Solution-Based Casework: An Introduction to Clinical and Case Management Skills in Casework Practice (Modern Applications of Social Work (Cloth)) (Modern Applications of Social Work)

Solution-based casework is an approach to assessment, case planning, and case management that combines what we know from clinical social work with what we value about sound social work practice. It is grounded in family-centered social work and draws from clinical approaches within social work and mental health. By integrating problem- and solution-focused approaches that form the clinical and social work traditions, treatment partnerships are more easily formed between family, caseworker, and service provider. Solution-Based Casework is a skill-based, practice-oriented text that provides the specific guidance that students and new practitioners need in order to make sense quickly of the complex tasks of assessment and case planning in child welfare. The book flows out of a long practice experience, and was developed in consultation with workers and supervisors who were attempting to remedy problems viewed as contributing to recurrent abuse and neglect. It seeks to end adversarial relationships in casework and advocates case plans based on specific outcome skills rather than on those written with vague outcome goals measuring attendance in counseling. It serves as a common conceptual framework for integrating disparate segments of a response network, thereby allowing all providers in a therapeutic system to work toward common goals. The text is divided into three sections. In Section I the conceptual history and theoretical foundations of solution-based casework are presented so that the reader can place this approach to casework within the ongoing professional conversation about what constitutes sound practice. Section II addresses issues of assessment and case planning. Section III focuses on case management issues and how treatment team members experience a solution-based casework approach. Cover......Page 1 Half Title......Page 2 Title Page......Page 4 Copyright Page......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Introduction......Page 12 I. HISTORICAL CONTEXT......Page 16 Family-Centered Practice......Page 18 Ecological Perspective......Page 19 Competence-Centered Perspective......Page 22 Family Life Cycle Theory......Page 24 Postmodern Family Casework......Page 26 Solution-Focused Family Therapy......Page 28 Relapse Prevention Theory......Page 30 Integrating Solution-Focused and Problem-Centered Models......Page 32 2 Searching for Solutions in the Postmodern World......Page 36 The Evolution of Casework Practice......Page 37 Current Challenges to Casework......Page 40 Rising Pressure from the Welfare to Work Movement......Page 43 Emerging Responses to the Crisis in Casework......Page 44 II. ASSESSMENT......Page 50 "Sorting Things Out" Together......Page 52 Keeping Ourselves Focused on Everyday Life......Page 53 Routines Are at the Heart of Family Life......Page 54 The Problem with Solutions......Page 55 Overview of Family Development......Page 56 Beginning Couple......Page 57 Infant Preschool Family......Page 58 School-Age Family......Page 59 Adolescent Family......Page 60 Launching Family......Page 61 Divorce and Remarriage......Page 62 Keeping Your Finger on the Pulse of Family Life......Page 63 Everyday Life and Patterns of Discouragement......Page 64 Assessing Patterns in Everyday Life......Page 66 Creating a Partnership to Find Solutions......Page 67 Techniques for Building Partnerships......Page 68 Recognizing Dominant Patterns in Everyday Life......Page 71 Helping the Family Describe the Problem in Everyday Life Terms......Page 72 Decision-Making in Assessment......Page 77 What Skills Should Be Targeted for Outcome?......Page 80 Step 1: Recognizing Patterns in High-Risk Situations......Page 83 Step 2: Learning the Details of High-Risk Patterns......Page 84 Step 3: Practicing Small Steps toward Change......Page 88 Step 4: Creating a Plan That Stays Focused on Solutions......Page 91 Reinforcing Client Progress During Assessment......Page 94 Summary......Page 95 Searching for Solutions......Page 98 Strategies That Work in Gaining Goal Consensus......Page 101 Helping Clients Establish an Initial Safety Plan......Page 109 Thinking Long-Term While Taking Short-Term Steps......Page 110 Considerations on Implementing a Safety Plan......Page 111 Summary of the Role of Assessment in Case Planning......Page 112 Appendix......Page 114 III. MANAGEMENT ISSUES......Page 118 The Advantages of Being Specific and Measurable......Page 120 When Case Plans Become Court Documents......Page 122 Writing a Case Plan That Is Focused on Solutions......Page 123 Breaking Down the Goal into Family Objectives......Page 124 Going from Family-Level Objectives to Individual-Level Objectives......Page 125 Breaking Down Objectives into Manageable Tasks......Page 127 Writing Action Plans to Prevent Relapse......Page 133 The Challenge of Staying the Course......Page 140 A Reminder about Targeting Outcome Skills......Page 141 Challenge 1: Making the Transition from Intake to Ongoing......Page 142 Challenge 2: Making the Transition from Casework to Treatment......Page 147 Challenge 4: Making the Most of Setbacks......Page 151 Supervisor's Role in Case Management......Page 155 Taking the Time to Supervise......Page 156 Maintaining a Partnership......Page 157 Maintaining a Focus on Specific Situations in Family Life......Page 158 Summary......Page 161 Introduction......Page 164 What Happened?......Page 167 What Is the Safety Plan?......Page 168 How Has the Problem Been Defined with the Family?......Page 169 Sample Dialogue at the Time of Referral......Page 170 Offering Services to Mirror Family Developmental Needs......Page 174 Overview of Steps to Prevention......Page 178 Helping Clients Learn the Details of Their Patterns......Page 179 Helping Clients Practice Small Steps of Change......Page 181 Helping Clients Develop Relapse Prevention Plans......Page 183 Summary of Solution-Based Interviewing Techniques......Page 184 Strategies for Collaboration......Page 185 10 Solution-Based Interviewing Techniques......Page 190 Techniques That Build a Consensus about the Problem......Page 191 Normalizing......Page 192 Externalizing the Problem......Page 193 Searching for Exceptions to the Pattern......Page 194 Tracking the Problem Pattern......Page 195 Techniques for Creating Interest in Signs of Change......Page 199 Between Session Observation......Page 200 Old versus New T-Charts......Page 201 Scaling Questions......Page 202 Time-Oriented Questions......Page 204 Anchoring Change in the New Self......Page 206 Expanding the Audience for Change......Page 207 Reinforcing Progress through Credentialing......Page 209 Celebrating Rites of Passage......Page 210 Reference Reading Specifically for Technique......Page 212 Frustration and Old Models......Page 214 Advantages to Solution-Based Casework......Page 218 Challenges Inherent in Changing Habits......Page 222 Success Stories......Page 224 Implementing Solution-Based Casework: Training Considerations......Page 228 References......Page 234 Index......Page 240 Solution-Based Casework is an approach to assessment, case planning, and case management. This text is a broad- based introduction to the concepts, skills and practices that are considered important to case work practice in the postmodern world. It is a skill -based, practice oriented text designed to make sense quickly of the complex tasks of assessment and case planning in child welfare. By successfully integrating two practice models : problem focused relapse prevention and solution-focused models, the authors offer a common conceptual framework that allows all providers in a therapuetic system to work toward common goals