Social Worker In California

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Linda Moua

HHS 497

Instructor Dr. Andrea Wilson

Abstract

This paper explores what a social worker is. Social worker does a lot each day depending on where the work and their level of expertise. The kind of services that they provide varies widely, especially in California. They work with people who are without shelter, ill, or with family that has issues. They also work with a variety diverse population that has different values and beliefs. In order to become a professional social worker, they undergo through education and training to become licensure or certified. Social worker is concerned with the change and improvement of helping people towards a satisfying human relation.

Table of Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………

What is a Social Worker?................................................................

History of Social Work…………………………………………….

Education/Training Requirements………………………………….

Interpersonal Relationships/Qualities………………………………

California Social Worker Salaries…………………………………..

Culturally Competent………………………………………………..

Future Alternative Path………………………………………………

Conclusion……………………………………………………………

Reference

Social Worker in California

Social workers deliver a broad range of vital services and, thus, play a critical role in ensuring the health and well-being of society’s most vulnerable members (Kim, Ji, & Kao, 2011). They belong with human service worker, which is a generic term for people who hold a professional and paraprofessional job in a diverse setting within society. Human service workers all have the desire to help the people who are in need. The primary purpose that human service workers have is the desire to help others, have patience, understanding, and caring in dealing with other life situations. Social worker is an individual who possesses a degree in social work by the council on social work education (NASW, 2013). Social worker is concern with the change and improvement of helping people towards a satisfying human relation.

Social work focuses on helping individual realize their potential to live as fully and successfully as possible (Burger, pg. 259). Social worker does a lot each day depending on where the work and their level of expertise are at. The kind of services that they provide varies widely. Social work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or perceived social injustices and violations of their human rights (Wikipedia, 2013). They can work with people who are without shelter or home, ill, or with family that has issues that needs guidance to get them through. An example would be like providing families a parenting class that can help fix their difficulties that they are going through. Social worker provides resources or programs that will provide the help. Social work has a history that provides lessons and a foundation for the current efforts. The concept of charity goes back to ancient times, and the practice of providing for the poor has roots in many major ancient civilizations and world religions (Wikipedia, 2013).

Social work has a rich history. Social work has its roots in the social and economic upheaval wrought by the Industrial Revolution, in particular the struggle of society to deal with poverty and its resultant problems (Wikipedia, 2013). Just as social workers appreciate the necessity of viewing individuals within context-be they social, cultural or physical-so social work as a practice and a profession must be viewed within its sociohistorical context (Pozzuto & Arnd-Caddigan, 2008). For years, social work as a profession has recognized the importance of relation to social development of social work practice and education. The development of social work reflects on an ongoing mixture of ideas that derived from different kind of cultures. The roots of social work dates back before the American Revolution and the efforts of the upper class people in church and charitable organizations that address the consequences of poverty, growth, and immigration. These were lessons learned from programs that address the difficult consequence from the Great Depression in 1930 to the Civil Right Movements and the war on poverty in 1960, which made significant investments into the social work profession. Social workers continue to address the needs of society and bring our nation’s social problems to the public’s attention. In order to become a social worker, there are some training and education that an individual should meet.

Social workers are generally considered those who hold a professional degree in social work. In a number of countries, registration or licensure of people working as social workers is required and there are mandated qualifications. Currently, the minimum requirement set forth for acceptance as a professional social worker is satisfactory completion of a bachelor’s degree program in social work and acceptance of membership status in the NASW (Burger, pg. 262). The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is the largest organization of professional social workers in the United States. Social work holding a bachelor’s degree is considered one of the most common requirements for entry-level positions. All accredited programs require the student to complete 300 hours of supervised fieldwork (Burger, pg. 262). This is where a college student is place in their internship, which is in a field site that is under a professional social worker to gain some experiences. Bachelor’s degree programs in social work prepare individuals for entry-level positions in the field (Burger, pg. 262). This prepares the student for an entry-level of work. The route to become a professional social worker is to get a Master’s degree in social work.

Student with a master’s degree in social work is a route to become a professional social worker. The recent development of B.S.W. programs means the M.S.W. is not the only route to social work; however the master’s degree is often necessary for advancement in the field (Burger, pg. 262). In this program it usually takes about 2 years to complete. M.S.W. programs prepared students for work in their chosen specialty and develop the skills to do clinical assessments, manage a large number of clients, and take on supervisory duties (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013). It is not necessary to have a B.S.W. to enter a M.S.W. program. You can major in any field to get in the program such as coursework in psychology, sociology, economics, and political are recommended (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013). To become license or certified there are certain requirements that has to be met.

Social workers must be licensed to practice in most settings. Social workers needs to be license or certified in order to do the work in their states. In the state of California there are certain requirements for someone who wants to pursue licensure in social work. They have an education requirement, which a master from an accredited school. An example of coursework that is required prior to the licensing examinations is (BBS.Ca.Gov, 2013):

Child Abuse Assessment and Reporting (7 hours)

Human Sexuality (10 hours)

Substance Abuse and Dependency (15 hours)

Spousal Abuse Assessment and Reporting (15 hours for those who entered degree program after 1/1/2004; Course can be any length for those who entered a degree program from 1/1/1995 to 12/31/2003)

Aging and Long Term Care (10 Hours only for those who entered a degree program on or after 1/1/2004; For all others this is not a pre-licensure requirement)

Experience Requirements:

104 weeks of supervision

3200 hours of supervised work experience

To become a licensed social work practitioner in California, you will need to complete prerequisite coursework, examination requirements, and, in particular cases, supervised work requirements (Social Work License Map, 2013). In addition, some levels of social work in California require a Master of Social Work (Social Work License Map, 2013). Depending on the student’s type of experiences the amount of hours they have must be gain post-degree. Social worker works in various types of settings and it’s not just in an office.

Social workers work in a variety of settings. There are different types of social workers that are specializing in working with different kind of clients and their environment can vary. They can work indoors in an office or sometimes outdoors when visiting their clients. They can work within government agencies, non-profit agencies, schools, hospitals to clinics. These are places that people regularly go to on a daily basis. For example, in the hospital, psychiatric social workers coordinate plans for the seriously ill patients and their families. They can direct the appropriate resources to help them when they leave the hospital. They are sometimes exposed to diseases from clients or from a violent client. Social worker might have their own specialty, but all social workers have the same common tasks.

All social workers collect information, such as questions to help solve their problems, concerns and needs that they might have. This is a way for a social worker to help put together a plan to help their clients. They make decisions on a daily basis that can impact their clients and their client’s families. Social workers can counsel clients and family member. They gather enough information needed to do their job. When becoming a social worker, they would need to have certain qualities to show to their clients.

An individual’s pursuing a social work career need to possess a desire to make a difference in the lives of others. Social workers need to have the ability to be empathetic with others and to be able to understand the other person’s feelings. Another important quality that a social worker must have is a non-judgmental attitude. Although social workers are not expected to agree with or approve of the values and behaviors of other people, it is still important that they communicate through a non-judgmental attitude towards their clients. As state in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2013) they should be:

Compassionate: Social workers often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations. To develop strong relationships, they must have compassion and empathy for their clients.

Listening skills: Clients talk to social workers about challenges in their lives. To effectively help, social workers must listen to and understand their clients’ needs.

Organizational skills: Helping and managing multiple clients, often assisting with their paperwork or documenting their treatment, requires good organizational skills.

People skills: Being able to work with different groups of people is essential for social workers. They need strong people skills to foster healthy and productive relationships with their clients and colleagues.

Problem-solving skills: Social workers need to develop practical and innovative solutions to their clients’ problems.

Time-management skills: Social workers often have many clients. They must manage their time well to provide adequate service to all of their clients.

A social worker should be able to work with people of all walks of life, and be comfortable with a diverse patient base as the issues that strike patients and should not discriminate on any basis. These are not easy task and the load of work they do for the wages they receive varies by the social worker's level of education and responsibility.

The wages for social workers vary by the area of specialization. Within California there is a lot of variation in social worker’s salaries. Pay rate is all base on their experiences. Being a social worker, you would need to enjoy what you do in order to get through the benefits they get as a person who helps shapes another individual’s life. Social workers who work full time usually receive benefits. Typical benefits would include sick leave, paid vacation, and health insurance. The variations depend on a wide range of factors from population to general competitiveness in the market. The median annual wage of social workers was $42,480 in May 2010 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013). Social workers with less than five years’ experience earn a median annual salary of $43,700; those with 10- 19 years of experience earn a median annual salary of $52,000; and those with 20 -29 years of experience earn a median annual salary of $60,000, according to the NASW study (GWright, 2010). In California, social work salaries are (Social Work License Map, 2013):

California Social Work Career

Average Social Worker Salary

Child, Family, and School Social Worker

$50,340

Medical and Public Health Social Worker

$57,890

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker

$46,340

All Other Social Workers

$56,860

Salary Increases from BSW to MSW

+$15,000

Social workers will be needed to help lots of different groups especially in California.

In California, social worker should be culturally competent with the diverse community they might have. There are lots of different cultures in California that a social worker can come across. Although there are some social workers who are born with cultural competence, they should put in consideration examining any biases or prejudice they might have. They need to be able to understand other cultures and how it tends to undermine the values of other cultures. The diversity that is among people and cultures calls for social workers to lean and formulate differential and appropriate intervention when working with clients of different backgrounds. The diversity in California is tremendous and social worker cannot all be aware of all the various groups but they can start by knowing what kind of groups there are in their community. For example, in Sacramento, California, there is a high population of different kind of Asian groups. They all hold their own values and beliefs. When working with different groups, social worker should be aware in order to understand why these kinds of groups would refuse certain programs or help. Social work can be a heavy load of work or an individual. All human services share the goal of helping people live healthier and more productive lives (Burger, pg. 232). Just as social worker share’s their work. Another alternative career path that sounds familiar would be psychiatry.

Psychiatry is the medical specialty that investigates, diagnoses, and treats mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders (Burger, pg. 263). They work in various kinds of fields and different kind of groups with different kind of backgrounds. They gather information and research for a solution to help their clients. This field can work closely with social workers. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor and is able to write prescriptions. Social workers usually have some training in psychology, but many are not well educated in the field of psychology. A psychologist is trained to work from a psychological perspective where the focus is on cognitive, emotional, and psychological issues and how the client can change and is not as concerned with the broader systems in which they interact. Some psychologist does value the impact these outside factors have but change usually has to come from the client not the external factors. There are differences between them both. Psychologists and social workers are all licensed professionals. Psychologist have more training in therapy where as social workers have broader systemic models for practice.

Social worker provides a variety of resources and help to the people who needs it. They are here to assist people towards a better life as possible. Social workers are there to help people overcome their problems and make their lives better. They work with people who are homeless, sick, or having a substance issues. California social workers will come across different cultures that have different values. In order to become a social worker there are lots of requirements they must go through. Social workers should be prepared to challenge attempts to undermine the profession’s traditional values through cases that will withstand commitment to vulnerable and worried people. There is various works within the government agencies, non-profit agencies, to school and to the hospitals. Social worker must attempt to anticipate the emergence of ethical issues that can likely arise in the future as a function of societal and other changes. They are here to make changes in helping their clients towards a satisfying human relation.