Core Competency 1

SOCIAL WORK
Core Competency 1

Demonstrate Ethical and Professional

Behavior
Practice Behavior 1.1

Make ethical decisions by applying the standards of the

NASW Code of Ethics, relevant laws and regulations, models
for ethical decision-making, ethical conduct of research, and
additional codes of ethics as appropriate to context.

Many times there are decisions to be made in a practice and

the decisions should fall within the code of ethics. The
NASW Code of Ethics should be reviewed and the social
worker should be very familiar with the code and use it to
solve any ethical dilemmas and use it as a guide for behavior.
Practice Behavior 1.2

Use reflection and self-regulation to manage

personal values and maintain professionalism in
practice situations.

A social worker should always be professional in

practice situations. A good way to reflect on practice
situations is by completing daily journals; reviewing
them; and thinking if the situation was handled with
the best possible scenario or what could have been
done differently to improve the situation.
Practice Behavior 1.3

Demonstrate professional demeanor in behavior;

appearance; and oral, written, and electronic
communication.

One should always abide by the code of ethics and

apply it to behavior within a practice situation. One
should always dress professionally in practice
situations. One should always speak in a tone that best
suits a situation. Like it says within the code of ethics
one should always treat everyone with dignity and
respect.
Practice Behavior 1.4

Use technology ethically and appropriately to facilitate

practice outcomes.

Technology can be used for many different scenarios.

Technology can be used in practice to retrieve state and
federal regulations. For example state and federal
regulations can be found or retrieved from the internet.
Telephones and computers can be used to communicate
with clients or other agencies with resources.
Technology should not be used to observe information
about clients that is not relevant to the case.
Practice Behavior 1.5

Use supervision and consultation to guide professional judgment

and behavior.

When in training there are a few things one may come across that
he or she may not be too sure of, and that will call for the
judgement of a supervisor. A simple example is: my first day in
training we visited an assistant living facility, and while meeting
with a particular client; a man in a wheel chair kept asking to be
pushed to another area; I noticed that my supervisor kept on
conversing with the client. The man seemed irritated and the other
nurses kept walking by as if they were ignoring him. So I asked my
supervisor did I leave him there or could I help him and she told
me not to help. Finally the nurse came and told him to stay put.
Core Competency 2

SOCIAL WORK
Core Competency 2

Engage Diversity and Difference in Practice

Behaviors
Practice Behavior 2.1

Apply and communicate understanding of the

importance of diversity and difference in shaping life
experiences in practice at the micro, mezzo, and macro
levels.

It is inherent that a social worker understands

diversity. One should always keep an open mind. On a
micro level the person in the agency has a meeting with
a client. On a mezzo level he or she discusses the client
situation within the staff meetings. On a macro level
advocate for change.
Practice Behavior 2.2

Present themselves as learners and engage clients

and constituencies as experts of their own
experiences.

On every meeting with a client, I presented myself as

an intern. Many of the clients seemed intrigued and
asked questions. Most questions were geared
towards my college and would I like to work for the
company I am interning for.
Practice Behavior 2.3

Apply self-awareness and self-regulation to manage the

influence of personal biases and values in working with
diverse clients and constituencies.

For this particular behavior one must know themselves.

So far in my internship I have not ran across any
situations that I have any biases in. If there were any
biases to come up I would already have a hold on them
by self-reflecting on situations I may have biases towards
and learning to be aware of them and knowing if the bias
would affect the ability to effectively help the client.
Core Competency 3

SOCIAL WORK
Core Competency 3

Advance Human Rights and Social, Economic, and

Environmental Justice
Practice Behavior 3.1

Apply understanding of social economic, and

environmental justice to advocate for human rights
at the individual and system levels

The office advocates for the disabled adults that

cannot advocate for themselves. We make sure in
some cases that people are not taking advantage or
exploiting them.
Practice Behavior 3.2

Engage in practices that advance social, economic,

and environmental justice.

In some cases some adults are not competent

enough to manage their on money, and there are
services out their including Adult Services of DSS
that help these disable people. We help them manage
their money and take them to pay bills.
Core Competency 4

SOCIAL WORK
BY: APRIL MCKOY
Core Competency 4

Engage In Practice-informed Research and

Research-informed Practice
Practice Behavior 4.1

Use practice experience and theory to inform

scientific inquiry and research.

To do this practice experience has to be documented.

The practice experience is being documented
everyday in the daily journals. By doing this one
would be able to look back at the information from a
similar situation that has happened before. One
would be able to look back and see what worked and
what did not work in the similar situation.
Practice Behavior 4.2

Apply critical thinking to engage in analysis of

quantitative and qualitative research methods and
research findings.

Being that the majority of the population in Adult

Services are disabled adults, reading scholarly peer
reviewed journal articles on disabled adults can be
very beneficial. It can give an insight into the
behavior or also what strategies work or do not work
in certain situations.
Practice Behavior 4.3

Use and translate research evidence to inform and

improve practice, policy, and service delivery.

Apply research findings to work with clients. As

stated earlier research findings can be applied to
practice situations (what work and does not work).
By applying research findings it can improve
practice, policy, and service delivery. By already
having an idea of what works and does not work, it
can save a lot of time.
Core Competency 5

SOCIAL WORK
BY: APRIL MCKOY
Core Competency 5

Engage in Policy Practice

Practice Behavior 5.1

Identify social policy at the local, state, and federal level

that impacts well-being, service delivery, and access to
social services.

Read agency, state, and federal policies on Adult Services.

In any agency a social worker works within they should
read the agency, state, and federal policies. At the
beginning of the internship I read the regulation book to
Adult Services; state and federal policies; and the step-
by-step breakdown of Adult Services in which explains
every job and program associated with Adult Services.
Practice Behavior 5.2

Assess how social welfare and economic policies

impact the delivery of and access to social services.

Study Adult Services and how policies structure

services. It is always good to review policies, because
policies are subject to change. Policies are what
makes the programs. The policies makes certain
programs available and create what goes into the
programs.
Practice Behavior 5.3

Apply critical thinking to analyze, formulate, and

advocate for policies that advance human rights and
social, economic, and environmental justice.

To be able to do so one must review Adult Services

policies or policies that apply to the to the specific
agency being worked within and understand how they
apply to the program. One must understand the policies
that are available and not available in order to advocate
or help formulate policies for the advancement of human
rights and social, economic, and environmental justice.
Core competency 6

SOCIAL WORK
BY: APRIL MCKOY
Core Competency 6

Engage with Individuals, Families, Groups,

Organizations, and Communities
Practice Behavior 6.1

Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social

environment, person-in-environment, and other
multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks to engage with
clients and constituencies.

Applying multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks can help

explain client behavior and can also help with the
understanding of why a client has certain behaviors.
Interacting with clients in their environment, such as taking
them shopping, while understanding the different theoretical
frameworks is an example of the practice behavior..
Practice Behavior 6.2

Use empathy, reflection, and interpersonal skills to

effectively engage diverse clients and constituencies.

It is always good to use empathy, reflection, and

interpersonal skills when meeting with diverse
clients. An example of this behavior is meeting with
diverse clients while showing empathy and treating
them with dignity and respect. Doing this helps to
build the client-social worker relationship by
building rapport.
Core Competency 7

SOCIAL WORK
Core Competency 7

Assess Individuals, Families, Groups,

Organizations, and Communities
Practice Behavior 7.1

Collect and organize data, and apply critical thinking

to interpret information from clients and
constituencies.

An example of this behavior done at my particular

internship is shadowing social worker while meeting
with clients. I also interviewed a client solo for the
case project. The information given was evaluated
and critical thinking was used to evaluate it.
Practice Behavior 7.2

Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social

environment, person-in-environment, and other
multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks in
interventions with clients and constituencies.

An example of the practice behavior is assisting on

developing service plans for clients while considering
the whole client. When developing service plans all
of the multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks
should be considered.
Practice Behavior 7.3

Develop mutually agreed-on intervention goals and

objectives based on the critical assessment of
strengths, needs, and challenges within clients and
constituencies.

In the particular agency of my internship, an example

of this practice behavior would be assisting the social
worker on developing service plans. Service plans are
mutually agreed upon goals and a plan of action to
reach the goals within a specific time frame.
Practice Behavior 7.4

Select appropriate intervention strategies based on

the assessment, research knowledge, and values and
preferences of clients and constituencies.

At the agency, assisting the social worker in

developing service plans is also an example of this
practice behavior. A service plan is considered a form
of intervention. The service plan is based on the
assessment, research knowledge, and values and
preferences of clients of the client.
Core Competency 8

SOCIAL WORK
Core Competency 8

Intervene with Individuals, Families, Groups,

Organizations, and Communities
Practice Behavior 8.1

Critically choose and implement interventions to

achieve practice goals and enhance capacities of
clients and constituencies.

After the assessment of a client, and evaluation of

the assessment, the intervention is put into play. The
interventions transfers over onto the service plans.
So to complete this practice behavior I will
assist/review service plans.
Practice Behavior 8.2

Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social

environment, person-in-environment, and other
multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks in interventions
with clients and constituencies.

To execute this practice behavior one must consider the

different multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks and the
whole client. The different frameworks help identify reasons
for behaviors and can help to pinpoint effective
interventions. A way to practice or get experience with this
behavior is to shadow the social worker while implementing
service plans.
Practice Behavior 8.3

Use inter-professional collaboration as appropriate

to achieve beneficial practice outcomes.

To achieve beneficial practice outcomes it takes

collaboration. Every week there is a staff meeting
discussing any new cases; what is happening in the
older cases; and if there are any concerns. This is one
of the times that I talk with social workers about
different cases.
Practice Behavior 8.4

Negotiate, mediate, and advocate with and on behalf

of diverse clients and constituencies.

The are many different times in which social workers

have to negotiate, mediate, or advocate for their
clients. In the adult services agency as an intern an
example was observing the social worker speak for a
client within an interview for the clients apartment.
Practice Behavior 8.5

Facilitate effective transitions and endings that advance

mutually agreed-on goals.

In adult services, excluding APS, clients receive the

services for a very long time. Some of the clients date
back to over ten years ago. But in cases when a client
has lost his or her competence, he or she sometimes
advances and improves to where the social worker and
others feel the clients competence should be restored.
As an intern, I attended court hearings to restore a
clients competence.
Core Competency 9

SOCIAL WORK
Core Competency 9

Evaluate Practice with Individuals, Families,

Groups, Organizations, and Communities
Practice Behavior 9.1

Select and use appropriate methods for evaluation of

outcomes.

To use appropriate methods one must select the

proper evaluation methods catered to the specific
client. To get experience with this behavior, I will
observe monthly evaluations and speak with the
social worker about methods used.
Practice Behavior 9.2

Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social

environment, person-in-environment, and other
multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks in the
evaluation of outcomes.

In many social work cases a social worker should

consider multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks. To
obtain experience in this practice behavior I will
observe evaluation of client progress while considering
the different multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks.
Practice Behavior 9.3

Critically analyze, monitor, and evaluate intervention

and program processes and outcomes.

Monitoring and evaluating the way a client is

progressing or not with an intervention is crucial. If an
intervention is not working or the client may not be
receiving projected outcome, it will be good know early
so one can receive an intervention that works. To
practice this behavior I observe monthly meetings with
clients to make sure the client has reach his or her goals
or is not having any problems working to achieve them.
Practice Behavior 9.4

Apply evaluation findings to improve practice

effectiveness at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels.

In practice every case is different, but in similar

cases what works for one may also work for another.
It is always good to keep in mind what has worked in
a similar situation before. In my internship I will use
evaluation findings as one of the many tools to guide
practice.