By: Vernell Jenkins

University of North Carolina at Pembroke

Competency 1
Identifying as a professional social worker and
conduct oneself accordingly

Practice Behaviors
1.1 Advocate for client access to the service of social

work.
I will gain knowledge and become more competent
about the population served, along with the services
and local programs.
1.2 Practice personal reflection and self-correlation to

assure continual professional development.

Constantly practice behavior which correlate to the
profession role and behavior of a social worker. I will
use the NASW in how I engage and practice

Practice Behavior
1.3 Attend to professional roles and boundaries

I will act according to the NASW Code of Ethics while

engaging with consumers, colleagues and behave in
the professional role while remaining in the
boundaries of my internship(employment)
.
1.4 Demonstrate professional demeanor in behavior

I will demonstrate professionalism, be sensitive to

client needs while maintaining client confidentiality

Practice Behaviors
1.5 Appearance and Communication

Dress in proper attire for the agency work setting at all

times.
1.6 Engage in career long learning and use

supervision and consultation.

I will engage in training and seek resources to enhance
my knowledge as a social worker in the area of the
practice. Use supervision and consultation to advise
me specifically on effective training of the social work
profession

Apply social work ethical principles to guide

professional practice

Practice Behaviors
2.1 Recognize and manage personal values in a way

that allows professional values to guide practice.

I will take a self evaluation and not allow my personal
values to interfere with professional values when
assisting clients. I will act in a professional manner
with all information and avoid any personal
involvement.
Ex. When assisting clients of substance
abuse/alcoholism who relapse and justify the problem,
while putting others in danger.

Practice Behaviors
2.2 Make ethical decisions by applying standards of

the National Association of Social Workers Code of

Ethics and, as applicable, of the International
Federation of Social Workers/International
Association of School of Social Work Ethics in Social
Work, Statement of Principles
I will refer to the NASW code of Ethics with every
decision I make when assisting consumers, working
with colleagues.

Practice Behaviors
2.3 Tolerate ambiguity in resolving ethical conflicts

I will keep in mind that every employee may not

understand ethic codes. I will apply behavior
standards specified by the NASW and learn from my
supervisors better ways of resolving issues.

Practice Behaviors
2.4 Apply Strategies of ethical reasoning to arrive at

principled decisions
As an intern student, I will practice and make decision
based on what I have learned from my supervisor and
NASW code of ethics. I will learn ways and techniques
to help me as a future social worker when dealing with
ethical dilemmas and decision making.

Apply critical thinking to inform and

communicate professional judgments

Practices Behaviors
3.1 Distinguish, appraise, and integrate multiple

sources of knowledge, including research-based

knowledge, and practice wisdom.
I have used skills I have learned from practice and
research courses when assessing clients needs,
documenting and providing services (as reviewed by
my supervisor). I also consult with my supervisor or
refer to the policy manual when questions arise
regarding client contract for services.

Practice Behaviors
3.2 Analyze models of assessment, prevention,

intervention, and evaluation.

As a social work intern, I am learning proper
documentation during assessments and applying
proper codes. In assisting my supervisor, I have use the
MAST (Michigan Alcohol Screening Test) to assess
consumers, then provide to my supervisor for scoring
and evaluating the consumer report.

PracticeBehaviors
3.3 Demonstrate effective oral and written
communications in working with individuals,
families, groups, organizations, communities, and
colleagues.

I exemplify this practices daily in office, among

colleagues and with client contact to effectively
communicate my needs, and to ensure that all my
clients understand services rendered by the agency
such as DWI/DUI interventions.

Engage diversity and difference in practice

Practice Behaviors
4.1 Recognize the extent to which a cultures structures

and values may oppress, marginalize, alienate, or

create or enhance privilege and power.
I am recognizing through consumer reviews and
contact, the oppressions of various cultures.

Practice Behaviors
4.2 Gain sufficient self-awareness to eliminate the

influence of personal biases and values in working

with diverse groups.
I will do a self-evaluation to ensure personal biases
does not interfere with my role as a social work-intern
when dealing with different individuals. I will respect
the values of others.

Practice Behaviors
4.3 Recognize and communicate their understanding

of the importance of difference in shaping life

experiences.
When working with consumers, during client intake or
assessments, I begin to understand how various
experiences affects their current situation. For
example, in some consumer history of substance
abuse, it seems that their lives have been shaped by a
generation of alcohol, substance abuse and/or mental
illness.

Practice Behaviors
4.4 View themselves as learners and engage those with

whom they work as informants.

I will gain more knowledge through the shadowing of
my supervisor and as I engage daily with other
seasoned colleagues.

Advance human rights and social and economic justice

Practices Behaviors
5.1 Understand the forms and mechanisms of

oppression and discrimination.

I understand that some clients have considerably low
income and still do no qualify for Medicaid and can
not afford private insurances to obtain
services/treatments.

Practices Behaviors
5.2 Advocate for human rights and social and

economic justice.
Some clients request for help in finding resources to
get established with shelter and medical assistance. I
have an duty to advocate resources and services that
would meet the needs of my clients.

Practices Behaviors
5.3 Engage in practices that advance social and

economic justice
When clients indicate that they do not qualify for
Medicaid assistance to purchase their medicines or
obtain regular medical care, we provide clients with a
list of resources within the community who provide
some medical help.

Engage in research-informed practice and practiceinformed research

Practice Behaviors
6.1 Use practice experience to inform scientific inquiry

Use time reading links for Consumers such as: Alcohol

/Drug Council of North Carolina and Alcohol
Screening.org Online Screening Tool.

Practice Behaviors
6.2 Use research evidence to inform practice

Apply research findings when working with clients as

needed.
For additional support to outpatient treatment,
provide clients with listing of opening AA meetings
(include date, time and location), 24 hr hotline

Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social

environment

Practice Behaviors
7.1 Utilize conceptual frameworks to guide the

processes of assessment, intervention, and evaluation

During the process of assessment, information I gather
from the client is use to understand the consumer,
his/her history and current situation. My assessment
will be a clear and through guide to help provide the
best intervention.

Practice Behaviors
7.2 Critique and apply knowledge to understand

person and environment. Identify needs, issues and

current demographic.
When engaging with consumers, I use skills learned
from practice study and supervisor to identify the
client need(s) through assessment. The data collected
will help to identify the strengths and weakness
present.

Engage in policy practice to advance social and

economic well-being and to deliver effective social
work services

Practice Behaviors
8.1 Analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies and

advance social well-being.

As a future social worker in the areas adult services, I
am required to follow policy as well as inform the
clients of policies. I will also ensure that the clients
have a clear understanding of all their rights.

Practice Behaviors
8.2 Collaborate with colleagues and clients for

effective policy action.

To ensure effective actions in intervention, goal
settings and evaluating clients, I will consult with
colleagues, such as my direct supervisor.

Respond to contexts that shape practice

Practice Behaviors
9.1 Continuously discover, appraise, and attend to

changing locales, populations, scientific and

technological developments and emerging societal
trends to provide relevant services.
Learning to make use of the policy manual, Eastpointe
consumer link, DHSS and other materials to
understand services available to the population served.

Practice Behaviors
9.2 Provide leadership in promoting sustainable

changes in services delivery and practice to improve

the quality of social services.
While attending and engaging in meetings, I am able
to ask questions, present new ideas or newly found
information to help meet the need of the clients or
make the agency more resourceful.

Engage, assess, intervene, and evaluate with

individuals, families, groups, organizations, and
communities

Practice Behavior
10.1 Substantively and effectively prepare for action

with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and

communities.
Review clients charts and add new forms for intakes,
this make the assessment process accessible and
manageable.

Practice Behaviors
10.2 Use empathy and other interpersonal skills.

I give clients my full attention and put myself in

the their shoes. I try to understand what the
client is going through and be sensitive to their
problems.

Practice Behaviors
10.3 Develop a mutually agreed-on focus of work

Attending weekly staff meetings is mutually agreed to

remain informed of topics regarding the agency and
give consumer support.

Practice Behavior
10.4 Collect, organize and interpret client data

Collect information from clients to determine the type

of assessment, interpret information presented, and
organizing information appropriately to be analyzed
and evaluated for treatment.

Practice Behavior
10.5 Assessing client strengths and limitations
10.6 Develop mutually agreed-intervention goals and

objectives.
10.7 Select appropriate intervention strategies
Use clinical assessment forms to identify consumers
strengths and weaknesses ether with consumers. Go over
goals set and document related responses. Schedule s
clients for classes strategized to promote intervention.

Practice Behavior
10.8 Initiate actions to achieve organizations goals.

Review goals set with the client as document and

encourage client to continue in the set goals.
10.9 Implement prevention interventions that enhance

client impact.
Assist in conducting group session meeting related to
stress management.

Practice Behavior
10.10 Help clients resolve problems.

During group or one on one sessions we aide clients in

identifying potential distractions along with their
weakness and strengths. Allowing the client to
identifying areas of distractions would also help them
avoid problems.

Practice Behavior
10.11 Negotiate, mediate, and advocate for clients.

Hear the client with concerns and seek resources to

help them by calling community or human services to
see how the client might benefit from their services.
For instance : the qualifying for Medicaid services.

Practices Behaviors
10.12 Facilitate transitions and endings.

As a social worker I will inform client about the status

of his/her case.

Practice Behaviors
10.13 Social Workers critically analyze, monitor, and

evaluate interventions.
As a social worker, I will use the method of research
learned through studies to analyze data, monitor
change and evaluate interventions to determine
effectiveness.