Part A: Bio-Psycho-Social Assessment

                        Working with the homeless population: The case of Diane

1. Demographic information- Diane is a Caucasian girl aged 15 years. She was born in the year 2003. Although she is freshman at her current high school, it is only three weeks remaining for the semester to end since she was first enrolled.
2. Presenting issue- initially, Diana’s teacher had acknowledged her psychosocial problem and regarded it a clear indication that she was having difficulties adjusting or adopting the conditions of her new school. As a result of that, the teacher decided to refer her to me. Being part of the school’s study team, I have been given the responsibility of handling social evaluations on students so as to be in the position of assessing how they function from the bio-psychosocial viewpoint.
3. Current living situation- Currently, being a homeless child, her area of residence is the shelter provided by their local church for homeless families. Despite that, at the shelter provided by their local church, she informed me that it was hard for her to shower. The reason for that is because of the little time given to bath and other individuals do consumer a lot of time during bathing.
4. Birth and developmental history- Diana was born and raised by a single mother before seeking refuge at the local church. The first time I meet with Diana, I realized that her hair might have not been kept tidy for some time and the clothes she worn were wrinkled. Eager to develop a relationship with her, I decided first to introduce myself to her before explaining the duties I handle with the school’s study team. During my first encounter with her, she appeared quiet as always with her eyes downcast, a clear impression that she was depressed. As I continued assessing her, I noticed that she always offered one-word answer to any question that I asked her.
5. School and social relationship- As Diane informed me, she always feel embarrassed because of her appearance. Once I realized that I was not establishing a good rapport with her, I decided to inquire from her how she was feeling. The only thing she said is that she was feeling awful. In the process of asking her about the cause of this feeling; she started crying and inventoried all that kept on upsetting her.
6. Family members and relationships- currently, the only family member she has is her mother and other mother of the local church. As Diane explained, she always confuses her classes, have no friends, and her mother always shades tears just because of their current living conditions. Furthermore, she also informed me that she had always witnessed her mother being abused severally hence deteriorating the relationship they had with the people of their initial area of residence.
7. Health and medical issues- As a homeless child, sitting with her head down and quiet at class are some of the factors indicating she has some psychosocial problems. Although I noticed that she had many issues to discuss with me, I felt grateful for her to take her time to explain her plight to me the first time we met. Since I recognized that these were some of the basic needs, the option I had is to first handle Diane’s physiological needs. The idea was to offer her with some sort of relief before addressing a number of other concerns, for instance, academic issues, sense of belonging, and safety.
8. Spiritual development- As I continued to assess her situation, Diane explained that her spiritual development mainly depends on the relationship she has with the other members of their local church. At school, she does not associate with other students to enhance her spiritual development just because of the embarrassment she feel about her situation.
9. Social, community, and recreational activities- as far as social, community, and recreational activities are concerned, Diana explained that the only part she engages in was bible reading and art work during weekends.
10. Client strengths, capacities, and resources- During lunch time, she did not have food to eat because of lack of money. Therefore, I ordered food for her from the cafeteria. As she was eating, I realized that she was willing to develop a plan for rejuvenating her situation. What I decided to do was to draw a large circle as well as placing her personal details in the free lunch program.

                                                Part B: Analysis of Assessment

• Explain the challenges faced by the client(s)—for example, drug addiction, lack of basic needs, victim of abuse, new school environment, etc.

            Due to the fact that Diane was too thin, coming from a family with myriad background issues, being part of the social economic class, and having speech impairment, it implies that all these factors are enough to marginalize an adolescent or child in this category. The reason for that is because it is the one which aid in placing one of them outside the margins of the expectations of their community. This is to imply that when an adolescent or a child like Diane is marginalized, the truth is that they end up experiencing several consequences for instance, poor academic performances, low self-esteem, feeling anxious or depressed, and so on.

• Analyze how the social environment affects the client.

            As a social worker, in order to be in the position of facilitating positive change for such a client, there is the need of first understanding some of the issues which have the potential of affecting their healthy development. The reason for that is because there are various social environmental issues or factors that serve as the basis for replacing her outside the margins of the community (Plummer et al., 2014). An example of this is the abuse she witnessed her mother went through as well as the embarrassment she feels about herself. In so doing, it is important to integrate it with explanations regarding the manner in which such issues could impact her societal development from infancy through adolescence.  Because of that, there is the need of explaining what, as the psychosocial instructor, could have been done differently in order to enhance her social wellbeing.

• Identify which human behavior or social theories may guide your practice with this individual and explain how these theories inform your assessment.

            Taking into account the intervention to be given, the bio-psychosocial model (BPSM) indicate that it was important to consider all the problems that she had already represented. Basically, to be in the position of doing all that, it was recommended that we had to start with the client’s physiological requirements (Plummer et al., 2014). As a result of that, I dedicated my time giving her information regarding the free lunchtime program. The reason for that was to ensure that other students are not aware that she had been enrolled in such a program. To boost that, there was the need of ensuring that Diane have been provided with special identical card that she could be swiping at the cafeteria as the other students.

• Explain how you would use this assessment to develop mutually agreed-upon goals to be met in order to address the presenting issue and challenges face by the client.

            After school, the second option I had was to ensure that I have given her the opportunity of bathing in the girls’ locker room. However, this strategy demanded that I could have negotiated with other entities, especially her mother, the organization of the local church shelter, and the school administration. We decided to draw other circles around the main circle so as to have the ability of showing her all the interactions that she needed so as to boost that strategy. So as to be able to monitor our progress, it was important for us to ensure that each goal has been achieved. To do so, our study team came up with weekly meetings aimed at addressing as well as fine-tuning these issues.

• Explain how you would use the identified strengths of the client(s) in a treatment plan.

            As the following month continued to unfold, I realized that Diane was becoming more relaxed while coming to our weekly meetings. Other than being enrolled in her normal lunch program, she was able to shower in the other girls’ locker room after attending the gymnasium classes. In the process of ensuring that her physiological needs have been met, I realized Diane’s academic grades had tremendously improved too.  It is because of these competencies that that I felt that there was the need of addressing her emotional and social issues, for instance recuperating from the abuse she witnessed her mother went through as well as developing friendships.

            As time went by, I realized that she developed an interest in painting. Because of that, I approached our art club association that always works in our school studio to organize her trips of attending art galleries and museums. Since she was ready to attend, I understood that it was a good opportunity for her to meet and make potential friends. Despite that, in the process of explaining to her the importance of personal counseling, I realized that she somehow became anxious. The only option I had was to give her the location and the hotline number of the local domestic violence authority.

• Explain how you would use evidence-based practice when working with this client and recommend specific intervention strategies (skills, knowledge, etc.) to address the presenting issue.

            As time went by, I realized that she frequently visited my office.  Lately, after six months, Diana acknowledged to me that the agency I recommended to her made her to feel empowered and excited to make remarkable difference for others undergoing the same problem. As a result of that, she told me that her next strategy was to volunteer enrolling at the local domestic organization. Her motive entailed painting various murals in their art healing class. As time went by, she had the ability of recruiting her colleague to join the art club. The reason for that was to ensure that she could have the opportunity of receiving free counseling services and other creative art remedies that will enable her to improve her painting skills as one of the expressions for her progress or healing (Plummer et al., 2014). I dedicated my time to encourage her to link with that organization so as to be able inquire about their services as well as attend their art healing classes.  

• Analyze the ethical issues present in the case. Explain how you will address them

            In order to be in the position of achieving these goals, it is important to ensure that the needs of their family have been met. To do so, careful considerations ought to be given to the assessment process to be implemented. Conventionally, it should be kept in mind that the evaluation of the homeless families that was utilized initially used to take into account some of the driven approaches in which health care providers get concerned about some of the referrals or services available (Plummer et al., 2014). Conversely, considering the case of Diane, by not being in the position of screening some of the unknown risk factors impacting her family, it will be difficult for her to attain residential stability.

            Taking into account the rising number of homeless teenagers as well as understanding the adverse impacts that they have on children development like Diane, comprehensive evaluations are required. The reason for that is because it is the one which will assist linking her family with housing services offered to her. This strategy will take into account child development, depression, and maternal development needs.

            In most cases, bio-psychosocial assessment to be provided will ultimately depend on the work to be done with such a homeless family. In order to be in the position of providing the best assessment services possible, it is important to first determine what the client’s family requires. Ethically, when this process is executed too narrowly, it implies that the assessment to be given will only have the capacity of capturing the smallest pieces of the large puzzle (Plummer et al., 2014). Moreover, in case her bio-psychosocial assessment was to be done so broadly, it means that the assessment to be given will not have been reliable and accurate in capturing all the information required in guiding effective practice.

• Describe the issues will you need to address around cultural competence.

            Considering the cultural competence of the client, it means that the assessment to be provided will have to follow a certain protocol.  This framework or model needs to be based on the available evidence regarding the individual to be assessed. Taking into account the client and the issues to be addressed, the whole process can be long or short as well as involving structured interviews with the client. Typically, the standard evaluation will necessitate that in the process of conducting such an assessment, it is important to use the same format in collecting information.

 

 

 

 

 

                                   

 

 

 

 

 

                                                            Reference

Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen S. M. (Eds.). (2014). Social work case studies: Foundation year. Baltimore, MD: Laureate International Universities Publishing