Respond to at least two colleagues who have an internship in a different practice setting than you do.
- Comment on their roles and tasks, and how those relate to generalist social work practice.
- Ask questions about the agency’s work, the role of the intern, and/or the services delivered to clients.
- Use this response to learn about another practice setting.
1ka-
Introduction
Hello classmates, my name is K, and I am from New Jersey. I am currently working with the drug and alcohol population, but I also work with at-risk youth and youth with developmental issues as a Behavioral Assistant and Advocate. My focus is primarily on children and family services but as I venture out into other sectors in the field of social work, I find myself wanting to do other things.
Agency
The agency that I am currently working with is the Maryville Addiction Treatment Center. Maryville provides comprehensive, high-quality drug and alcohol addiction treatmentLinks to an external site. and co-occurring mental health services while using a holistic, evidence-based treatment approach. My role as a social work intern here at Maryville will be working with drug and alcohol counselors learning intake and assessment skills. Maryville Pemberton works with is adult male population who are struggling with addiction. Here at Maryville as a Social work intern, I hope to build skills that will help me grow in areas of assessment, engagement, treatment, planning, and evaluation. I would also like to bring social awareness to the effects and impact of addiction on vulnerable communities.
Describe
My role as an intern aligns with the tasks associated with generalist social work practice advocating for living conditions conducive to fulfilling basic human needs and promoting social, economic, political, and cultural values and institutions compatible with realizing social justice (NASW, 2021). Clients who are dealing with addiction issues often also deal with underlying issues that either contributed to their addiction or may have derived from their addiction. As a social worker intern, I will be learning more about how to address these issues professionally and help connect these clients with resources that may help them.
Summarize
After completing the self-assessment the areas of practice I would like to improve on are Knowledge of how laws, rules, regulations, and policies of the agency impact the social work practice. I intend to research and stay current on policies concerning the laws that impact the drug and alcohol addiction population that I will be working with at the agency. This way I can provide the optimum services and resources to the clients I will be providing services to. Some strengths that I have are recognizing and respecting client’s values, beliefs, and perspectives. These skills help me use a strengths-based approach with clients, helping them to address their problems and enhance their social functioning by building on their strengths (Garthwait, 2020).
2ca-
Introduce yourself.
Hello everyone! My name is c. I live in Maryland and I have my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Salisbury University. I have a German Shepard named Zylo and a Tabby cat named CoCo. When I am not working and have free time, I like to make decorative rugs.
Name your agency, type of work they do, the clients they serve, and what you hope to do there as a social work intern.
The agency I am working at is the Department of Social Services in the Child Protective Services Unit. They provide direct assistance to children and families in crisis in the community, ensuring access to necessary resources and services, and conduct comprehensive assessments for families to determine child safety and well-being. While I am employed with this agency and completing the social work intern role, I hope to be able to gain effective communication skills to aid clients with their needs as well as learning to complete appropriate service plans to help the families work as a functional unit.
Describe how your role as an intern aligns with the tasks associated with generalist social work practice. Be specific.
My role as an intern aligns with the tasks associated with the generalist social work practice by allowing me to serve as case management and as an educator for families when informing them about legal policies regarding their children. For example, as I begin to receive my own cases with the department when working with families regarding acts of alleged neglect, I will be able to educate them on the laws required by the state of Maryland when using acts of physical discipline and the legal age for children to be left home alone unattended.
Review the task and roles for MSW Foundation Year on this website, referenced in the Learning Resources. Summarize any insights you have—including strengths, areas of improvement, and how you plan to address these areas—from completing the self-assessment on page 8 and 9 of your text.
When completing the self-assessment, I noticed I had a lot of strengths in the motivation to learn section and the attitudes and values section. Areas of improvement I noticed were in the knowledge section, the general work skills section and the prior experience related to practicum section. I plan to address these areas by not only being attentive during my internship, but also studying and staying up to date with relevant information in my community as well as in the social work field to help enhance my knowledge in these areas and applying them to my current career work environment.
