Personal Practice Evaluation: each should be at least ½ page

 (5/29/20) Explain your values and what have learned about empowerment,

acceptance, being non-judgmental, objectivity, self-determination, confidentiality,

accountability? COMPETENCY 2.1.10 bullet 3

The time I have spent in the social work field, as well as in my work experience with

individuals with intellectual disabilities has taught me that empowerment and self-

determination are key aspects to the service that I deliver to clients. Providing care to

individuals or just in personal manners, it is best to let the person be the ambassador and

remember that they are the expert of their own situation. I cannot fully recommend what

steps for a person to take unless I know what direction they are willing to pursue and actions

they are willing to put in place. To practice social work is to be a facilitator to make the

choice that will best suit the client’s needs and to provide all the information available for the

client to make the best choice. In being this facilitator, it is important to stay objective and

not let personal opinions or even past experience cloud the options that you are putting forth

for the client. It is challenging to not just “fix” the situation for our clients/consumers,

especially when you have perhaps been in a similar situation to your client. It is also

important for us to check in with our biases regularly. I do this by remembering that I grew

up with privileges such as food stability and stable housing as well as being able to attend

private school. I also remember that while there might be situations that may be similar to

mine that they are not the same as mine, so it is foolish to let personal opinions impact how I

treat a client.
 Were there any policies, procedures, or general practices at your agency which
caused you to have a conflict of values? If so, describe and tell how you resolved the
conflict(s). Are there any policies you believe need to be changed? Give an example
and how it would impact the agency. COMPETENCY 2.1.2 bullet 3 (6/7/20)

One of the policies that I don’t necessarily disagree with but am uneasy with is that we

are not to encourage survivors to leave the abusive relationships/unsafe situations. Like

we’ve been taught in every social work course, our clients are the experts in their own

situations, however this is one of the first times that I have to put this ideal to the test by

supporting my client no matter what their decision is. I believe that this policy is sound and

upholds the ethical standard of being a social worker. We are here to support the client in

their decisions and help them live out their plans in the way that will cause the least amount

of harm and the most amount of good, there are so many factors in leaving an abusive

relationship such as money, children, housing, and the fact that it may not be the safest

option right then and there, especially considering that rates of violence significantly increase

within the first six months of leaving an abusive relationship. I do not think that this policy

needs to be changed and I appreciate the way that it challenges me to look at my own biases

and perspectives.

 How have your attitudes regarding people/situation/policy changed since becoming

My perspective of the world has changed dramatically since becoming a social work

major, especially in the field of direct and indirect client and large scale care/change. In some

ways it is hard to not become jaded after knowing the extent of challenges that our client

base faces on a day to day basis, however it has been a chance to see the absolutely buoyant
resiliency and problem solving capabilities that people are capable of. Being a social work

major has been an intense lesson in being humble and on the same level as our clients. This

has been a really important lesson in self-determination and remembering that our approach

is client-centered in that they are the experts in their own situation and we are there to best

support the changes that they want to make rather than trying to “fix” or “save” them. I have

learned that even when people are not being exactly truthful about their situation there is still

a base root of truth in that they are struggling with a facet of their life that they know needs

attention and assistance, and we are still able to provide them with the services/advocacy that

they need. Another key lesson that I have learned is that every person has a different normal,

and that it is not my place to come out of a place of judgment to that different normal, and

that my goal is not to disrupt their normal but to give them the tools to live safely in their

normal as well as the tools to make changes as they see fit.

 Considering your strengths and limitations- what are your plans to utilize/capitalize
on those strengths and improve on those personal limitations? COMPETENCY
2.1.1 bullet 2

I have a lot of cold strengths going into my field, for example, I am very extroverted and

am able to make conversation to start building a rapport pretty easily. I am very empathetic

and client based empowerment comes pretty naturally to me, as I have worked with

empowerment and strength based practice through my time at Goodwill as a community

trainer. I have also developed a sense of patience in knowing that people will work on

challenges on their own time and while I can prompt them they will most likely not get

things done if they A don’t want to or B don’t know how it will benefit them.
 How will the roles you performed at this placement prepare YOU for a career in the
field of social work and other roles you may encounter? (be specific)
COMPETENCY 2.1.1.bullet 3

As a victim counselor I have learned a lot about trauma informed care and strength

perspective. I have worked a lot with client centered empowerment as I case manage and I

have made excellent ties to the community and have built a large network of agency services

I can refer my clients to. This field placement has taught me how to build fast

relationships/rapports with clients, have quick and measured responses to crises and to

change and challenge my previous biases. The work that I do really meets our clients where

they are, we have people who are heavy users, people who have been trafficked, people who

have been through our services frequently and people who have no idea what to do next. We

are there to build their next steps and are really their intitial contact with service providers.

What my position was likened to was like a mental health EMT, we are not doctors but we

are there to provide emergency services and get them to more permanent and professional

care. These skills will follow me into any social work career that I pursue be it micro or

macro. I know how to work with larger scale agencies/the community as well as work with

clients individually. I have found a lot of passion for victim services and case management

and honestly see myself pursuing a career in it. This placement brings a new invigoration to

my field and education and I am really excited to bring my skills as a victim counselor and

advocate to whatever position I end up in.

 Examine the challenges faced by under resourced client systems and how has social
policy impacted their lives.

Social policy makes or breaks a client’s ability to form a resiliency from the situation that

they are fleeing. We work around a system that is designed to keep people like my clients out
of housing and pursue policy that gives resources to our clients. One of the big policy issues

we have especially in Linn County is that previous evictions black list you from almost any

rental units. We have clients who have been homeless for 7 years with an income of over

1,500$ a month simply because they have prior evictions and nobody will rent to them. Loras

has pushed for us to pursue large scale and small scale change in our Policy course, as well

as my agency also being an agent of change by supporting bills that support out clients

through lobbying. One of the big policies that we pursue actively is for any sort of

government funding we can get to come towards the fight against violence towards women,

and homeless services. Finding funding has been one of the biggest challenges that we face

on a large scale level. This problem is not isolated as it plagues any and all social service

agencies in the United States, because unfortunately it just isn’t prioritized. So this will be an

ongoing fight for my agency and social workers nationally to pursue funding and to fight for

our clients’ rights to equal access to basic services.

 What is most challenging for you in the Code of Ethics document? How does this
document play out in the arena of practice?

 How have you become more culturally competent through field and what are the
challenges you still face in your impending practice?

Starting with Friends of the Family has exposed me to a very vast and diverse clientele

and through this reality I have had to work on educating myself further in diversity and

inclusion training. Through my trainings I was able to look at what diversity and inclusion

means in the context of our present experience in America. I’ve learned about the vast

injustices of the police force in working with minorities, I’ve taken it upon myself to become

more aware of the violence against Native Women movement, I am aware that black women

are more likely than any other race to be victims of domestic violence and are more likely to
be killed, and that rates of interrelationship violence jumps up in likelihood at least 10% in

black and Hispanic couples. This is the first time that my client base hasn’t been primarily

white middle aged men and women. I am learning new cultural competencies day to day, but

the small ways that I make efforts in my daily practice is to keep a sheet of updated terms,

keeping updated on the BLM movement nationally and locally, educating myself on unjust

police treatment, learning about micro-aggression, emotional labor and white privilege and

how it impacts my biases.

Throughout my time at Loras I have learned a lot about diversity and inclusion, however

this is my first time really working with a diverse client population, so I am still learning on

how to best do my job in the context of different backgrounds, however I feel like I have

large strides in educating myself and am very willing to continue learning and adjusting as I

continue in the field.

 Describe the value of your Loras education in relation to your future career,
leadership and/or graduate school goals.

My Loras education has prepared me for social work field entry in so many ways such as

building a strong foundation of ethics, understanding of policies, the perspectives, and an

understanding of the history of social work, but I think the educative tool that I personally

value most is the encouragement to actually get into the field and building community

networks. I have made so many positive connections to the Dubuque and even the greater

Iowa community that I will utilize in pursuing employment and potentially a master’s degree.

I have offered a fresh perspective that I feel confident in offering at my placements because I

know that I do have a strong education in the field and have complimented it by getting to

know the community and what resources that it has to offer and how I can personally be
 engaged to make change. Almost every social work class that I can recall has had some

aspect or opportunity for community engagement in it, as well as offering the

invigoration/motivation to go out and be involved.

I feel that this field/community engagement experience has prepped me to enter the social

work field very well. I feel like my education has been very well rounded to give me

practical knowledge that will be utilized in whatever position I end up in. I also feel like

Loras has really encouraged me to speak out against ethical violations with confidence and to

speak out against injustices. I feel like before going to Loras, I wouldn’t necessarily have

known how to approach an ethical dilemma and maybe would’ve just passed it along to

someone else, but now I know that I have a new standard to hold myself, my peers/coworkers

and public figures to and I have the courage and education to not stand by.

 What constructive feedback can you offer the Program for ongoing improvement in
the Social Work Program as a whole for future students

I think that Loras College offers a very strong social work program and that it turns out

students who are competent going into their field. I think that overall I would dispute the

relevance of an online portfolio. I think that there are other ways that we can document our

culmination of education rather than building a website that we (at least in my

experience/expectation) are probably not going to use. I think that it is good for us to remember

the skills that we have gained and provide specific examples, but the online format is confusing

to students and shouldn’t be held as such a high percentage of a grade.

Another thing that I can think of that I did in my degree that might benefit social work

students was taking a few political science classes. This really helped me further my

understanding of government and policy that impacts the people that we work with. This was a

great way for me to look at the macro-level approach to our field and I would highly recommend
students to branch outside of the mandated social work classes to perhaps take another social

science class be it criminology, sociology, or political science. I think that Loras has offered me

a very well-rounded degree and that being a liberal arts school has really pushed me to take

classes that I may have not taken on my own, but I really think that including those courses in a

social work major, officially, would be a really good way to make sure that each student has a

wider perspective of the field they’re entering.