently discuss her fears about school
with me, asking why security guards were present at schools. We
would discuss the purpose of security guards in detail, allowing
her to ask questions repeatedly, as needed. Claudia and I also
practiced a calming song to sing when she experienced fear or
anxiety during the school day.
During this time, I regularly met with Paula to track Claudias
progress through parent reporting. I also utilized psychoeduca-
tional techniques during these meetings to review appropriate
methods Paula could use to discuss personal safety with Claudia
without creating additional anxiety.
By the third month of treatment, Claudia began determining
that more and more people in the environment were good. This
was reflected in her sand tray scenes as well: the protection of
good figures decreased, and Claudia began placing good and bad
PRACTICE
15
figures next to one another, stating, Theyre okay now. Paula
reported that Claudia no longer questioned her about each indi-
vidual that passed them on the street. Claudia began telling her
friends in school about good security guards and stopped asking
teachers to lock doors during the day. At home, Claudia became
more comfortable staying in her bedroom alone, and she signifi-
cantly decreased the frequency of asking for doors to be locked.
APPENDIX
99
7. What local, state, or federal policies could (or did) affect
this case?
Chase had an international adoption but it was filed within
a specific state, which allowed him and his family to receive
services so he could remain with his adopted family. In addi-
tion, state laws related to education affected Chase and
aided his parents in requesting testing and special educa-
tion services. Lastly, state laws related to child abandonment
could have affected this family if they chose to relinquish
custody to the Department of Family and Children Services
(DFCS).
8. How would you advocate for social change to positively
affect this case?
Advocacy within the school system for early identification and
testing of children like Chase would be helpful.
9. Were there any legal or ethical issues present in the case?
If so, what were they and how were they addressed?
There was a possibility of legal/ethical issues related to the
familys frustration with Chase. If his parents had resorted to
physical abuse, a CPS report would need to be filed. In addi-
tion, with a possible relinquishment of Chase, DFCS could
decide to look at the children still in the home (Chases adopted
siblings) and consider removing them as well.
Working With Children and Adolescents:
The Case of Claudia
1. What specific intervention strategies (skills, knowledge, etc.)
did you use to address this client situation?
Specific intervention skills used were positive verbal support
and encouragement, validation and reflection, and affect
identification and exploration. Knowledge of child anxieties/
fear and psychoeducation for the client and her mother were
also utilized. Child-centered play therapy was utilized along
with sand tray therapy to provide a safe environment for
Claudia.
SOCIAL WORK CASE STUDIES: CONCENTRATION YEAR
100
2. Which theory or theories did you use to guide your practice?
I used theoretical bases of child- (client-) centered nondirective
play therapy.
3. What were the identified strengths of the client(s)?
Client strengths were a supportive parenting unit, positive peer
interactions, and the ability to engage.
4. What were the identified challenges faced by the client(s)?
The client faced environmental challenges. Due to socioeconomic
status, the client resided in a somewhat dangerous neighborhood,
adding to her anxiety and fear. The clients family also lacked an
extended support system and struggled to establish legal residency.
5. What were the agreed-upon goals to be met to address the
concern?
The goals agreed upon were to increase the clients ability to
cope with anxiety and increase her ability to maintain attention
at school.
6. Did you have to address any issues around cultural compe-
tence? Did you have to learn about this population/group
prior to beginning your work with this client system? If so,
what type of research did you do to prepare?
Language barriers existed when working with the clients
mother. I ensured that all agency documents were translated
into Spanish. It was also important to understand the familys
cultural isolation. Their current neighborhood and culture is
much different than the rural Nicaraguan areas Claudias parents
grew up in. To learn more about this, I spent time with Paula,
learning more about her experience growing up and how this
affects her parenting style and desires for her daughters future.
7. What local, state, or federal policies could (or did) affect
this situation?
The client and her parents are affected by immigration legislation.
The clients family was struggling financially as a result of their
inability to obtain documented status in this country. The clients
mother expressed their strong desire to obtain legal status, but
stated that lawyer fees, court fees, and overwhelming paperwork
hindered their ability to obtain legal residency.
APPENDIX
101
8. How would you advocate for social change to positively
affect this case?
I would advocate for increased availability and funding for
legal aid services in the field of immigration.
9. How can evidence-based practice be integrated into this
situation?
Evidenced-based practice can be integrated through the use
of proven child therapy techniques, such as child-centered
nondirective play therapy, along with unconditional positive
regard.
10. Describe any additional personal reflections about this case.
It can be difficult to work with fears and anxiety when they
are rooted in a clients environment. It was important to help
Claudia cope with her anxiety while still maintaining the familys
vigilance about crime and violence in the neighborhood.
Working With Children and Adolescents:
The Case of Noah
1. What specific intervention strategies (skills, knowledge, etc.)
did you use to address this client situation?
I utilized structured play therapy and cognitive behavioral
techniques.
2. Which theory or theories did you use to guide your practice?
For this case study, I used cognitive behavioral theory.
3. What were the identified strengths of the client(s)?
Noah had supportive and loving foster parents who desired to
adopt him. He quickly became acclimated to the foster home
and started a friendship with his foster brother. He started to
become engaged in extracurricular activities. Noah was an
inquisitive and engaging boy who participated in our meetings.
4. What were the identified challenges faced by the client(s)?
Noah faced several challenges, most significantly the failure
of his mother to follow through with the reunification plan.
He has had an unstable childhood with unclear parental role
models. There may be some unreported incidences of abuse
and trauma.
