Date of Award

6-2017

Document Type

Project

Degree Name

Master of Social Work

Department

School of Social Work

First Reader/Committee Chair

Erica Lizano

Abstract

This research project aims to explore the perceptions of professional service needs from county social workers and parents seeking reunification at Walden Family Services in San Bernardino. This research study gathers the professional perspective and personal opinions of social workers that work closely with parents who are attempting to reunify with their children and the perspective of parents going through the process of attempting to reunify. This research project explores the positive and negative themes that were found from the feedback given from social workers and parents.

The following study provides important insight into areas that can be improved from social workers and parents working together. The findings can help social workers understand the perspectives of parents going through the reunification process and provide insight into the barriers that might be hindering them from being successful. The findings can be of assistance to social workers working with parents in the social welfare system as they may assist in prioritizing attention to drop-out rates of services, poverty, social work expectation towards parents and the quality of social workers in general. Vise-versa, these findings can be a help to parents understand the viewpoints of social workers and their expectations social workers have on them.

Ultimately, the research aims to provide insights on barriers that are impeding social workers and parents from working together effectively and working as a team. The following study is an exploratory research project that explores the discrepancies in perspectives from these two different groups. This qualitative study utilizes face to face interviews with open-ended questions as the tool to collect data from participants. The two central themes that emerged during the study were the emphasis both groups placed on the importance of communication and recognition of systemic barriers that prevent parents and social workers to be successful. Based on the qualitative responses of the eight participants in this study, the researcher has concluded that there is a discrepancy between perception of professional service needs from social workers and parents.

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