Social Work Practice and the Law by Slater Lyn K. Dr. PhD & Slater Lyn K. Dr. PhD & Finck Kara R. JD & Finck Kara R. JD

Author:Slater, Lyn K., Dr., PhD & Slater, Lyn K., Dr., PhD & Finck, Kara R., JD & Finck, Kara R., JD
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Social Work Practice and the Law
Publisher: Springer Publishing Company
Published: 2011-10-17T04:00:00+00:00

CHILD AND VULNERABLE ADULT PROTECTION

The use of legal evidence-informed practice in these types of proceedings is crucial because although protective in nature and motivation, they often also involve wide professional discretion, serious restrictions of rights, and the ability to make decisions and the potential to substantially limit the self-determination of your client. An important task for the social worker to acknowledge as part of understanding civil proceedings that are protective in nature is the acceptance of the fact that in most of the following proceedings there may be competing interests and tensions among the parties that a social worker is frequently called upon to balance.

In many protective proceedings, social workers may be working with an entire family, one of who may have committed an act of abuse against a child or an adult. In a guardianship or commitment hearing, a social worker may again be working with an entire family each of whom may hold very different positions on how the matter should be resolved. Identifying that the law often requires a balancing between the rights of the individuals, families, and the duties of the state is an important aspect of case analysis and formulation for a social worker interfacing with protective proceedings for vulnerable adults and children. Knowing what the law says about the rights and interests of all the parties is important for social workers because they are often put in the position of having to balance values of autonomy and protection (Donovan & Regehr, 2010). Another common and important value when it comes to child and adult protection cases is that of “least restrictive” circumstances. This means that any protective decision be one that imposes the least amount of restrictions on the rights and freedoms of the individual including freedom of movement and in regard to placement or living arrangements.

Regardless of what kind of protective proceeding they might be involved with, there are three general areas for research and knowledge that are implicated for social workers: the identification of risk and protective factors related to the identified harm or danger, engagement or lack of participation in treatment or services to mitigate harm or danger and the assessment of capacity and decision-making ability. These three themes are implicated throughout all of the following protective proceedings. These themes can provide a targeted framework for the legal and social science research that a social worker may need to access when involved in protective proceedings. Since in many of these proceedings there are serious liberty interests, social workers should be familiar with evidence-based practices that are known to be effective for the treatment of abuse and neglect, domestic violence, elder abuse, serious mental illness, and substance abuse so that there will be a reduction in harm and risk of harm.

A social worker may be a fact witness, an expert witness, or an advocate in protective proceedings. It is important for social workers to remember that in protective proceedings that if a person has a diagnosis, such as substance dependence or schizophrenia,

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