SSE 281 - Social Service Delivery Systems

3 Credits, 3 Contact Hours
3 lecture periods 0 lab periods

Study of the social service delivery system. Includes the profession of social work, social work roles, service delivery systems, special and diverse populations, and diversity issues related to service delivery.

Prerequisite(s): SSE 110  or concurrent enrollment.
Information: Requires 40 hours of classroom-mediated community agency contact.

     ethics, self-awareness, professional use of self, common ethical and professional dilemmas, boundaries, dual

     relationships, confidentiality, social work roles, professional growth, and preventing burnout. (Council on Social

     Work Education [CSWE] Competencies 1 and 2)

2.  Identify the components of national and local social service delivery systems, including the differences

     between public, private-not-for profit, and private-for- profit delivery systems in terms of organization,

     administration, and funding, with particular focus on Arizona systems such as public welfare (Department of

     Economic Security, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families block grants), health care (AHCCCS/Medicare,

     ALTCS), mental health care (Regional Behavioral Health Authority), child welfare services (Department of

     Child Safety), and Housing, Food, Clothing, Energy, and Transportation Assistance Programs, and the

     documentation required by these agencies.   (CSWE Competencies 4 and 5)  

3.  Apply the skills of assessment, problem solving, service planning, documentation, and support monitoring in

     the context of case management and generalist practice, while identifying, linking, and coordinating community

     resources to meet client needs.   (CSWE Competencies 4, 5 and 7)  

4.  Practice professional demeanor in behavior and communication while participating in a 40-50 hour shadowing

     experience in a local social service agency, including identifying the social worker’s ethical responsibility to

     clients and to the agency and areas of individual challenge or difficulty.  (CSWE Competencies 1 and 2)

5.   Assess the structure and functioning of a local social service agency.   (CSWE Competencies 6 and 7)

1. Describe the differences between public, private-not-for-profit, and private-for-profit delivery systems, including organization, administration, and funding.
2. Describe the following services and their delivery systems in Arizona: public welfare (temporary assistance to needy families block grants); health care (AHCCCS/Medicare, ALTCS); mental health care (Regional Behavioral Health Authority); and child welfare services.
3. Demonstrate the values and behaviors appropriate for professional conduct and comportment, and identify areas of individual challenge or difficulty.
4. Explain the social worker’s ethical responsibility to clients and to the agency.
5. Develop an awareness of discrimination, gender bias, and other means of oppression within agencies and communities, and describe how social work values and ethics should guide the practitioner’s response.
6. Describe case management as a service delivery model in the context of a fragmented service delivery system.
7. Apply the skills of assessment, problem solving, service planning, documentation, and support monitoring in the context of case management and generalist practice.
8. Apply skills in identifying, linking, and coordinating community resources to meet client needs.
9. Identify ways in which social workers are sensitive to human diversity and how cultural issues may impact attempts at community linkages, with a specific focus on populations of the Southwest (e.g. ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, etc.)
10. Practice self-awareness and the “professional use of self”.

1. The Profession of Social Work
   1. National Association of Social Workers (NASW) values and ethics of profession
   2. Conduct and comportment of the social workers
   3. Responsibility to clients, colleagues, agency, profession, and society
   4. Responsibility to self
      1. Developing self-awareness and professional use of self
      2. Functioning in a bureaucracy
      3. Stress management
      4. Preventing burnout
      5. Maintaining personal balance and perspective
      6. Professional growth and development
2. Social Work Roles
   1. Generalist practice
   2. Information and referral
   3. Case management
      1. Role of case management
      2. Goals, focus, and function of case management
      3. Interdisciplinary team
      4. Assessment in social work
         1. Needs assessment
         2. Involving client in assessment process
         3. Documentation, report writing, service planning
      5. Monitoring service and support plans
      6. Linking clients with community resources
         1. Community resources in Pima County/Arizona
         2. Networking
         3. Making referrals
         4. Handling confrontation and conflict
3. Service Delivery Systems
   1. Organization, administration, funding
   2. Public
      1. Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS)
      2. Arizona Long Term Care System (ALTCS)
      3. Department of Economic Security (DES)
      4. Department of Child Safety (DCS)
   3. Private-not-for- profit agencies
   4. Private-for-profit agencies
   5. Regional behavioral health authority
   6. Interagency cooperation and coordination of services
   7. Selecting an agency
   8. Guidelines for volunteering
4. Special and Diverse Populations
   1. African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans
   2. Women, LGBTQ, elderly, children and youth
   3. Rural, refugees, disabled
   4. Other special populations
5. Diversity Issues Related to Service Delivery
   1. Cultural sensitivity
   2. Cultural competency
   3. Oppression and discrimination