SOCW6530 WU Termination of Services Discussion

Respond to the blog posts of three colleagues in one or more of the following ways:

Expand on your colleague’s posting.

Make a suggestion to your colleague’s post.

Response to Charmaine

• An explanation of how you have addressed termination or how you might address termination in your field education experience
• Termination is defined as the end of the client-worker relationship (Kirst-Ashman, & Hull Jr., 2006).) and can occur at any given time depending on the circumstances. Ideally, termination of services should be completed by the social worker when the client has met his or her treatment objectives and services are no longer required (NASW, 2019). Termination, in some cases, can also be addressed at the beginning of services. For example, when ChildNet receives a case, the clients are made aware that their case must stay open at a minimum of six (6) months or an intervention such as Parenting classes. Clients are made aware during the intake process that parenting courses are 6-8 weeks long.

Another way ChildNet addresses termination is by informing clients at least two weeks in advance that services will be terminated. This affords clients the opportunity to process the termination phase with the clinician. For the cases where termination is done by the social worker and the client is successfully discharged, ChildNet provides clients with information on resources within the community should the client need services in the future.

References

• ChildNet-About ChildNet. (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2019, from http://www.childnet.us/

Kirst-Ashman, K. & Hull Jr., G. (2006). Understanding generalist practice (4th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

National Association of Social Worker. (2018). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Worker. Washington, DC: NASW Pr

Response to Denise

An explanation of how I have addressed termination in my field education experience

There are a few reasons why therapy ends. A client may terminate at any time for any reason. Ideally, termination occurs once the client and therapist agree that the treatment goals have been met or sufficient progress has been made and/or the client improves and no longer needs clinical services (Birkenmaier & Berg-Weger, 2018).  However, here at Caribbean Community Connection there are some valid reasons as to why the therapist-client relationship may end the treatment before it is completed. Some reasons may include: First, the client may have mental health needs that are beyond the social worker’s area of expertise. For example, the client may require a different level of treatment (inpatient or crisis intervention) than the social worker provides in the practice setting. In this case I will address this by finding other resources that can accommodate the client’s needs once I locate one, I will refer them out (Caribbean Community Connection, n.d). Second, if there is a conflict of interest identified after treatment begins. In this case if I do not feel comfortable in handling the case I discus this matter with my field supervisor or the Director of the agency so that they can intervene. Third, if the client fails to make adequate progress toward treatment goals or fails to comply with treatment recommendations. Also, if the client fails to participate in therapy either by non-compliance, no shows, or cancellations.

Here at Caribbean Community Connection there is a  policy set in place for the practice so that cases are routinely closed after a certain amount of time without any contact from a client, for example: How things are address at my agency will be that  “If we do not have contact or communication from the client for a period of 30 days, then the case will be discussed with the director and then closed (Caribbean Community Connection, n.d). However, they may return to therapy in the future if they decide to continue treatment.

In addition, here at Caribbean Community Connection, if the patient and family elects to come off of services. In this case often times it is because there has been an issue or a problem. How I address this is by trying to find out what the issue or problem was and if there was some way, we can address it. I do this by having a meeting with the patient and family. If the family continues to want to discharge services, then I move forward and have them to sign a cancellation of services form (Caribbean Community Connection, n.d).

References

Birkenmaier, J., & Berg-Weger, M. (2018). The practicum companion for social work: Integrating class and fieldwork (4th ed., p. 9). New York, NY: Pearson.

Caribbean Community Connection of Orlando, Inc (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.caribecc.org/home/organizational_initiative

Response to Stephanie

An explanation of how you have addressed termination or how you might address termination in your field education experience:

               Termination is the idea of ending a service with a client. Termination is outlined in the code of ethics as to when it is alright to terminate services (NASW, 2019). Those would include when the client does not need the services anymore, under unusual circumstances, and if a client is not paying an overdue bill for the fee-services (NASW, 2019). The code of ethics state that a social worker should not terminate if the client is a threat to their self or others, or if the client still needs services. It, also, explains that social workers who are leaving the job should not do so to pursue a personal relationship with the client, and if leaving the employment should allow the client to know and take measures to ensure the clients well-being (NASW, 2019).

               In my own field experience, termination occurs in several ways. Termination occurs when a client has successfully completed their treatment plan and no longer needs services (Cromer, M., 2019). Termination can occur when a client has missed too many sessions and all efforts are exhausted. All efforts are exhausted ensures contacting the client in letter and on the phone, several visits when they receive their MAT treatment, and constant referrals to other resources. If these efforts fail, the client is sent a closing letter and would have to complete another assessment to be opened again (Cromer, M., 2019). Lastly, a client has been terminated due to safety reasons. A client was terminated because the client made a death threat to my supervisor (Cromer, M., 2019). My supervisor had to make a police report and went through all the policy protocol. In my personal experience at the field site, I have seen more termination of individuals successfully completing their treatment plan, or individuals being closed because they fail to come to sessions or work on their treatment plans. Rarely have I seen an individual turned away for their outstanding balance. Usually, the agency works with them to help them pay, or they can still attend classes and not receive a certificate, until they pay. This limits them from completing the course, until they pay (Cromer, M., 2019). Overall, the termination at the agency falls in line with the NASW code of ethics by ensuring the well-being of the clients and the social workers.

Reference:

Cromer, M., (2019). Prevention Supervisor of Gateway Counseling.

NASW (2019). Code of ethics. Retrieved from: https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English