In your final major assignment for the course, you will apply all the skills and knowledge you’ve gained this semester to create a multidimensional assessment of a family case. Directions for the assignment are provided below, followed by the family case you will use.
Directions: Read the case of the D’Angelo family (see below). You are the social worker to whom this family has been assigned. You have the basic information that has been collected at the intake interview. You need to do further assessment in order to set goals and objectives for intervention.
Based on the information in the case as well as your knowledge of family assessment principles, describe how you would further your assessment for the following if you were the social worker assigned to the case. In other words, what do you think you know about these areas based on the intake interview and what else would you need to know and how would you go about getting it in order to develop a comprehensive assessment?
Areas of Assessment:
****ABSTRACT with Key Words
a. Identifying information for each family member
b. The presenting issue(s)
c. The willingness or investment of each family member in the family therapy process
d. The perception of “the problem” and what is needed for resolution according to each family member
e. The level of functioning of each family member, including strengths and limitations
f. Relevant family and social history
g. The life cycle stage of the family
h. Cultural values or norms that may affect the family that may include socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, locale, physical/mental disability, and religious affiliation
i. Dynamics of family relationships, including family coalitions and subsystems, power distribution, family rules, communication patterns, roles of family members, coping styles, impact/dynamics of having an aging family member with health problems, and the family’s emotional climate in general
j. The impact of larger systems outside of the family on the family’s functioning
Include in your description any assessment tools that you would use and why (e.g., standardized instruments, eco-maps). One ecomap and one three-generation genogram are required to be attached to the paper.
Your assessment must be well written and convey what you are attempting to help the family with. Use theory (Family Emotional System theory or Structural Family Theory) to inform your assessment and treatment planning, using citations as appropriate. Your treatment plan must include formal goals (which the family has agreed to work on) and additional goals (identified by you) that they may eventually agree to work on. Clearly distinguish between the two goals. Goals should be goal oriented and focused on the family (not individual growth). Case management goals, including referrals to other services, may be included but not in lieu of family goals.
The length should be 10–12 pages. A minimum of three scholarly, peer-reviewed references are required. Your paper must be in APA format with a title page, abstract, and reference page (not to be included in the total page count). This assignment is worth 100 points and 30% of your final grade in the course.
