Competency Presentation

Madison Ricks

Core Competency: 1

Identify as a professional social

worker and conduct ones-self
accordingly

Practice Behavior 1.1

Advocate for client access to the

services of social work.

- Make details of shelter services

known to individuals and families as
well as link them to other available
resources.

Practice Behavior 1.2

Practice personal reflection and selfcorrection to assure continual

professional development.

- Reflect on potential biases with clients

and be non- judgemental with every
case. Review client feedback and seek
out areas of personal improvement.

Practice Behavior 1.3

Attend to professional roles and

boundaries.

- Attending intake sessions and

participating in the goal planning process
are key components of the initial meeting
with clients. Also, engaging in positive
social interaction with the ladies in the
shelter and encouraging participation are
part of the professional role.

Practice Behavior 1.4

Demonstrate professional demeanor in

behavior, appearance, and
communication.

- Dressing appropriately and

communicating effectively will show
the women that we serious about their
well-being, and success.

Practice Behavior 1.5

Engage in career-long learning.

- Learning not only from the supervisor

but other individuals providing
emergency or counseling will enhance
the learning experience. Being placed
with new clients and different
situations will also help for career-long
learning.

Practice Behavior 1.6

Use supervision and consultation.

- Review actions of clients with

supervisor and provide feedback on
behavior and progress.

Core Competency 2

Apply social work ethical

principles to guide professional
practice.

Practice Behavior 2.1

Recognize and manage personal values

in a way that allows professional values
to guide practice.

-Examine how my own values, while

working with each client, may have
hindered/helped during practice.

Practice Behavior 2.2

Make ethical decisions by applying standards of the National

Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics and, as applicable,
of the International Federation of Social Workers/ International
Association of Schools of Social Work Ethics in Social Work,
Statement of Principles.

Have

a general background knowledge of

Code of Ethics, etc. so it can be effectively
applied with clients in ethical dilemmas.

Practice Behavior 2.3

Tolerate ambiguity in resolving ethical

conflicts

-Recognize ethical conflicts with clients

and use best judgment when deciding
on a resolution.

Practice Behavior 2.4

Apply strategies of ethical reasoning to

arrive at principled decisions.

Take into consideration different

elements that factor into ethical
reasoning(ie. protection of life, least
harm, quality of life, etc.) Which take
precedent over others

Core Competency 3

Apply critical thinking to inform &

communicate professional
judgments.

Practice Behavior 3.1

Distinguish, appraise, and integrate

multiple sources of knowledge,
including research-based knowledge,
and practice wisdom.

- Use effective practice methods based

on research and past experience (I.e
Rules in shelter)

Practice Behavior 3.2

Analyze models of assessment,

prevention, intervention, and
evaluation.

-Analyze intake procedure, Resident

Participation form, Safety Plan, Danger
Assessment, Exit meeting (evaluation)

Practice Behavior 3.3

Demonstrate effective oral and written

communications in working with
individuals, families, groups, organizations,
communities, and colleagues.

- Successfully communicate shelter rules,

regulations, and policies during intake
-Enforcing shelter rules to individuals and
families

Competency 4

Engage diversity and difference in

practice.

Practice Behavior 4.1

Recognize the extent to which a

cultures structures and values may
oppress marginalize, alienate, or create
or enhance privilege or power

- Culture may alienate clients from

receiving services

Practice Behavior 4.2

Gain sufficient self-awareness to

eliminate the influence of personal biases
and values in working with diverse
groups.

- Reflection is very important to my selfawareness-talk with my supervisor after

client meetings to recognize our
differences in values but reiterate that we
are still there to help the clients.

Practice Behavior 4.3

Recognize and communicate their

understanding of the importance of
difference in shaping life experiences.

-Talk with women so they become more

comfortable and share their life
experiences. Understanding their
experiences will help us serve them
better

Practice Behavior 4.4

View themselves as learners and

engage those with whom they work as
informants.

-Actively listen to my supervisor and

other staff for advice on how to handle
situations and interact with clients.

Competency 5

Advance human rights and social

and economic justice.

Practice Behavior 5.1

Understand the forms and

mechanisms of oppression and
discrimination

- Oppression and discrimination

through employment- almost
impossible for women who have been
incarcerated to obtain public housing.

Practice Behavior 5.2 & 5.3

Advocate for human rights and economic

justice
Engage in practices that advance social
and economic justice.
- We give referrals to women for public or
private housing. These referrals move their
name up on the waiting list significantly. The
agency also helps financially for housing if the
individual had been putting forth an effort.

Competency 6

Engage in research-informed
practice and practice-informed
research.

Practice Behavior 6.1

Use practice experience to inform

scientific inquiry.

- Calculate statistics regularly (hours

stayed in shelter, # of hours children
stayed, services received).

Practice Behavior 6.2

Use research evidence to inform

practice

-Research on cycle of abuse, unhealthy

relationships, and types of violence are
used to teach clients in weekly classes.

Competency 7

Apply knowledge of human

behavior and the social
environment.

Practice Behavior 7.1

Utilize conceptual frameworks to

guide the processes of
assessment, intervention, and
evaluation.

Strengths perspective & person

centered approach used to empower
clients to leave unsafe situations
Strengths perspective used for Danger
Assessments

Practice Behavior 7.2

Critique and apply knowledge to

understand person and
environment.

Apply knowledge about how life

experiences shape a persons life
(death, previous family violence,
mental health issues, etc.

Competency 8

Engage in policy practice to

advance social and economic wellbeing and to deliver effective
social work services.

Practice Behavior 8.1

Analyze, formulate, and advocate

for policies that advance social
well-being.

Advocating for policies concerning

emergency relief for DV victims,
violence protective orders, and
advocate for programs that help
women recovering from domestic
violence.

Practice Behavior 8.2

Collaborate with colleagues and

clients for effective policy action.

Agency advocates collaborate to create

different programs and initiatives for
clients (ex. Young Families Connect)
Exit interviews with clients allow SFVC to
improve services and apply for more
grants and funding- more effective policy
action

Competency 9

Respond to contexts that shape

practice.

Practice Behavior 9.1

Continuously discover, appraise, and attend to changing locales,
populations, scientific and technological developments, and
emerging societal trends to provide relevant services.

Attending to different age ranges and

cultures that come into the shelter (elderly,
young women, Spanish speaking clients, etc.)
Technological developments- updates on
database system for clients

Practice Behavior 9.2

Provide leadership in promoting

sustainable changes in service
delivery and practice to improve
the quality of social services.

Agency project- changes to services for

young women

Competency 10

Engage, assess, intervene, and evaluate

with individuals, families, groups,
organizations, and communities.

Practice Behavior 10.1

Substantively and affectively prepare for

action with individuals, families, groups,
organizations, and communities.
Prepare client handbooks and shelter
handbooks for incoming clients have
working knowledge of shelter rules to explain
more detail to clients

Practice Behavior 10.2

Use empathy and other

interpersonal skills.
Understand the clients may be in
emotionally stressful situations and
assure them they are in a safe
environment and here to help them.

Practice Behavior 10.3

Develop a mutually agreed-on focus

of work
Focus of work for each client is based on
what their individual goals are while
staying in the shelter.

Practice Behavior 10.4

Collect, organize, and interpret client data.

Collect client information- intake, Organize
in client database system, interpret with
statistics forms

Practice Behavior 10.5

Assess client strengths and

limitations.
Make assessments after meeting with
clients when they enter the shelter to
determine strengths and limitations

Practice Behavior 10.6

Develop mutually agreed-on

intervention goals and objectives.
Intervention, goals, and objectives
determined based on clients needs

Practice Behavior 10.7

Select appropriate intervention

strategies.
Interventions used will be the classes
offered by the agency.

Practice Behavior 10.8

Initiate actions to achieve

organizational goals.
Reading and reviewing client
handbooks

Practice Behavior 10.9

Implement prevention interventions

that enhance client capacities
Help implement Women Against Violent
Environment Classes which will enhance
client knowledge of DV.

Practice Behavior 10.10

Help clients resolve problems.

Give clients tools to mediate and solve
conflicts they have with other shelter
residents

Practice Behavior 10.11

Negotiate, mediate, and advocate

for clients.
Speaking with other agencies to
advocate for services for SFVC clients

Practice Behavior 10.11

Facilitate transitions and endings.

Conduct exit interview with all clients
before exiting the shelter