College of Education, Health and Public Policy

1. College of Education, Health and Public Policy Department of Social Work BSW and MSW Field Instruction

2. MISSION STATEMENT • The mission of the Department of Social Work is to prepare culturally competent professionals guided by values, ethics, and evidence-based practice for professional and leadership roles; thus enhancing the quality of life of individuals, families, groups, communities, and organizations in a global society.

3. Department Goals • Prepare social work practitioners to develop an understanding of the importance of a Black perspective based on strengths-based empowerment approach for social work practice; • Prepare culturally competent professionals guided by values and ethics who are capable of promoting social and economic justice when working with diverse and at risk populations in a global society; • Prepare practitioners for evidence-based professional practice and leadership roles; and • Educate students to think critically and to evaluate their own practice.

4. Department Underpinnings • A Black Perspective for Social Work Practice – “A prototype for understanding the unique experiences and world views associated with being of African genetic origin in the United States that can be used in practice with other oppressed clients.” • Strengths Perspective - “Internal or external features and assets that, if identified, mobilized or enhanced may be used by a client system to achieve positive change.” • Empowerment Perspective – “The process the social worker applies in order to help individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities obtain power so that they gain greater control over their well-being presently and in the future.” • Rural Perspective – “The understanding that people who are nurtured and live in rural communities have unique folkways and mores that shape some of their expectations and behaviors differently than people from other milieus.” • Global Perspective – “An approach to helping that embraces the commonalities and differences that exist personally, communally, culturally and religiously that all citizens in the world share regardless of their place of birth or citizenship.” (Referenced from the Field Manual)

5. Mission of Field Education • Field instruction aims to develop students’ ability to skillfully apply the knowledge, values and skills learned in the classroom in practice situation with client receiving services from an approved agency/organization. • The goal of the field placement is to enable students to successfully integrate practice theories, knowledge, values and skills in practice; thus, learning to effectively intervene with and on behalf of clients. • Upon completion of the field placement, students should be ready to begin social work practice either at the beginning or advanced level within an agency setting.

6. Field Instruction Trainings • Field Requirements are established by: • The Council on Social Work Education • Delaware State University Department of Social Work • Guidelines include: • Number of required hours to complete field practicum requirements; • Requirements for field practicum agencies and field instructors • Guidelines for developing of Field Learning Competencies (What is this?)

7. FIELD INSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS SET BY CSWE EDUCATIONAL POLICY AND ACCREDITATION STANDARDS (EPAS)Accreditation Standard 2.1—Field Education2.1.1 Connects the theoretical and conceptual contribution of the classroom with the practice setting, fostering the implementation of evidence-informed practice.B2.1.2 Provides generalist practice opportunities for students to demonstrate the core competencies.M2.1.2 Provides advanced practice opportunities for students to demonstrate the program’s competencies.2.1.3 Provides a minimum of 400 hours of field education for baccalaureate programs and 900 hours for master's programs.

8. CORE COMPETENCIES – EPAS 2008 EP 2.1.1-Identify as a professional social worker and conduct oneself accordingly. EP 2.1.2- Apply social work ethical principles to guide professional practice. EP 2.1.3- Apply critical thinking to inform and communicate professional judgments. EP 2.1.4- Engage diversity and difference in practice. EP 2.1.5- Advance human rights and social and economic justice. EP 2.1.6- Engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed research. EP 2.1.7- Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment. EP 2.1.8- Engage in policy practice to advance social and economic well-being and to deliver effective social work services. EP 2.1.9- Respond to contexts that shape practice. EP 2.1.10- Engage, assess, intervene, and evaluate with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

9. Purpose of Field Instruction Training for Agency Field Instructors • Field instruction training is designed to provide agency-based field instructors with the specialized knowledge and skills necessary for effective field supervision. • Orient new field instructors to social work education and field instruction, while refreshing “seasoned” field supervisors. • Serve as an ongoing resource for instructing DSU students in field placement agencies.

10. The Role of Field Instructor • Field instructors are considered social work educators by the Department of Social Work and the profession. Thus, they play an important role in the professional development of social work students. • It is the role of the field instructor to assist students in applying the social work knowledge, values, and skills they learn in the classroom to their practice in an agency setting. This involves creating necessary and appropriate learning opportunities for students to integrate theory and practice.

11. The Role of Field Instructor • As a field instructor, you have the opportunity to significantly influence the education and training of future social workers. This influence extends well beyond the student – it will influence all of the student’s future interactions with clients. This influence can spread to hundreds of people over a lifetime. This means you---the field instructor---have the opportunity to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of social work practice and our profession.

12. Responsibilities of a Field Instructor • To complete the orientation training. • To create with the student a learning contract that reflects individualized agency, personal, and professional goals. • To provide on-going evaluation of the student’s progress in meeting his/her learning contract goals. • To participate in annual programs provided by the faculty. • To provide the student a suitable work space and orientation to the agency, program, and services. • To notify the Faculty Field Liaison when there are problems or questions regarding the student’s performance.

13. Responsibilities of a Field Instructor • To develop and assign tasks and experiences which meet field instruction course objectives, maximizing the student’s exposure to policies, experiences and practice situations where issues such as diversity, populations at-risk, values, ethics, policy, human behavior, and research are relevant. • To structure assignments to help the student learn a broad range of social work interventions common to generalist social work practice, such as practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities. • To provide a minimum of 1.5 hours per week of supervision to the student in order provide feedback, evaluate skills, and act as a role model.

14. Responsibilities of a Field Instructor • To help the student integrate the field instruction experience with academic learning. • To coordinate the involvement of other agency staff with the student’s learning experience. • To sign the student’s timesheet. • To evaluate the student’s performance in the field instruction setting at appropriate intervals.

15. Field Instruction Challenges • Teach students how to practice social work, not how to do a particular job in your particular agency. • The ability to manage their work responsibilities while providing appropriate and sufficient amount of field instruction and supervision to students.

16. What Not to Do… • Agree to take a student then “assign” them to someone else without discussing it with the Director of Field Instruction. • Have a sexual relationship with your student intern. • Neglect to provide basic orientation to matters such as parking, computer access, lunch, agency policies, etc. • Neglect the scheduling or attendance of supervision meetings. • Violate the NASW Code of Ethics. • Tell students to ignore content imparted by the program in the classroom and instead only pay attention to how it is “done” by the field placement agency. • Disregard information that students bring to you regarding research or “best practices”. • Teach like you know everything, or don’t know anything. • Ignore any communication from the Director of Field Instruction or Faculty Field Liaisons.

17. Faculty Field Liaison Role • To serve as a communication link to and between student, agency and program, including Director of Field Instruction. • To conduct student field seminars. • Assist field instructors plan learning experiences. • To make contacts with the agency. • To be available as a consultant to the field instructor. • To be a resource to the student. • To offer additional conferences with the agency or student as needed.

18. Role of the Student • Take an active role in planning their learning experiences, integrating theory and practice. • Actively participate in learning experiences and complete all assigned tasks. • Commitment to the agency, field instructor, and the clients of the agency. • Be present on each assigned field day except on designated school holidays. • Contact field instructor early of absence due to illness or other valid reasons. • Become familiar with and abide by agency policies and practices. • To establish good working relationships with co-workers and clients. • To seek supervision. • To demonstrate acceptance and use of social work values, especially as applied to cultural, racial, and gender factors.

19. The Place of Field Instruction in BSW and MSW Curricula BSW Program Field Instruction courses are taken in the senior year prior to graduation. Field Instruction courses are taken concurrently with Senior Seminar and Issues in Social Service Delivery. MSW Program Field Instruction courses are part of the practice sequence and are taken concurrently with Generalist Practice I & II, Advanced Generalist Practice I, II, III & IV. In other words, students enrolled in a practice course must also be enrolled in the appropriate Field Instruction course, and vice versa.

20. Field Instruction Hours BSW Program Students must amass a minimum of 200 hours per semester and 400 hours for the academic year. Students typically attend the field placement two days per week. Completing minimum time requirements before the end of the semester does not mean that students may discontinue attending the field placement. MSW Program Two-Year Full-Time Students: First Year - 2 days per week (14hours/week), minimum of 200 hours for 2 credits per semester. Second Year - 3 days per week (18 hours/week), minimum of 250 hours for 4 credits per semester.

21. Field Seminar • Allows students to discuss issues related to practice and their field placement. • Allows them to talk with students who are placed at other agencies. • Allows them to understand the commonalities and differences of working in different practice settings. • There are two (2) Field Seminars per semester for all students enrolled in a Field Instruction course.

22. Field Assignments & Requirements • Read field instruction manual. • Attend field seminars. • Submit bi-weekly logs/timesheets as specified in the field instruction manual. • Participate in completion of learning contracts. • Complete and submit process recordings, as specified in the field instruction manual. • Participate in completing mid-term and final evaluations.

23. Field Practicum Log Baccalaureate and graduate students are required to maintain a Field Practicum Log. The Log is submitted to the Faculty Field Liaison on a bi-weekly basis (every other Friday). The Log is a confidential document. Its contents are not shared with others without the consent of the student. It is not necessary for the student to obtain approval from the agency field instructor to comply with this requirement. The student should retain the original copy for use as a reference when writing the final evaluation of the field practicum experience. Students are not required to share their logs with their field instructor. There is a new Field Hour Log Sheet in the Field Manual students will use. Field Instructors can request copies of the Field Log Sheet. *Note: The Field Practicum Log and Timesheet can be found in the Field Instruction Manual.

24. Learning Contract The learning contract sets forth “the script” that the student and the field instructor will follow during each semester the student is in the field placement agency. Accordingly, the learning contact delineates for the student, the field instructor and the Faculty Field Liaison what is to happen, why it is to happen, and how the parts connect. The learning contract, then, should be thought of as the guidepost for planning field practicum assignments and evaluating the student’s competence according to the student performance evaluation. The student and field instructor are to complete the contract together. The student is not responsible for completing the learning contract. The Learning Contract is completed in the fall and revised in the spring. *Note: The Learning Contract Form can be found in the Field Instruction Manual.

25. Learning Assignments and Tasks • Learning Contracts should reflect the following: • Competencies: EPAS specifies ten competencies that students must effectively demonstrate to graduate from either a BSW or MSW program. A competency is a measurable practice behavior comprised of knowledge, values and skills. (Refer to Slide 7). Accordingly, field instructors must carefully develop: • Learning Assignments: Specific learning tasks designed to enable student to demonstrate core competencies. • Learning Tasks: Specific tasks the student is assigned to carry out.

26. Process Recording All students in the field are required to complete a minimum of five (5) process recordings during the fall semester and five (5) during the spring semester. The purpose of the process recording is to afford students the opportunity to critically assess how they use themselves in the professional social work relationship with and on behalf of client systems. This requirement applies to all students, regardless of the client system that is the focus of intervention. *Note: The Process Recording Form can be found in the Field Instruction Manual.

27. Mid Term and Final Evaluations An evaluation of the student’s performance should be completed twice during the academic year, once midway through the semester and once at the end of the semester. Additional written comments can be included in the evaluation where appropriate. *Note: The Mid Term and Final Evaluation Forms can be found in the Field Instruction Manual.

28. Orienting Students to Your Agency

29. Preparing for Student • Before Your Student Arrives: • Prepare the physical location where the student will be placed (e.g. desk, phone, office supplies, etc.). In essence, ensure a professional work environment. • Communicate to other staff members the role and purpose of your student. (Staff should understand that the student is not at the agency to make copies, run errands, etc.) • When Your Student Arrives: • Conduct a tour of the agency to help student become familiar with the physical layout and organizational structure of the agency. • Introduce students to important staff members (e.g. key personnel, directors, administrative support, etc.).

30. Field Placement Orientation Schedule • Schedule a Series of Brief Presentations or Meetings: • Staff members can present to the student regarding their roles in the agency. • Interviews and shadowing other staff is an excellent way to develop relationships and establish the expectations of social work. • Develop an Orientation Packet for the Student: • Written materials (e.g., policies, procedures, organizational chart, etc.) to assist student learning and demonstrate that the field instructor has prepared for their arrival. • Include and review important agency policies and procedures.

31. Confidentiality and Safety • Confidentiality: • Provide specific information for your student about confidentiality and potential disclosures of confidential information. • Safety: • Share safety precautions applicable to your agency and the surrounding area. • Instruct student to always indicate time and location of appointments in the field. Notify the Faculty Field Liaison when student fails to adhere to this procedure. • If your agency has a security officer, arrange for the student to meet with him or her to learn about agency protocol, warning signs, prevention, and other questions.

32. Details • Making Referrals: • Provide your student with information on how to locate and make referrals to community partners and resources. • Students can be given an orientation assignment of developing a resource packet to assist them and future students. • Orientation Checklist: • Developed to assist students and agencies in structuring critical elements of orientation. • To be completed over the 24 hours students will be at the agency after acceptance but prior to the start of practicum. • Items on the checklist should be dated indicating completion.

33. In the relationship between field instructor and student, the field instructor uses his/her knowledge of supervision and the professional relationship to move the student through a learning process that ends with the student possessing the knowledge, values and skills necessary intervene with and on behalf of individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities. To achieve this outcome, the field instructor must….. The Supervisory Relationship

34. The Supervisory Relationship • Ask students about their style of learning and communication, previous supervision experiences, and what they need and expect from supervisors. Additionally, inquire about cultural differences as they relate to factors in communication. • Clearly specify your norms and expectations regarding the supervisory relationship with the student. Accordingly, describe your style of supervision, roles and responsibilities; provide supervision schedule and availability for unscheduled supervision; the person(s) the student should contact when you are not available; guidelines regarding assignments and tentative overview of how you see the placement progressing. In addition, delineate the student’s roles and responsibilities. • If you share instructional responsibilities with another field instructor or task supervisor, insure that you and the other supervisor have met about delegation of assignments, assessment of student performance, and providing feedback to student.

35. Coordination of Supervision • Develop clear lines of responsibility, authority, and reporting requirements for each of your roles. • Check frequently with the student and colleague to monitor effectiveness. • Encourage the student to be open about any conflict arising with different perspectives or management styles. • Help the student focus on positive aspects of learning from others.

36. AT YOUR SERVICE DO NOT HESITATE TO CALL THE FIELD INSTRUCTION OFFICE ANYTIME CONTACT: CHAVON DOTTIN, DIRECTOR OF FIELD INSTRUCTION (302) 857-6778 cdottin@desu.edu

37. Department Chairperson BSW Program Director Field Director MSW Program Director Personnel Committee Curriculum Committee Admissions Committee HBSE SWPP FIELD PRACTICE RESEARCH Field Advisory Committee