Terms For Family and Child Social Workers
- Case Management
- Permanency Planning
- Public Assistance
- Supportive Services
- Crisis Theory
While there are many terms that family and child social workers should know, there are a few select terms that are highly important to the field. Five of these terms and brief descriptions of each can be found in the sections below. Learning what these terms mean and how to apply them to individual cases can help aspiring family and child social workers secure positions in their chosen field.
Case Management
One term that every family and child social worker should know is case management. Case management covers a broad range of processes with the common goal of ensuring that clients receive all of the services they may need to help them with issues that they cannot solve on their own. The first step in case management is assessing the problem or problems of the client. Once this is determined, the social worker can then plan a strategy to help the client. Monitoring planned strategies helps to determine whether or not a different strategy should be implemented.
Permanency Planning
When it is determined that children need to be taken out of their parents’ homes, it is crucial that they are placed with persons who can offer permanency. Permanency planning is the process of locating such persons. Social workers will first assess the living situations of close relatives as ideal candidates for placement. If placement with relatives is found to be impossible, foster care is then considered. Permanency planning also involves exploring various methods that can help reunite children with their parents.
Public Assistance
The Social Security Administration defines public assistance as a variety of programs that are funded by local, state, and federal governments with the goal of providing assistance to individuals and families who are in need. This assistance must be in the form of cash and includes such things as Supplemental Security Income, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the Earned Income Credit, and Veteran’s Administration Disability Pensions.
Supportive Services
Another key term that every family and child social worker will want to be aware of is supportive services. Supportive services refer to a variety of services utilized to help strengthen family bonds. Since issues that families may be facing can vary significantly from one family to another, effective services often vary dramatically as well. Nevertheless, examples of supportive services for families typically include counseling, referrals, job training, medical transportation, and home-daycare.
Crisis Theory
Crisis Theory is another important term that family and social workers should know. The basic definition of crisis theory is that if a family (or individual) in crisis does not receive help within about one or two months, that family’s situation will worsen. With that being said, it is the responsibility of family and child social workers to identify families in crisis and intervene as quickly as possible. When a family in crisis is identified, the social worker will then work with the family to design a strategy that will help to improve their situation.
Related Resource: Top 10 Affordable Master of Social Work Online (MSW) Degrees
Family and child social work careers are highly rewarding positions and are ideal for persons who are empathetic and who possess excellent communication skills. For those people who would like to obtain a career in this lucrative field, learning the key terms that every family and child social worker should know will help them reach their occupational goals.