Wayne State University Social Work Program Analysis

Social work is a career that finds and chooses you, rather than you selecting it. Social work has always been an immense portion of my life even when I had no recollection of what social work entailed. My life revolved around so many situations that had a social worker stepped in, my life would be totally different than it is today. Many individuals and agencies lack the compassion and empathy for oppressed people. Having been in many circumstances, has given me the experience and background that influenced me to go into social work, as well as the understanding of my role and responsibilities that I will assume as a professional social worker, and my reasons for selecting the program at ASU School of Social Work and thoughts on how the Mission Statement addresses my career goals.

“In Leading Change 2.0: Advancing the Behavioral Health of the Nation 2015-2018, SAMHSA has identified six Strategic Initiatives on which it will focus to guide the behavioral health system, reduce barriers to employment, education and life goals, social support changes, and promote individual, programs and system level approaches to improve health for substance abuse.” (SAMHSA, 2014). “SAMHSA is committed to addressing the nation’s health disparities by improving cultural and linguistic competence and access to prevention programs that serve diverse groups and communities. Many prevention approaches, such as selective prevention strategies, focus on helping individuals develop the knowledge, attitudes, and skills they need to make good choices

The primary prevention topic of this community healthy and population field experience is related to the Healthy People 2020 goal to “reduce substance abuse to protect the health, safety, and quality of life for all, especially children.” (Healthy People 2020, 2018). This topic correlates with the Roanoke Valley’s increase in fatal drug overdoses and the public health emergency that was declared by the Virginia state health commissioner in 2016, related to the opioid addiction crisis (Virginia Department of Health, 2016). While all members of the community are affected by this health concern, the primary focus of this assessment will be on the effects of and prevention of substance abuse within the areas youth.

I began my social work studies over twenty-five years ago at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. I never questioned my decision to pursue a career in social work; I loved my classes and worked hard to learn as much as possible. But the information I gained in undergraduate school simply opened the doors of my education. Most of my learning has come through constant questioning, personal research, and especially through work and life experience. Through these experiences I have encountered the challenges faced by individuals, families, and society and have been able to further access and develop the innate personality traits and abilities that originally led me to study social work as well as learn and practice the many skills necessary to be a successful mental health counselor.

I am pursuing an MSW at this time with the goal of becoming a licensed clinical social worker in order to provide advanced substance abuse and mental health counseling in western North Carolina. I have many work experiences that contributed to my choice of social work as a profession. I am currently a certified substance abuse counselor intern as well as a certified minister. I provide counseling for members of the congregation I serve.

As I prepare for the second year of the master’s program, there are three interviews that I must attend to get into my second year placement. Interviews itself can be challenging because they tend to be unpredictable and nerve-racking. The interview can take place with one interviewer or a panel of interviews. To better prepare for this challenge Professor Sears provided the class with a handout of questions to prepare for the placement interview. The three questions I am struggling with are the following:

I am interested in the Master of Social Work program with Walden University because I have always had an interest in the various aspects and components of the profession. I am interested the opportunities that a job in human services and helping profession will allow. A social work degree is accepted for a mass variety of careers and organizations. I have researched a multitude of programs that focus on Master of Social Work. After a lot of consideration Walden has my number one choice due to its accreditation with the Council of Social Work Education, and the option to study online. The accreditation that is offered through Walden is accepted in my home state of Alabama. Being able to study online was a major influence on my decision because I am a full-time working mother. Time is valuable and Walden’s flexibility allows me to further my education.

Societal, community, intrapersonal and the individual all are seen as contributing to the way a person approaches a health behavior. This framework has shown to be used extensively in explaining substance use among homeless adolescents. There is no single factor that causes homelessness or substance use, this framework acknowledges that and gives important information for prevention and treatment. There are many different reasons that youth become homeless. Ray (2006) found that family conflict was the primary cause of all homelessness in adolescents. Whatever the cause, the fact is that homeless adolescents need to have the focus of public health professionals to prevent increased numbers of HIV, and other blood-bore illnesses, drug overdoses, violence, and death.

After I graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara I was unsure what my next step would be. Of course I was anxious since I did not have experience working nor did I excel in my undergrad studies however, I knew I needed to use my newly earned degree in a positive way. Fast forward, after working for two years, I have gained the skills, knowledge and values from my work experiences that have confirmed my desire to advance my education in the social work field. I currently have my own case load of clients as a case manager at a level 12 group home but it’s time to take the next step forward. I want to ultimately advance social justice and provide services to assist individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities.

I am interested in school social work. My biggest goal is to work and help neglected children. When volunteering at Bessemer Elementary I got to see a school social worker in action. Making sure the children weren’t being abused, making sure that a child had the necessary needs to grow, and be successful in, and outside of school. This field has always interesting to me because when I was younger I had a family social worker. She came to visit my brothers and I after my father passed when it became hard for my mother to take care of all five of us. Every time she came she had a big smile on her face, and she gave my mother hope that everything would be okay; which is what I want to help someone else with.

Social workers help people solve and cope with problems in their everyday lives. Some of the duties they have are identifying people and communities in the need of help. Assess clients’ needs,situations,strengths, and support networks to determine their goals. Social workers respond to crisis situations such as child abuse and mental health emergencies. They may work with groups,community organizations, children and people with disabilities. For this career a bachelor 's degree is social work is the most common requirement for entry-level positions. Some jobs may hire at bachelor 's degree in the related field of psychology and sociology. An BSW degree helps prepare students for a direct position after getting their degree. Direct jobs can be a case worker or mental health assistant. These programs guide the students to know diverse population, human behavior, social welfare policy and ethics in the life of social work. All social work programs required an internship before you start a real position. Most if not all states require social worker to obtain a licensure or certification, but this can vary in certain states. The employment growth is expected grow 12 percent from 2014 to 2024, this is faster than all occupations. The growth of employment will be increased by the demand for health care and social services, but will depend by the social work specialty. The influences of this job came from me watching my auntie having foster kids in and out the house, and as I

Every worthwhile journey begins with one step. My social work journey began when I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Utah in 2003. I thought my next step would be to immediately pursue a graduate degree. In my undergraduate career I had taken numerous classes from the College of Social and Behavioral Science and had done well in those classes. In my Social Work as a Profession course I had an assignment to shadow a social worker and write a paper about my experience. I chose to shadow my father-in-law, a social worker with over 30 years of experience, and in my paper I expressed my desire to go into the social work field. I knew I liked helping people. I knew I liked problem solving and critical thinking. I thought my 22 year-old self was ready to embark on that journey, but I wasn’t. I realize now that what I lacked at graduation was one crucial step… perspective. Over the past twelve years I have gained that much needed perspective and have taken many steps forward in my journey, and with those steps and that increased perspective, I now feel more fully prepared to begin my social work career.

There are many areas in social work, but the one I plan to study for is child and family social work. The child and family social worker’s job is to protect children and help families in need. For example, they may help families apply for food stamps, affordable or even free child care and so on. Social workers must step in when they found out if a child is being abused or in danger of being mistreated.

Social Work is a field of interest to me because of the positive effort it contributes to society. Within the social work profession individuals are striving to improve the welfare of those in need of assistance. Social Workers assist a variety of individuals; from children, young adolescents, older adults, mentally ill, substance abuse individuals, and many other minorities; as in LGBT members, veterans, homeless people, and low socioeconomic status individuals. The broad mix population fascinates me because within this field one will always be able to work in a flexible environment. Social Work is used in multiple settings as in hospitals, nursing skilled homes, mental health and substance abuse clinics, schools, correctional facilities, community centers, child welfare agencies, employee assistance programs, and private practices.

Internship is finally coming to an end, it has taught me many things, and opened my eyes to see things in a new perspective. From the very start of my internship until now I feel like that I have grown as a person and as a student social worker. I have had a great experience, field instruction, and co-workers. I am very fortunate and thankful to be able to carry out my social work career with the Third Circuit District Attorney’s Office. However, there has been struggles and I do not think nothing could have prepared me for them, other than having to experience those struggles and learning from them.