Running head: BEGINNING ASSESSMENT OF COMPETENCIES 1

BEGINNING ASSESSMENT OF COMPETENCIES

Griselda Oliveros

Briar Cliff Univeristy

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BEGINNING ASSESSMENT OF COMPETENCIES

The core competencies were put into place so that social workers could have a set list of

guidelines to follow. They demonstrate what a social worker should strive to be. Having these

competencies in place have taught me that a social worker needs all of these in order to work

effectively with clients. Through recent work that I have done, I have seen both good and bad

examples of how failure to reach them can cause. These examples have let me take a look at

what I could become as a social worker if I do not meet them. In the following paper I will be

reviewing of where I am as far as meeting these standards go and where I lack experience.

Competency 1: Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior

When I first began learning about social work and its competencies it was difficult to

understand why the competencies had to even be put in place. As I learned more and more about

them I felt more comfortable with them and they began to make sense. Now, this summer as I got

more experience through working at Mary Treglia I was able to bring together all of the

competencies as best as I could. When I think about the first competency: Ethical and

Professional Behavior, I looked at the third bullet point They also understand how their personal

experiences and affective reactions influence their professional judgement and behavior. I know

that the way I helped clients in one way or another was influenced by my own experiences. In

most cases I was able to empathize with clients and was able to help them as best as I could. For

the clients that I couldnt understand, due to lack of experience, I tried to have them explain

more about their situation so I could help them. At times it was difficult to remain professional

because of frustrating situations but it really helped that there were other people around me that

knew how to help them. The people who I worked with really made an impact in my

understanding of this and the other competencies.

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Competency 2: Engage Diversity And Difference In Practice1

Mary J. Treglia Community House is an organization that helps the immigrants of the

community, particularly those who have not been in the U.S. for very long. It is safe to say that

they serve a variety of different clients when it comes to diversity. Being a child of immigrants I

was able to work well with all clients in the aspect that I understood that they are facing

troubling circumstances due to being in an unknown place. What I feel was challenging was

working with the African clients. Not only did we have a language barrier but a difference in

culture. At first it was difficult for me to accept that the differences were so big. Yet as I learned

more about each client and one of our colleagues, who happens to be Oromo, I was fascinated by

the similarities and differences between our cultures.

Competency 3: Advance Human Rights and Social, Economic, and Environmental

Justice.

As far as this competency goes, I do not think that I have worked on a large community

scale to try and advance human rights. What I feel I have done is treat every person who I have

worked with the same way. There have been times where I have gone to different places that

have treated certain clients one way and others in another. It is because of those places that I tried

harder, even when I was not having a good day.

Competency 4: Engage in Practice-informed Research and Research- informed

Practice.

I have taken the research class that is required for the social work department. As far as

putting this competency into practice I am aware of how qualitative and quantitative research

works but I have not done it outside of the classroom. What little experience I have is the

information I used for grant writing to write a grant for Mary Treglia. It was difficult to
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understand, without proper guidance, how the students raised their test scores. I do see myself

working with research more in the future so I would like to be more competent in this area than

what I am now.

Competency 5: Engage in Policy Practice.

While I worked at Mary Treglia we discussed the need of a policy book or guidelines to

be written for the volunteers. I helped with coming up with an outline for it. This may be

something smaller than what most social workers do but I feel that to some degree it was a good

experience. Having an understanding of Mary Treglia as an organization and its history helped

me to see how they evolved and how they continue to do so. Working there also helped me to see

how other organizations practice their policies as they worked with Mary Treglia.

Competency 6: Engage with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and

Communities.

Around people who I do not know I tend to be very shy. Which was a fear of mine when I

first began to work at Mary Treglia, that I would be too shy to work with people, but this fear did

not last very long. It was the clients who would joke with me or would after a few visits would

ask for me to help them. I think most of all the fact that they would ask for me motivated me to

work with the clients and their families more. As for organizations I have not worked with many

so I would like to get more experience with them.

Competency 7: Assess Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities.

There were times where clients would come into the office in a very emotional state or

with a pile of things they needed to get done. It was during those moments where I would talk to

the client and let them know that even though they may have a lot on their plate we would go

through each task one after another. I feel like practice 1 was very helpful in the sense that I
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could help the client step back and look at their situation from another point of view. Letting the

clients talk about their situation and seeing the parts of their life that influenced them was very

interesting to see. I think I could use more practice in the mezzo and macro scales.

Competency 8: Intervene with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and

Communities.

Using my previous example, after listening to the client we would come up with a plan to

be able to achieve each task that they needed help with. Letting them see each of their options

and how they would be affected by them was interesting and very good experience for me. I feel

that this was one of the better parts of learning how to develop a plan for the client.

Competency 9: Evaluate Practice with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and

Communities.

While some clients only came in once or twice, those that continued to come back for

other types of help really appreciated the fact that we would follow up with them. Sometimes

they would even bring more clients for us to help because they appreciated the way we worked

with them. On the mezzo and macro scales I think I need more practice because I have not

worked much in this area.

Conclusion

I have grown a lot during the time I have been in the social work program. Even so I

know and understand that our profession does not allow us to stop learning. This aspect of social

work always aspires me to reach for more. As I continue to grow in each competency I am

hopeful that I can become a competent social worker.

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