NASW Standards for working with adolescents

While I have been doing m practicum at an agency the works with adolescents, my field instructor passed on a set of standards the NASW adopted in 2003 in working with adolescents. This blog entry is intended to help you better understand what these standards are. In this blog entry, I will look at one or two points pertaining to each standard.

There are eleven standards within this set of standards. The eleven standards are knowledge of adolescent development, assessment, knowledge of family dynamics, cultural competence, self-empowerment of adolescents, understanding adolescent' needs, multidisciplinary case consultation, confidentiality, work environment, advocacy, and policies for effective practice.

When looking at knowledge of adolescent development the NASW standard says that social workers should be knowledgeable and show an understanding in "the significance of adolescents' steps in establishing an identity, which may include a natural form of rebelliousness and rejection of authority." (p. 8) Another area within the knowledge of adolescent development is understanding "the impact of substance abuse and violence on sdolescents' development and on their families" (p. 8).

The second standard, assessment, looks at the social workers ability to assess an adolesents situation and be able to obtain services for the child, whether it is through social institutions or community-based services. The standard also says that social workers should also be able to advocate for the adolescent to recieve services in which the social worker has assessed the client needs (p. 9).

Having knowledge of family dynamics is the third standard. "NASW defines families as two or more people who consider themselves 'family' and who assume obligations, functions and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life" (p. 10).

Cultural Competence is the fourth standard. Cultural competence is interpretated as being "knowledgeable about deleterious effects of racism, sexism, ageism, heterosexuality or homophobia, Antisemitism, ethnocentrism, classism, and disability-based discrimination on adolescents lives and about the need to advocate for and with adolescents" (p. 12).

The fifth standard is Self-Empowerment of adolescents. Under this standard there are two things social workers can do to help self-empower adolescents. The first way is by advocating for youth to take part in agency boards or committees and also allow youth to take part in training to better services and policy which affect them. The second way social workers and self-empower youth is by helping them develp skills which will help them live independently (p. 12).

Under the sixth standard, understanding adolescents needs, the standard says, "Social workers need to be aware of adolescents' multidimensional lives, regardless of service focus. This includes the family, siblins, extended family, individuals whom the adolescent may reside, peer group, friends of the opposite sex, culrual and economic facts, refugee status, discrimination experiences, and exposure to violence in the community or family or from ware experiences" (p. 13).

The seventh standard deals with Multidisciplinary Case Consultation. Within this standard, it is improtant for social workers to work alongside other agencies who may be administering services to the youth and their family (p. 15).

The eight standard looks at confidentiality. In looking at confidentiality, the standard discusses how social workers should work with the client with confidentiality in mind. Aside from governmental laws which require the breaching of confindiality, the social worker should work within the limits of confidentiality to build trust between them and the client.

Work environment is the ninth standard. This standard says, " Social workers are responsible, in pat, for their own empowerment as staff of the organizations in which they work" (p. 16).

Advocacy is the tenth standard. Looking at advocacy, the standard says, "Social workers administrators in youth service agencies shall advocate for an increased understanding of the needs of youths, policy changes, and adequate resources to enable social workers to meet those needs, and appropriate working conditions for all workers" (p. 17).

The eleventh and final standard, policies for effective practice, states, "Social work administrators in youth services agencies shall establish the environment, policies, procedures, and guidelines necessary for effective social work practice with adolescents" (p. 18).

In closing, looking at standards the NASW has put in place for working with adolescents, it is important to understand that these help guide ones practice with adolescents. These standards are put in place to guide and direct a social worker to more affectively make an impact on an adolescents life. These standards have helped me so far in my field placement in meeting the youth where they are at, and administering change through empowerment in thinking about their actions and what consequences they may have.

References
National Association of Social Workers. (2003). Standards for working with adolescents. Washington, D.C.: NASW Press