Children and Youth Case Study : Statement of Concern

Social worker, Joanne Sussman, is employed as an organizational development specialist with the local
Department of Human Services. In this role, she is responsible for leading all organizational planning
processes as well as quality improvement and employee development initiatives.

Ensuring that the social work staff possesses the competencies needed to effectively deliver the department’s
services is an ongoing organizational priority, especially as service users and their needs continue to change. A recent evaluation identified the need to enhance the cultural competence of the department’s child welfare
practitioners. Ms. Sussman has been charged with this responsibility. She has created a coordinating team
consisting of representatives from the child welfare clinical staff and supervisors and various community-based
agencies serving African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and Arab-Americans (these are the main identity
groups in the area). During its first meeting, the group requested that Ms. Sussman complete the following
tasks:

1. Identify models of cultural competency development for clinical child welfare workers.
2. Identify best practices of cultural competency development for child welfare workers.

Ms. Sussman will be learning how to stay informed from her desktop to begin completing these tasks.

[Source: Michael Woodford, Assistant Professor of Social Work].

 

 

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