Generalist Practice

I am currently employed by the New York City Department of Education. I’ve been working with the Committee on Special Education for the past 26 years. Initially, I worked in the Placement Office as a Compliance Monitor processing paperwork generated by the School Assessment Team. However; as a result of changes within the New York City Department of Education, I am now placed in a school setting, with a different title, performing the same duties for the School Assessment Team. The team is comprised of a Psychologist and Social Worker. However, based on school enrollment and the number of Special Education students, there could be more than one or two of each discipline.

My responsibilities as a Clerical Worker for the Assessment Team limits my interactions with students in the school. My duties entail processing paperwork, monitoring reports in the system, tracking students

and checking the school roster to ensure that all Special Education students are accurately placed. I open referrals for students referred to the Committee on Special Education for possible Special Education Services. I also generate packages to parents for triennial cases. After the evaluation process is completed by the School Assessment Team, I package the documents ( Individualized Educational Plan, Psycho-educational, and Social History report, consent forms, and other pertinent documents) to be mailed to parents, and agencies if it is warranted.
This year I am placed in an employment-based internship.

As a Social worker intern, I have a caseload that allows me to interact with students, parents, and the administration. On the Micro level, I have direct contact with students from sixth grade to eighth grade, offering counseling and support services using the concepts of the Generalist Practice. Systems Theory at this level allows me to focus on how students interact with the school environment and their families. The emphasis is placed on strengthening skills for working with individuals. According to Kirst – Ashman & Hull (2015), the system is defined as a set of elements that are orderly and interrelated to make a functional whole. While working in the school system with students, I am identified as part of the system that is interrelated to achieve the desired goals. In Micro level, the emphasis is on the individual. As a social Worker Intern, I need to establish good communication skills with the students, set rules and boundaries as it applies and set the foundation that would allow empowerment and

strength.
Systems Theory is applicable to the Mezzo Level when working with groups of students in the school. Using this theory on the Mezzo Level allows for setting changes in the classroom and within the school building. Systems Perspectives will enhance the interactions with individuals and group on the Micro and Mezzo Levels as the focus is placed on interactions with the client’s environment, the functioning of the family and networking to facilitate change.
When working at the Macro Level within the school system, the emphasis is placed on the system as a whole. In this realm, the focus is placed on the implementation of services, service providers, policies and maintaining a network of services. An example of this would be the implementation of Avante’s law which is a law that was enacted after a student with a disability ran from a school building where there were no alarms on the doors, security was relaxed, and protocol was not adhered to. In this scenario, one individual was involved, but it impacted a whole system which eventually changed policies. As a social worker, it is imperative that following the guidelines of a Generalist Practice, using the different theories to advocate for change is implemented. Focusing on theories, concepts regarding human behavior, and interventions are detrimental when working with clients. I feel that as a Social Work Intern, I am learning through classwork and supervision how to apply the systems and theories that would have the best outcome for my clients.