SWORK 400
Family Assessment and Case Planning Assignment
The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete
Social Workers: Shannon Quailey, Larsa Aziria, Jada Browne, Elizabeth Chavez Carrasco,
Jennifer Cruz, and Ashley Lopez-Tinoco
December 8, 2022
Family Assessment and Case Plan: The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete
Section I. Family Assessment Section
Genogram:
Ecomap:
Family demographic information:
Mister’s family consists of one parent and one child. The mother is African American, like
Mister. Dad is not in the picture. Mister (mother)identifies as a young female in her early thirties.
Mister identifies as male and is thirteen years old.
Mister and his mom are best described as a low-income family. Gloria is a single mom who has
an unstable relationship with Mister due to her substance usage. The family lives in a
two-bedroom apartment in New York City; the building complex has multiple low-income
apartment buildings. The structure of the buildings looks old and needs work inside and out. For
example, there’s an old playground structure. Gloria is the primary wage earner by working as a
sex worker. Gloria’s level of education is unknown. She provides very little to no care for Mister.
Typically, the two-person family lives in the home until Pete stays at the house.
Summary of family background:
Mister and his mother, Gloria, appear to have lived in their Brooklyn neighborhood for some
time. Little information is known about Mister’s father and he is not currently present in the
family home. ** Gloria’s substance use – length of time is unknown, recent transitions – Gloria’s
arrest, Pete staying in the home** Unknown on how Gloria (Mister’s mom) and Pete’s mother
knows each other- Length of friendship between Gloria and Pete’s mother.
Current child maltreatment concern:
One child maltreatment concern is emotional abuse, more specifically isolating and ignoring
Mister’s emotional needs from Gloria. Mister is very passionate about acting and is looking
forward to the acting rehearsal. When he reminds Gloria about it she brushes it off . She does not
pay attention to Mister’s passion. Mister gets agitated when Gloria does not pick up his worries
instead it has led to arguments. One particular incident was when they were at a restaurant.
Mister indirectly warned Gloria of the possibility of her being taken away after he witnessed
Curtis, a neighbor of Mister, being nabbed outside their apartment complex. Curtis’s son is taken
to what Mister refers to as the “worst group home in the world.” This choice of words is based
on what Mister has heard from his neighborhood. Instead of hearing Mister’s worries Gloria was
throwing flirty glances at a stranger and hushing Mister to eat his food. Not long after Mister
discovered Gloria paid for the food after giving oral sex to a stranger. He blurts it out afterwards
and in the heat of the moment Gloria slapped him. This is the first physical abuse. Mister was
shocked and Gloria regretted her actions. Other than that incident, there hasn’t been any more
physical harm towards Mister since then.
Mister doesn’t want Gloria to have to resort to that for money. When he showed her possible jobs
Gloria gets irritated by how Mister treats, views her, and talks to her as if she was a child. Gloria
does not provide or act on the basic necessities for her son, much less for Pete. This is another
maltreatment neglect. Mister is responsible to handle himself. He’s the one buying groceries,
cooks for himself, is responsible for his schoolwork, and takes care of Pete. This is a part of why
Mister resents his mother. Gloria admits she has no one to help her. Poverty is a contributing
factor. It becomes worse after Gloria is taken into custody. Gloria has told Mister to take Pete
with him outside the apartment because she did not want them to see her using heroin.
Unfortunately, Mister saw her doing it anyway. Substance abuse is a contributing factor that led
to Gloria being taken away. It also worsened the mother and son relationship between them. As
well between Pete and his own mother. Pete saw his own mother lose herself in drug abuse.
When he saw her in the streets he hid from her view and cried. Pete was passed to Gloria’s care
after his mother couldn’t support him anymore. Pete’s apartment did not have any food. A
neighbor of his offered to take him in which he was reluctant to go in. Mister realized the odd
behavior then got Pete out. Pete admitted the neighbor will touch him after being told to sit
naked in the bathtub. Concerns for Pete is neglect and sexual abuse.
Family strengths:
This family is very adaptable and resilient. Mister is smart, resilient, has a “protector”
characteristic, has future-oriented goals, and is calm and collected in difficult or stressful
situations. Mister also develops a friendship with Pete and they begin to trust each other and
where the norm for their community is to look out for yourself and don’t trust anyone. As Mister
and Pete go through their journey of survival, they develop a strong bond of trust and
brotherhood that helps them get through the difficult experiences they encounter. Mister shows
resiliency in his ability to take care of himself and Pete with limited resources and support.
Mister also has the goal of being on TV and has talents of acting, singing, and dancing. He is
able to use those talents as a way to cope and provide emotional support and distractions for him
and Pete. Mister having goals and dreams for his future provides him and allows him to push
through the struggles of taking care of himself on his own. Mister’s mom, Gloria, treats Mister
(and Pete) with a meal “out” as it is not a normal occurrence for them. Gloria also shows the
willingness to receive treatment and find stable employment in order to truly meet her son’s
needs. Gloria is also resilient as she tries to find ways to make ends meet and provide for Mister.
Family response to maltreatment concerns:
Recommendations:
Based on our assessment of the family, we recommend a safety plan to be put in place in order
for Mister to remain with his mother Gloria. Gloria has proven she still cares for Mister’s
well-being by finding means of getting money so that Mister may buy himself a meal or for
Gloria to take him out to eat. Despite Mister experiencing traumatic events like watching his
mother inject drugs into her body, he still cares for his mother by pleading with her to get clean
and find stable employment. We recommend Gloria seek drug rehabilitation where she can start a
process of getting clean. The parentcare program is a treatment program for women who have
substance use disorder. We believe this would be a great program for Gloria because during the
time she is in treatment, she will also attend other classes, like parenting, where she can get an
education on how to communicate with her son and how she can meet her son’s needs as a
mother. This program provides housing resources where clients can go into residential living
spaces during their treatment. Gloria may use these housing resources, however, she shall seek
employment as well in order to be reunified with Mister by the end of the program. This is a
twenty week program where a certification is earned upon completion.
During the time Gloria is in the treatment program, we recommend Mister to be temporarily
housed with a relative or someone close to the family that will take care of him. If there is no
close family or friends available, we recommend Mister to be temporarily housed with a foster
family. Mister shall continue attending school and should start speaking with a therapist weekly
to address his forceful parentification. The therapist will also allow Mister to express his
emotions about his mother and his experience after being removed from his home.
Safety:
Risk- The risk for Mister’s future harm is high if Gloria doesn’t receive the appropriate services
for her substance usage addiction and neglect of Mister. However, with proper assistance to
Gloria, consistent parent care treatment, and counseling, Gloria can stay sober and have custody
of Mister. In addition, Gloria will benefit from the services by helping with her sobriety journey
and getting the treatment that will help her with Mister’s relationship and care.
Research shows that childhood trauma is frequent, and children react to trauma in various ways.
Many kids bounce back on their own, while others need help managing the trauma they
encountered, even with therapy and support. Therefore, it is essential to facilitate rehabilitation
and growth for persons who have suffered trauma, especially in aspects of child welfare, by
putting professionals, providers, and systems in place to respond trauma-informedly (Kawan &
Martinez, Pg 130).
Based on the above information, the substance abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration(SAMHSA,2014)s this strategy should benefit Mister and Gloria. The services
focus on the extensive effects of trauma and comprehend the avenues of recovery, recognize the
signs and symptoms of trauma, and have entirely integrated knowledge of the trauma.
Therefore, drug abuse therapy will help Gloria as well. The course of treatment may include
detoxification, counseling, education, relapse prevention training, life skills training, and
self-help groups. It may include outpatient, day treatment, residential, or inpatient care. In
addition, Gloria ought to gain from the (Home visiting Program for Prevention of Child Abuse
and Neglect), which offers direct services to families in their homes. Services will include
education on ineffective parenting and childcare techniques, child development, health, safety,
and nutrition, assistance in gaining access to social support networks, education, employment,
and community services.
The family will also benefit from the (Family Stabilization Program) to ensure the well-being of
Mister and prevent initial placement, preserve support, and stabilize Mister’s relationship with
Gloria.
Section II – Case Planning
Safety goal: Reunification for Mister and his mom Gloria
Case Plan concern 1: Gloria engages in substance abuse in the house. This has contributed to the
neglect of her son Mister. Pete was supposed to be under her care but is handed off to Mister.
Gloria does not provide basic necessities and withdraws from Mister’s emotionals needs. Her
line of work led to her getting detained.
Intervention: Gloria will attend a drug rehabilitation and parenting program that will address the
impact of her substance use and provide education on maintaining sobriety and child
development to better understand how to meet Mister’s needs.
? Gloria will attend a 20-week parent care program
? Gloria will attend a parenting class and will participate in the group and will demonstrate
her ability to meet Mister’s needs through homework and evaluation
? Gloria will also seek employment opportunities through the parent care program and will
provide proof of employment before Mister returns home
Intervention: Mister will attend Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to address the
impact of being the witness or victim of physical, emotional, and verbal abuse.
? Mister will be referred to an individual therapist to address the impact of this neglect and
abuse
?
`Family Assessment and Case Planning Project
Movie
? The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete
? Focus on Mister and the mom, briefly mention Pete
Select one person to turn in the Presentation and Paper
? Jada
Divided Sections
? Section I: Family Assessment
? As you are viewing the film, create an ecomap and genogram to help you retain the
relevant information about the family relationships and built in support for the
primary character/their family.
? Ashley
? Begin the assessment by providing a short summary of the family members’
relevant demographic information: identify each family member’s role (mother,
father, grandmother, uncle), ages, gender identities, racial/ethnic identities, etc.;
describe the family’s living situation (economic situation, employment, type of
residence, location, who lives in the household, etc.)
? Jennifer
? Provide a brief summary of the family’s background: what are family members’
beliefs around child rearing (describe where these beliefs come from, if you have
this information)? Is there a history of maltreatment? Has the family experienced
recent transitions (e.g.) Has the family recently moved? Are family members
recently divorced/never married? Did new people move into the household or leave
the household? Identify any history you think is relevant to understanding the
family’s context. Please provide observations from the film that helped inform your
assessment.
? Shannon
? Provide a description of the current child maltreatment concern (i.e., child abuse
allegation(s)). Include the nature of the abuse, the duration of the abuse (if known),
and factors contributing to child maltreatment (e.g., poverty, substance use, mental
health issues, family violence).
? Elizabeth
? Identify strengths of the family as a whole and the strengths of each family
member. Strengths may include, but are not limited to, factors such as: being loving
and nurturing, doing well in or working hard in school, maintaining employment,
having a solid support network, having good peer relationships, etc. This section
should also include both formal and informal support available to the family (e.g.,
relatives, friends, helping professionals, etc).
? Jada
? Describe your observations of the family members’ responses to the child
maltreatment concern(s). As you are unable to interview each family member, you
will base this part of the assessment on what you learn about the family members
from the movie. Include perceptions for each family member in your assessment
about the maltreatment. How does the child maltreatment concern(s) appear to
impact the family? Does this look different in the external presentation (family
members’ behavior, what they say) vs. the internal experience (what family
members feel and think)?
? Larsa
Recommendations: Disregard the outcome/intervention from the movie and make
your own recommendations based on your assessment for this family.
Recommendations should include, based on your assessment, whether the
child(ren) should be removed from the home or remain in the home – provide
support for this. If your recommendations align with what occurred in the movie,
that is fine, you just need to focus on the rationale for your recommendation based
on your assessment. Important:You should include references in your assessment
for recommended services (see example assessment). You should be
recommending services/interventions that have evidence supporting their use.
These recommendations will become the foundation for your case plan for the
family.
? Ashley
? Risk
? Jennifer
Section II: Case Planning
? In this section of the paper, you will use the template provided below to create a
case plan for the family in the film you watched. You should identify a family safety
goal which should be one of the following (based on your assessment and
recommendations):
? (a) maintain the child(ren) in the home,
? (b) reunify the family if you believe the child(ren) should be placed in foster
care temporarily,
? (c) permanency (adoption or guardianship), which should be selected if you
believe the child(ren) should be removed from their parents’ care and the
parents are unable to benefit from reunification services, or
? (d) another planned permanent living arrangement (APPLA)/independent
living, which should be selected if you believe the child(ren) are not able to
be adopted/placed in guardianship, the focus will be on gaining
independence when they turn 18-21 years of age.
? Shannon
? You will also include the following items, which together make up the family case
plan.
? You will identify a case plan concern as appropriate and aligned with your
assessment. The case plan concern is a statement of what is occurring that
creates an unsafe environment for the child(ren) and is the focus of
intervention (see example below).
?
?
?
?
?
? Elizabeth
You will identify at least one intervention for each family member to
address the case plan concern. Intervention activities are the steps the
family member will take to engage in specific services (see example below).
? Jada and Larsa
You will identify 2-5 case plan objectives or “tasks” family members
should take to work toward the case plan goal. Case plan intervention
activities and objectives should focus on the (a) behavioral changes that are
needed to meet the safety goal and the (b) services that will help support
the child and family. Please see the example case plan to guide your case
planning.
? Jada and Larsa
Presentation
? Slides
? Describe the family members
? Child maltreatment allegations
? Team recommendations
? Reflection
? Final Slide
? Jada, Ashley, Larsa
? Speakers
? 10-15 minutes in length
? Shannon, Jennifer, Elizabeth