INTRODUCTION
The profession of social work is founded on humanitarian and egalitarian ideals."[i] The essence of social work is to understand the client within the current social context, including all the factors that affect the fulfillment of their potential. Social workers believe in the intrinsic worth of all people and are committed to approaches that foster this belief. The practice of social work occurs within numerous functional sectors with the intent of meeting human needs and developing human potential and resources.[ii]
Social workers are usually educated in schools of social work governed by the Canadian Association of Schools of Social Work. The curriculum of these schools exposes social workers to the broad range of skills and social issues that are essential to social work practice. To ensure that practising social workers maintain knowledge and skills that are current, they must participate in continuing education activities. This combination of social work education and continuing education forms the basis from which competent social workers practise.
Competent social workers make use of supervision and/or peer consultation. The nature of this will depend on the social worker's field of practice and level of experience. In all instances, it remains the responsibility of social workers to recognize their limitations and never to undertake to provide a service unless they are competent to do so.
STANDARDS OF PRACTICE
This document presents six generic standards of practice in social work. It is designed to form a basis for the development of more specific standards in the various areas of social work practice.
The six standards address the major areas of social work practice to be considered in the evaluation of the services of social workers. The standards of practice flow from the Code of Ethics of the Canadian Association of Social Workers (revised, 1994) and rely on the Code for a definition of such aspects of social work as its value base, ethical standards and confidentiality.
Definitions
For the purpose of this document, standards of practice are defined as the standards of care ordinarily expected of a competent social worker.[iii] The standards of professional practice in social work are separate but related to other types of standards that may be in effect in the work-place, such as program or organizational standards, procedural standards and service protocols. Other types of standards should be consistent with the standards of practice in social work.
Client refers to:
(a)a person, family, group of persons, incorporated body, association or community on whose behalf a social worker provides or agrees to provide a service
(i)on request or with agreement of the person, family groups of persons, incorporated body, associations or community, or
(ii)as a result of legislated responsibility, or
(b)a judge of a court of competent jurisdiction who orders the social worker to provide to the Court an assessment.[iv]
Informed consent refers to:
The client's granting of permission to the social worker and agency or other professional person to use specific intervention procedures including diagnosis, treatment, follow-up and research. This permission must be based on full disclosure of the facts needed to make the decision. Informed consent must be based on knowledge of the risks and alternatives.[v]
Characteristics of Standards
Standards of practice should be:
—understandable;
— achievable;
— based on current knowledge;
— indicative of acceptable performance;
— observable and/or measurable;
—a reflection of the values, ethics, knowledge and skills of the social work profession.
Purpose of Standards
The Canadian Association of Social Workers expects that these Standards of Practice, in conjunction with the Code of Ethics, will:
—establish professional expectations so that social workers can monitor, evaluate and improve their own practice;
—establish professional expectations to ensure accountability;
—provide a benchmark by which to evaluate the quality of services rendered by social workers;
—guide the development of training and education within the social work profession;
—promote better protection of the clients of social workers and of the public in general;
—guide the behaviour of social workers and thereby enhance the value and credibility of the profession.
STANDARD I
The social worker shall fulfill the following responsibilities in the course of social work practice. The social worker shall:
- be respectful to clients under all circumstances;
- collaborate with others, as agreed by the client, through teamwork or other means to meet client needs;
- be accountable for all professional interactions with clients, colleagues and regulatory bodies, and be responsive to complaints or challenges;
- organize workload and define priorities according to the mandate and requirements of a designated service;
- function within the framework of legislation governing or affecting social work practice;
- work towards facilitating changes in legislation and social policy and promote social justice.
STANDARD II
The social worker shall demonstrate knowledge and abilities essential to the social work profession. At the basic professional level this shall include knowledge of:
- human development, social systems, social institutions and organizations and socio-economic development;
- theories related to personality, interpersonal communication, social group relations and/or community organization;
- problems in the social, political, cultural and economic context, their impact on people and the resources available to deal with them;
- issues related to gender, ethnicity, race and culture and their implications for social work practice;
- social work theories and processes that relate to individuals, families, groups, organizations and/or communities;
- at least one method of practice;[vi]
- basic research concepts and techniques;
- he different uses of supervision and consultation;
- the Social Work Code of Ethics of the Canadian Association of Social Workers, provincial social work regulatory documents, and their implications for social work practice;
- major national and provincial social welfare policies and related delivery systems;
- human rights legislation;
- legislative responsibilities.
STANDARD III
The social worker shall demonstrate skill in all aspects of the intervention process with clients.
1) In preparing for intervention, the social worker shall:
(a)determine the authority to intervene, which may be derived from the informed consent[vii] of the client, from legislation, court order, organizational mandate or combination thereof;
(b)assess whether the social worker and/or the agency have the necessary skills and services to assist the client;
(c)anticipate the type of contact and provide a physical setting which assures confidentiality;
(d)refer objectively to previous experiences with, and documentation about, the client.
2) The social worker shall establish egalitarian relationships with clients by:
(a)providing for the physical and psychological comfort of clients in all contacts;
(b)accepting clients as they present themselves;
(c)listening to clients and clarifying what the social worker has understood from clients' verbal and non-verbal communications;
(d)empathizing with clients' feelings and concerns;
(e)maintaining a non-judgmental approach;
(f)giving clients the time they need to establish trust, to explain their problems and to determine the nature of acceptable and necessary interventions;
(g)demonstrating an awareness of the implications of the power of the social work position;
(h)explaining social work services and the limitations of the contractual relationship.
3) Throughout all contacts with clients, the social worker shall communicate openly and appropriately. The social worker shall:
(a)use understandable language;
(b)clarify roles;
(c)clarify goals;
(d)empathize with and respond constructively to the range of clients' emotions and concerns and facilitate their expression;
(e)invite, accept and offer feedback;
(f)meet commitments to clients;
(g)respect and promote clients' rights to self-determination;
(h)be aware of personal feelings and values regarding the client's situation and deal with such feelings appropriately.
4)In the course of a social work assessment, the social worker shall participate with the client in:
(a)determining the client's needs and priorities;
(b)identifying the client's strengths and limitations;
(c)describing the dynamic relationship between the client and the client's social economic, cultural and political context;
(d)eliciting information that is relevant to the purpose of the assessment.
5)In contacts with clients, the social worker shall:
(a)provide accurate and complete information relating to the problems of concern to the client;
(b)provide accurate and complete information on services and resources available to the client;
(c)discuss and clarify confidentiality and its limitations.
6)The social worker shall develop agreements with clients which:
(a)help clients to define the problem;
(b)involve clients in resolving the problem;
(c)describe the nature and approximate duration of the intervention;
(d)allow for renegotiation as necessary.
7) Wherever a referral to another professional or agency is necessary, the social worker shall:
(a)assist clients in the choice and use of appropriate resources;
(b)assist clients in obtaining required services;
(c)provide the documentation necessary to initiate the referral;
(d)follow up on the referral.
8) Utilizing the social work knowledge base and the information obtained through the assessment process, the social worker shall implement the service plan which has been agreed and/or mandated. In doing so, the social worker shall:
(a)use the theories and methods which fall within the relevant field of practice;
(b)utilize clients' personal strengths and resources to promote their sense of power and competence.
9) Following implementation of the service plan, the social worker shall:
(a)determine, with the client, to what degree the goals of the contract were met;
(b)prepare the social worker, as well as the client, for termination of the relationship and demonstrate sensitivity to the client's feelings in this regard.
(c)determine, with the client, the nature of the support that will be required upon termination of the service and ensure its availability.
STANDARD IV
The social worker shall maintain client files that contain only pertinent information obtained by the social worker and are in a format that facilitates the monitoring and evaluation of the intervention.
1)The client file shall include:
—identifying information;
—the source and nature of the referral;
—dates and places of initial and subsequent contacts;
—name and qualification of the social worker;
—plan and nature of the professional services provided;
—outcome of the intervention and recommendations;
—any documentation received from the client or from third parties about the client;
—any consents, releases or authorizations pertaining to the intervention or to the communication of information about the client.
2)The client file shall be stored and maintained in accordance with relevant provincial statutes and organizational policies.
3)Client information collected on audio/video tapes, personal computers and floppy discs shall meet the ethical requirements of confidentiality defined in the Social Work Code of Ethics of the Canadian Association of Social Workers.
STANDARD V
The social worker shall maintain knowledge and skills that are current and directly related to the services to be rendered.
1)The social worker shall complete a minimum of forty hours of continuing education activities per year as defined in section 2, below.
2)The social worker shall ensure that the continuing education includes a combination of activities.
Fifty percent of the continuing education will consist of one or more of the following:
(a)self-directed learning;
(b)mentoring;
(c)in-service training.
The remaining fifty percent will consist of one or more of the following:
(a)courses;
(b)conferences;
(c)workshops;
(d)seminars;
(e)certificate programs;
(f)in-service programs;
(g)committee work.
STANDARD VI
The social worker shall assist and support clients in communicating their needs to the appropriate community or government resource. To this end, the social worker shall:
- seek the input of clients regarding issues of concern to them;
- offer interpretations of the needs and rights of clients to the client or others when necessary;
- seek out and assemble relevant information to document the need for change;
- advocate for change in legislation and policy when necessary;
- recognize the relevant facts in problem situations and initiate or promote collective action to address these problems;
- evaluate the services of the employer's organization, and initiate improvements in these whenever possible;
- notify appropriate authorities of any gaps in service or of difficulties in fulfilling the social work mandate.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Atlantic Child Guidance Centre. Consents to Treatment, Videotapes, Observation and Obtaining Information. September, 1989.
British Columbia Association of Social Workers. Standards of Practice.
Canadian Association of Social Workers. Social Work Code of Ethics, Revised. 1994.
Canadian Association of Social Workers. Policy Statement on Continuing Education. March, 1994.
Corporation professionnelle des travailleurs sociaux du Quebec. Standards of Professional Practice for Social Workers. June 1993
Izaak Walton Killam Children's Hospital. Policy on Consent. January, 1994.
National Association of Social Workers. Standards for the Classification of Social Work Practice. September, 1981.
National Association of Social Workers. The Social Work Dictionary. Robert L. Barker, 1987.
Nova Scotia Association of Social Workers. Standards of Practice.
Rozovsky, Fay A. Consent to Treatment. A Practical Guide. Second Edition. Little Brown & Co., Boston, 1990.
U.N. Centre for Human Rights, in cooperation with the International Federation of Social Workers and the International Association of Schools of Social Work. Teaching and Learning about Human Rights: A Manual for Schools of Social Work and the Social Work Profession. United Nations, New York, 1992.
Anchor [i]Social Work Code of Ethics, Canadian Association of Social Workers, Revised, January, 1994, p. 7.
Anchor [ii]Teaching and Learning about Human Rights: A Manual for Schools of Social Work and the Social Work Profession. U.N. Centre for Human Rights, in cooperation with the International Federation of Social Workers and the International Association of Schools of Social Work, 1992.
Anchor [iii]Social Work Code of Ethics, Canadian Association of Social Workers, Revised January, 1994, p. 5.
Anchor [iv]Social Work Dictionary, Robert L. Barker, NASW, 1987.
Anchor [v]Social Work Dictionary, Robert L. Barker, NASW, 1987.
Anchor [vi]Methods of practice include: counselling or therapy as it relates to individuals, couples, families or groups; community organization and development; social planning; social policy development; research; and administration.
Anchor [vii]To ensure that consent is valid, the social worker shall verify that it has been obtained without undue influence or coercion; that the client has the legal and the mental capacity to give consent; that it is specific to the matter at hand; and that there has been proper disclosure of information to the client regarding the nature and purpose of the intervention, any obvious risks involved, and the expected consequences of intervention and non-intervention.
Legal capacity exists unless there is a judicial order declaring the person incapable of giving consent; there is a guardian with power to act for the client; or the power to consent has been removed by statute.
Mental capacity exists where the client is able to exercise his/her mental faculties to reach a reasoned decision regarding the intervention.
Consent to Treatment. A Practical Guide. Second Edition, Fay A. Rozovsky, 1990, pp. 12-58.