Clinical Social Work Practice with Children and Families

By Robert Booth

Millions of helpless children are being abused and neglected at any moment in the United States. As the nation’s largest provider of behavioral health services, clinical social workers must be able to conduct effective interventions with these children and their families and caregivers. The characteristics of competent practice are the focus of this publication, which examines the levels and types of knowledge, training, skill, and experience, as well as proficiency in utilizing relevant theory and proven techniques, by which practitioners should address the bio-psycho-social problems and disorders unique to children and their families.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Mar 31, 2014
• ISBN: 9780996001946

Robert Booth

Robert Booth has lectured in philosophy at the University of Liverpool, the University of Manchester, and Liverpool Hope University. His research focuses mainly on how work done at the intersection of phenomenology, ecofeminism, and new realist metaphysics might inform practical means of tackling the environmental crisis and other social ills.

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Abstract

Millions of helpless children are being abused and neglected at any moment in the United States. As the nation’s largest provider of behavioral health services, clinical social workers must be able to conduct effective interventions with these children and their families and caregivers. The characteristics of competent practice are the focus of this publication, which examines the levels and types of knowledge, training, skill, and experience, as well as proficiency in utilizing relevant theory and proven techniques, by which practitioners should address the bio-psycho-social problems and disorders unique to children and their families.

Introduction

A clinical social worker’s proficiency in practice with children and their families may be measured in terms of specific knowledge and skills, or competencies, applied to meet the bio-psycho-social needs of children and their families. In this booklet, the following topics are addressed:

practice competencies at the specialist level of professional development

the contours of clinical social work practice in this specialty

the specific practice components of clinical social work practice in this specialty

the context of the healthcare delivery enterprise and societal needs

recommendations for improvements in this field of practice.

Background and Rationale for the Practice Specialty

The preponderance of the behavioral healthcare in the United States is provided by 200,000-plus clinical social workers, of whom many thousands work expertly with children and their families. These specialists profoundly affect the health and well-being of their clients.

Children, from infants through early adolescents, are the most vulnerable members of society and are not usually able to seek out help on their own. Therefore, the clinical specialist must be able to identify their needs and assist them expertly, through interactions in children-related settings such as schools and through the cooperation and referral of other adults, such as parent-caregivers, nurses and physicians and other professionals, personnel at private or public agencies, and others in a position to serve as champions of children in need.

The tragic fact is that, at this moment, millions of children are being maltreated and traumatized. It is in this area that specialty practice, with an emphasis on social justice and public safety and protection issues, is most important. Without early interventions, most of these damaged children will not receive professional help until they are old enough