Class Descriptions

Culturally Responsive and Evidence-Informed Assessment with Children, Youth, and Families

SW621

Credits:	3
Prerequisites:	SW506

Pathway Associations

Community Change
Global
Interpersonal Practice	Elective
Mgmt & Leadership
Policy & Political
Program Evaluation
Older Adults
Children & Families	Requirement (Host)

Course Description

This course is intended to develop knowledge and skills for practice with children, youth and families, with special attention to assessment. Students learn about varying approaches to assessment, the various contexts in which assessment takes place, and the assessment skills used with children, youth, and families. Students will be familiar with both strengths and limitations of assessments, and how assessments are used (e.g., in school, juvenile justice, and child welfare forensic assessment) including assessments for intervention recommendations.

Students will learn how to evaluate overall functioning, conduct developmental assessments, and make a determination about child, youth and family service needs. Students will learn different models of assessment and the role of interdisciplinary assessments (e.g., medical examinations and psychological testing) in the overall assessment process. Students will also become acquainted with widely used assessment practices with children, youth and families in terms of initial screening, risk assessment, and structured decision making. Existing evidence for their utility will be explored.

Students will also be sensitized to their personal reaction to child and youth demonstrations of trauma and crises. They will be appraised of professional expectations, such as mandatory reporting of child maltreatment, and will learn about the general structure of service delivery to child and youth clients. Sensitization to the roles of power and privilege of professionals as they relate to both children and their parents is an integral part of the course. In addition, the course will address the sometimes conflicting needs of children and families and child-serving systems (e.g., legal system; school) impacting assessment outcomes and recommendations.

The diversity of children, youth and families, in terms of race, ethnicity, culture, class, sexual orientation, religion, ability, and other social identities will be explored. Of particular focus is the over-representation of children of color and the differential response of various child and youth serving systems based upon social identity differences. Students will gain insights about how differences between themselves and client systems affect assessment process including outcomes and recommendations.

Objectives

Describe theories that explain child and youth risks and protections (EPAS 4)
Describe the roles and responsibilities of social workers in assessing children, youth and families, including mandatory reporting of child maltreatment, multidisciplinary approaches to assessment (EPAS 7)
Describe personal, professional, and societal responses to children, youth and families at risk and their impact on assessment observations, impressions and recommendations (EPAS 4, 5)
Demonstrate knowledge and beginning skills in engaging diverse client systems that reflect knowledge about diversity (e.g., gender, developmental age, socio-economic class, culture, ethnicity, race, religion, physical and mental ability, sexual orientation, national origin) and power differentials between themselves and clients. (EPAS 6, 7)
Recognize the impact of discrimination based on economic, racial, ethnic, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and other differences on client system presentation during assessment, and of the effect the worker’s own personal experiences have their assessment observations (EPAS 2, 3)
Recognize the impact involuntariness has on assessment. including client system relationship with the worker and child-serving system based on past and current initial responses (EPAS 7)
Demonstrate beginning ability to conduct individual and family assessments, including assessing parent-child attachment, evaluating overall functioning, and making recommendations consistent with assessment findings (EPAS 6, 7)
Incorporate a perspective that honors clients’ strengths as well as vulnerabilities to both assessments and treatment with child welfare clients (EPAS 4, 7, 8)

Design

This course will make use of lectures, demonstrations, discussion, media such as videotaped interviews with clients and individuals, small group exercises, and role plays. Students will demonstrate their knowledge acquisition by means of class demonstration, written responses to assignments, participation in class discussion, in-class assignments, videotapes, and short papers about their child, youth and family interview experiences.

Intensive Focus on Privilege, Oppression, Diversity and Social Justice (PODS)

This course integrates PODS content and skills with a special emphasis on the identification of theories, practice and/or policies that promote social justice, illuminate injustices and are consistent with scientific and professional knowledge. Through the use of a variety of instructional methods, this course will support students developing a vision of social justice, learn to recognize and reduce mechanisms that support oppression and injustice, work toward social justice processes, apply intersectionality and intercultural frameworks and strengthen critical consciousness, self-knowledge and self-awareness to facilitate PODS learning.

Emphasis in this course will focus on teaching students sensitivity, respect, and competence when working with clients where there are racial / ethnic, cultural, socio-economic class, religious, gender, ability, nationality and other differences presented by the client system. Case examples will highlight how differences, issues relevant to impoverishment, and involuntariness affect clients’ responses to assessment. Students will understand that children are at a fundamental disadvantage in systems that are controlled by adults.

The role of power and privilege will be a theme throughout the course. Students will explore the ways in which diversity (e.g., race / ethnicity, socio-economic disadvantage and gender) are differentially responded to in initial responses, and students will learn that an appropriate role for social workers in oppressive child-serving systems is often that of advocate. In this course students will explore the role of prevention and system disruption in situations in which institutional processes unjustly disadvantage client systems based on social identity differences. To the degree possible, literature and resources will be used that demonstrate evidence-informed practice and students will be taught skills to critically reflect upon practices in which social science knowledge and research findings wittingly or unwittingly demonstrate bias, stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination.

Interprofessional/Interdisciplinary Education Description

ID/IPE content in SW621 supports students to understand and value the importance of interprofessional and interdisciplinary collaboration and teamwork in Social Work practice across a variety of populations, settings and roles.
Inclusion of ID/IPE content is supported by and directly relates to:
CSWE core competencies 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 competencies https://www.bu.edu/ssw/files/2016/07/CSWE-2015-Competencies.pdf


University of Michigan 5 IPE Core Competencies: (Values/Ethics, Roles and Responsibilities, Interprofessional Communication, Teams/Teamwork and Intercultural Humility) https://interprofessional.umich.edu/about/ipe-competencies-at-u-m/
This pathway required-course intentionally integrates interdisciplinary or interprofessional practice content including:


CSWE Competencies addressed in this course are: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7

IPE Core Competencies addressed in this course are: Values/ethics; roles/responsibilities; intercultural humility

ID/IPE content that will be addressed and evaluated in the following ways:
1. Interdisciplinary and/or interprofessional practice are required content areas in the course with integration of relevant required readings, class lecture and discussion including:

This course takes a holistic approach to child and adolescent assessment including readings, podcasts, class lectures, and class discussions focused on assessment of physical, psychosocial, and psychiatric domains. The text for the course centers neurological (brain science), interdisciplinary conceptualizations for the understanding of child development and behavior. The major course assignment, “Writing a Comprehensive Bio-Psycho-Social Assessment'', requires a focus on building competencies for multi-disciplinary/interprofessional collaborations. These include: intra and interprofessional values and ethics; multi-disciplinary roles and responsibilities for holistic child/youth/family care; and affirmative assessment practices that demonstrate intercultural humility, such as engaging in assessment practices that recognize and celebrate diverse child and family strengths.

2. Students will be encouraged to actively contribute from their experiences, field placement practice, knowledge of readings, etc. to considerations of the impact of interdisciplinary and interprofessional care related to diverse populations and settings.