- Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
- In your textbook, Social Work Skills for Beginning Direct Practice, read Chapter 12 “Practice Evaluation” and Chapter 13 “Termination.”
- Read the article, Grief only? Client and social worker reactions to termination. Note the social workers’ reactions to termination with clients.
- If you are not already logged in, you will be prompted to log in to the OCLS using your MyIWU log-in and password.
- Review and consider the application of the NASW Code of Ethics to the evaluation and termination phases of the social work practice framework.
- Reflect on your experiences with endings, interruptions, and transitions. Consider their implications by responding to the following sets of questions:
- Reflect on specific evaluation methods a social worker could use to measure ongoing needs and program effectiveness clients. What is one formal evaluation strategy that the social worker could use to evaluate progress made on specific treatment goals and ongoing needs? Why is evaluation a matter of ethical practice in this case?
- What memories come to mind when you think of your own experiences with endings, interruptions, and transitions? Some common examples may include finishing a school year and saying goodbye to teachers and classmates you liked, moving away for college, or finding out that a doctor you feel comfortable with is leaving practice. What positive and negative thoughts and feelings do you have about endings and how may they relate to clients’ experiences of endings in the change process? How might endings in your future social work practice bring up both the positive and negative emotions surrounding your memories? What is your plan to manage these emotions when you are terminating with clients?
- After reviewing the NASW Code of Ethics, section 1.17, consider the client population you hope to work with. What are some ethical considerations you have towards the termination process, and how do you plan to terminate with clients ethically? For example, how might you prepare clients for an upcoming leave of absence or termination? What are some examples of things you might say? As another example, how might you collaborate with a client to create a discharge plan that addresses her ongoing needs for safety?
