Solution-based Casework: An Introduction to Clinical and Case Management Skills in Casework Practice

by Barrett,William C.

• ISBN13: 9780202361178
• ISBN10: 0202361179
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781000160918
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-01-01
• Publisher: Routledge
• More Book Details

Summary

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.

Author Biography

Dana N. Christensen is Professor and Director, Center for Family Resource Development, Kent School of Social Work, University of Louisville.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xi
I. HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The Foundations of Solution-Based Casework	3	(18)
Family-Centered Practice	3	(1)
Ecological Perspective	4	(3)
Competence-Centered Perspective	7	(2)
Family Life Cycle Theory	9	(2)
Postmodern Family Casework	11	(2)
Solution-Focused Family Therapy	13	(2)
Relapse Prevention Theory	15	(2)
Integrating Solution-Focused and Problem-Centered Models	17	(4)
Searching for Solutions in the Postmodern World	21	(16)
The Evolution of Casework Practice	22	(3)
Current Challenges to Casework	25	(3)
Rising Pressure from the Welfare to Work Movement	28	(1)
Emerging Responses to the Crisis in Casework	29	(8)
II. ASSESSMENT
Anchoring Casework in Everyday Life Events	37	(14)
``Sorting Things Out'' Together	37	(1)
Partnership Changes the Meaning of Assessment	38	(1)
Keeping Ourselves Focused on Everyday Life	38	(1)
Routines are at the Heart of Family Life	39	(1)
The Problem with Solutions	40	(1)
Overview of Family Development	41	(1)
Beginning Couple	42	(1)
Infant Preschool Family	43	(1)
School-Age Family	44	(1)
Adolescent Family	45	(1)
Launching Family	46	(1)
Postparental Family	47	(1)
Divorce and Remarriage	47	(1)
Keeping Your Finger on the Pulse of Family Life	48	(1)
Everyday Life and Patterns of Discouragement	49	(2)
Recognizing Patterns	51	(14)
Assessing Patterns in Everyday Life	51	(1)
Creating a Partnership to Find Solutions	52	(1)
Techniques for Building Partnerships	53	(3)
Recognizing Dominant Patterns in Everyday Life	56	(1)
Helping the Family Describe the Problem in Everyday Life Terms	57	(5)
Decision-Making in Assessment	62	(3)
Assessing Problem Detail	65	(18)
Relapse Prevention Requires Specific Skills	65	(1)
What Skills Should Be Targeted for Outcome?	65	(3)
Steps to Promoting Prevention Skills	68	(1)
Recognizing Patterns in High-Risk Situations	68	(1)
Learning the Details of High-Risk Patterns	69	(4)
Practicing Small Steps toward Change	73	(3)
Creating a Plan That Stays Focused on Solutions	76	(3)
Reinforcing Client Progress During Assessment	79	(1)
Summary	80	(3)
Building a Consensus for a Prevention Plan	83	(22)
Co-Constructing Measurable Goals with Your Clients	83	(1)
Searching for Solutions	83	(3)
Strategies That Work in Gaining Goal Consensus	86	(8)
Helping Clients Establish an Initial Safety Plan	94	(1)
Thinking Long-Term While Taking Short-Term Steps	95	(1)
What Goes into a Good Initial Safety Plan?	96	(1)
Considerations on Implementing a Safety Plan	96	(1)
Summary of the Role of Assessment in Case Planning	97	(2)
Appendix	99	(6)
III. MANAGEMENT ISSUES
The Process of Writing Objectives and Tasks	105	(20)
The Advantages of Being Specific and Measurable	105	(2)
When Case Plans Become Court Documents	107	(1)
Writing a Case Plan That Is Focused on Solutions	108	(1)
Uniting Around a Family Goal	109	(1)
Breaking Down the Goal into Family Objectives	109	(1)
Going from Family-Level Objectives to Individual-Level Objectives	110	(2)
The Primacy of Risk-Related Objectives	112	(1)
Breaking Down Objectives into Manageable Tasks	112	(6)
Writing Action Plans to Prevent Relapse	118	(7)
Solution-Based Case Management	125	(24)
The Challenge of Staying the Course	125	(1)
A Reminder about Targeting Outcome Skills	126	(1)
Making the Transition from Intake to Ongoing	127	(5)
Making the Transition from Casework to Treatment	132	(4)
Integrating Welfare to Work Objectives	136	(1)
Making the Most of Setbacks	136	(4)
Supervisor's Role in Case Management	140	(1)
Taking the Time to Supervise	141	(1)
Maintaining a Partnership	142	(1)
Maintaining a Focus on Specific Situations in Family Life	143	(3)
Summary	146	(3)
Treatment Providers' Role in Case Management	149	(26)
Introduction	149	(3)
Gathering Basic Information about the Referral	152	(1)
What Happened?	152	(1)
What Is the Safety Plan?	153	(1)
How Has the Problem Been Defined with the Family?	154	(1)
Sample Dialogue at the Time of Referral	155	(4)
Offering Services to Mirror Family Developmental Needs	159	(4)
Overview of Steps to Prevention	163	(1)
Helping Clients Learn the Details of Their Patterns	164	(2)
Helping Clients Practice Small Steps of Change	166	(2)
Helping Clients Develop Relapse Prevention Plans	168	(1)
Summary of Solution-Based Interviewing Techniques	169	(1)
Strategies for Collaboration	170	(5)
Solution-Based Interviewing Techniques	175	(24)
Techniques That Build a Consensus about the Problem	176	(1)
Normalizing	177	(1)
Externalizing the Problem	178	(1)
Searching for Exceptions to the Pattern	179	(1)
Tracking the Problem Pattern	180	(4)
Techniques for Creating Interest in Signs of Change	184	(1)
Between Session Observation	185	(1)
Old versus New T-Charts	186	(1)
Scaling Questions	187	(2)
Time-Oriented Questions	189	(2)
Anchoring Change in the New Self	191	(1)
Expanding the Audience for Change	192	(2)
Reinforcing Progress through Credentialing	194	(1)
Celebrating Rites of Passage	195	(2)
Reference Reading Specifically for Technique	197	(2)
How Staff Experience Change	199	(20)
Frustration and Old Models	199	(4)
Advantages to Solution-Based Casework	203	(4)
Challenges Inherent in Changing Habits	207	(2)
Success Stories	209	(4)
Implementing Solution-Based Casework: Training Considerations	213	(6)
References	219	(6)
Index	225