Social Services

Social worker Alfred Kahn, 1996, enumerated four categories of social

services which people can avail:

casework, counseling, recreation,

Personal Services rehabilitation, religion, therapy

consurmer protection, corrections, court,

Protection Services law enforcement, public health services

Information/ Advsing consulting, consumer information,

Services education, financial counseling

childcare, institutional services, public

Maintenance Services welfare programs

The Core Values of Social Work

Value Ethical Principle

Service Social worker’s primary goal is to help
people in need and to address social
problems
Social Justice Social workers challenge social injustice
Dignity and Worth of the Social workers respect the inherent dignity
Person and work of the person
Importance of Human Social workers recognize the central
Relationships importance of human relationships
Integrity Social workers behave in an trustworthy
manner
Competence Social workers practice within their areas of
competence and develop and enhance their
professional expertise.

Who is a Social Worker?

 The words help and assist are roughly the operational words
associated with social work. A social worker is a person who helps clients
and audiences in coping with their physical, behavioral or emotional
problems. A social worker does not act on impulse. Rather, the kind of
service she or her extends to people is planned and systematic. She or he
first identifies the people who need assistance. Studying the environment
and analyzing the client’s needs are two of the most basic things that a
social worker must perfrom in this regard. In other words, she or he must be
able to understand the problem as to assess the possible solutions.

Social workers present to their clients the endless possibilties of

getting through challenges. To social worker also counsels the clients by
providing them hope for change and improvement. Moreover, social workers
research and refer clients to community resources. Should theclients be
unable to transact with agencies on their own, cosail workers halp them, to,
so that they could receive the corresponding benefits.

In times of crises, a social workers is expected to actively gain aid to

distressed and vulenrable people. They conduct follow-ups to ensure that the
client’s condition or situation has actually improved. Follow-ups are also a
way of evaluating if the services provided were effcetive. Otherwise, social
workers must find ways on how to improve the quality of their service or
enhance the mechanism or mode of delivering the service.

Social Work as a Multiskilled Profession

In order for social workers to effectively perform tasks, they have to do

the following, as cited in Margate Gibelman’s What Social Workers Do:

1. Listen to others with understanding and purpose.

2. Elicit information and assemble relevant facts to prepare a social
history, assessment and report.
3. Create and maintain professional helping relationships.
4. Observe and interpret verbal and nonverbal behavior and use of
knowledge of personality theory and diagnositic methods.
5. Engage clients, including individuals, families, groups, and
communities, in efforts to resolve their own problems and to gan trust.
6. Discuss sensitive emotional subjects supportiveley and without being
threatening.
7. Create innovative solutions to client’s needs.
8. Dtermine the need to terminate the therapautic relationship.
9. Condct research or interpret the research findings and professional
literature.
10. Mediate and negotiate between conflicting parties.
11. Provide inter-organizational services.
 12. Intrepret and communicate social needs to funding sources, the
public, or legislators.

Training to Become a Social Worker

Becoming a social worker is not merely having the heart for it. Like any
other profession, there must be a formal training and enough experience so
that one could satisfactorily perform the needs of a social worker. A
baccalaureate degree in social work is necessary.

There are also platforms or opportunities that are highly related to

social work, which you may consider as a stepping stones to the profession.
Volunteer work in your community is one such platform. Participating in
existing government programs, like becoming a youth ambassador or a
promoter of these programs to its stakeholders, is another one. Additionally,
college students in the Philippines are required by law to either enroll under
the National Service Training Program (NSTP), where you render literacy or
civic service, or become a reservist through the Reserve Officers’ Training
Corps (ROTC).

Areas of Specialization in which Social Workers Work

1. Child Welfare

Social workers who are in the field of child welfare works with children
who are in need of special protection. These includes abused, neglected and
abandoned children. Child welfare is focused on the well-being of the
children, including their physical, social, psychological, cultural and spiritual
growth.

Substitute child care services or child placement are for dependent or

abandoned children who need a substitute for a home and this could be in a
short/long term basis. Social workers are concerned with the following
related responsibilities in child welfare:

a. Adoption. This is a legal process where a child who is deprived of birth

family is provided with a new family to establish the much-needed parent-
child nurturing relationship. The adopted child will have the same rights and
privileges as that of a biological child. The basic steps of adoption in the
Philippines is presented below. Social workers play the most crucial role
during all the steps, including the 6-month trial custody period wherein the
social worker observes the rapport between the adopter and the adoptee. In
fact, it is through the decision of the social worker whether the adoption will
prosper.
b. Legal Guardianship. This is a process done for a child to have a legally
appointed guardian for substitute parental care until the child reaches the
age of majority. This gives the guardian the parental responsibilities and
obligations to provide for and also to manage the child’s properties.

c. Foster Care. This is a temporary substitute parental care given to a child

by a licensed foster family under the supervision of the social worker. The
goal for foster parenting is to prepare the child for adoption and for older
children, to prepare them for independent living. Foster care is also
undertaken to prepare a child who is to be reunited with her or his biological
family.

d. Residential/ Institutional Care. This will provide temporary care and

shelter to children whose needs cannot be met by their biological parents.
This is also done for protective custody until the threat on the child of the ill
effects of abuse are addressed. In this case, the child will remain under the
care of a resident social worker in an institution. (e.g. Sunflower halfway
home catering to the needs of abandoned or neglected children)

2. Family Welfare

This field of social work aims to strengthen the family to be able to

meet its own needs. The goal is to identify each member’s skills and
capabilities in helping solve their identified problems and mobilize their
existing resources. The social worker in this field also deals with different
social problems like unemployment, housing and health problems,
displacement of the family because of demolitions and relocations, domestic
conflict and violence and lack of parenting skills.

3. Health

In the local setting, social workers in the field are concentrated on

working in the hospitals. Medical social service aims to provide better
acceptance and favorable reaction to medical treatment of patients/ clients
and provide the medical personnel the patient/ client’s social and family
background. Medical social workers as social workers in hospitals are called,
also do eligibility studies upon admission of a patient to be able to properly
assist them in mobilizing ad accessing hospital and community resources
(e.g. determination of charity cases or those with inability to pay hospital
fees; supervising the “Malasakit Centers” which provide 0 hospital billing
services)

4. Corrections

Social workers in this field are engaged in rehabilitative functions for

parole and probation institutions for adults and juvenile offenders. Juvenile
offenders are now regarded as “Children in Conflict with the Law” (CICL) and
they are being handled by local social workers in the local government units
and also by court social workers. For adult offenders, they are provided with
intervention to prepare them for reintegration in society or re-socialization.
For CICL, they undergo diversion programs under the supervision of the local
social worker which includes counseling and community service. (e.g. boys’
town, girls’ town; bahay pag-asa)

5. Schools

The school social worker provides services to restore impaired

adjustment of students in relation to their attendance in school. They
mobilize capacities of individual students, their parents, families, the
academe and the community. The main purpose for this is to offer assistance
to students in achieving expected education goals through counseling, group
work, family intervention and organization of parent self-help projects.

6. Special Groups

Social workers in the private and in government service also cater to

different persons in situations needing special attention, these are the
following:

a. Drug Dependents. The main objective of the social worker working with
drug dependents is the maximum restoration of the psychological, social and
occupational capabilities of the individual after rehabilitation from drug
dependency.

b. Socially Disadvantaged Women. Social workers engaged in women

welfare are expected to work with women who are victims of all forms of
violence including sexual harassment, rape, and incest. Solo parents, women
who are victims of armed conflict and prostituted women are also clients of
social workers who are in this field. They are referred to as socially
disadvantaged women of women in especially difficult circumstance and they
are provided with protection and prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation.

c. Older Persons. The elderly, like all other members of the society should
be given the opportunity to live decently and productively. Social services for
them must be the answer to their problems in relation to economic
dependency, health, medical problems, and emotional needs. These include
personal care, recreational needs, family and community relationships and
living arrangements.

d. Persons with Disabilities. Depending on how disability is defined,

global figures estimate that 200 million children experience some form of
disability. The main goal is to rehabilitate the person with disability and
restore her or his highest possible degree pf physical, social, emotional,
vocational, and economic well-being.

7. Community Welfare

Community organization and development are the main focus of social

workers in this field. It is mobilizing the people of the community to
participate in efforts to improve their living conditions with as much reliance
as possible on their own plans and ideas. Social workers in this field also
provide technical services or assistance to encourage initiative and self-help
for people in the community as to achieve the goals they set for themselves.

8. Cultural Communities

In the Philippines, there are Indigenous People and other ethnic tribes.
They are also members of the society who are affected by the same
problems and issues that affect the majority of the population. Practice of
social work with indigenous groups are also known as “grassroot practices.”
It aims to guide and assist the communities and organize them so they will
be able to help themselves, find internal resources, attitude and skills which
can help them solve their own problems.

9. Industry and Labor

Social workers in this field are generally concerned with the welfare of
workers/laborers, employees and their families for their improved social
security, health and welfare. They assist employees and their families by
counseling and referrals regarding difficulties with their personal affairs,
health, and financial problems. Examples of agencies who employ social
workers are the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Overseas
Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).

10. Education and Training

This field in social work education is not limited to classroom teaching,

it is also involved in field instruction through student supervision while they
are in different social work settings.

11. International Social Welfare

There are international and regional organizations where Filipino social

workers are employed and connected. Some of them are the United Nations’
Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and
the Pacific (ESCAP) and the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR).
Social Workers’ Ethical Responsibilities to Clients

 Commitment to Clients
Social workers’ primary responsibility is to promote the well-being of
clients. In general, clients’ interests are primary. However, social workers’
responsibility to the larger society or specific legal obligations may on limited
occasions supersede the loyalty owed clients, and clients should be so
advised. (Examples include when a social worker is required by law to report
that a client has abused a child or has threatened to harm others).

 Self-Determination
Social workers respect and promote the right of clients to self-
determination and assist clients in their efforts to identify and clarify their
goals. Social workers may limit clients’ right to self-determination when, in
the social workers’ professional judgment, clients’ actions or potential
actions pose a serious, foreseeable, and imminent risk to themselves or
others.

 Informed Consent

Social workers should provide services to clients only in the context of a

professional relationship based, when appropriate, on valid informed
consent. Social workers should use clear and understandable language to
inform clients of the purpose of the services, risks related to the services,
limits to services.

 Competence

Social workers should provide services and represent themselves as

competent only within the boundaries of their education, training, license,
certification, consultation received, supervised experience, or other relevant
professional experience.

 Cultural Competence and Social Diversity

Social workers should understand culture and its function in human

behavior and society, recognizing the strengths that exist in all cultures.
Social workers should have a knowledge base of their clients’ cultures and be
able to demonstrate competence in the provision of services that are
sensitive to clients’ cultures and to differences among people and cultural
groups.

 Conflicts of Interest

Social workers should be alert to and avoid conflicts of interest that

interfere with the exercise of professional discretion and impartial judgment.
Social workers should inform clients when real or potential conflict of interest
arises and take reasonable steps to resolve the issue in a manner that
makes the clients’ interests primary and protects clients’ interests to the
greatest extent possible. In some cases, protecting clients’ interests may
require termination of the professional relationship with proper referral of the
client

 Privacy and Confidentiality

Social workers should respect clients’ right to privacy. Social workers

should not solicit private information from clients unless it is essential to
providing services or conducting social work evaluation or research. Once
private information is shared, standards of confidentiality apply.