The Importance of Family Evaluations in Treatment Planning and Intervention

The Importance of Family Evaluations in Treatment Planning and Intervention

Evaluation is a crucial part of a social worker’s job when dealing with families, and it is almost inevitable. Van Hook (2019) stated that evaluation when working with families is very important, especially if a social worker wants to assess the factors that determine how a family functions. Through an evaluation, a social worker can identify the strengths and weaknesses of a family so that they can tailor the intervention to meet the needs of that specific family. This discourse examines why evaluating a family one is working with is essential and what is to be assessed.

Evaluation helps reveal family interactions, roles of members, and power dynamics. This can happen when the review focuses on the assessment of family dynamics. The assessment on this subject will help the social worker understand how a family functions, how families interact and community patterns, and how they resolve conflicts (Van Hook, 2019). This knowledge facilitates understanding of how the social worker determines which family member can participate in the intervention process. The social worker can also evaluate the strengths of resources. Evaluation can give the social worker an idea of some of a family’s resources and how they can be used to achieve positive change and create resilience. Some things to assess in such a case are the coping mechanisms, available support networks, and existing skills (Van Hook, 2019). When undertaking an evaluation, the social worker can examine the family’s history. An assessment in this area can help reveal the impacts of socioeconomic status, cultural family background, and the environment on the family and how it can impact interventions (Van Hook, 2019). An assessment can also reveal the areas of concern or where there is a dysfunction and the needs of the individual. Most importantly, it can help monitor the intervention’s progress and inform decision-making.

Evaluation when working with a family is inevitable for a social worker, but it is also helpful if the social worker wants to offer the best intervention. Through evaluation, a social worker can collect a lot of information. When evaluating, the focus should be on family dynamics, the strengths of resources, family history, and community patterns. Evaluation is critical because it gives the social worker comprehensive information about the family. With this information, the social worker can develop the right intervention. Also, such information is necessary for the social worker to identify the best support for the child.

References

Van Hook, M. P. (2019). Social Work Practice with Families: A Resiliency-Based Approach. United States: Oxford University Press.

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Chapter 5

Now that you have learned what engaging with a family consists of, what to look for during your assessments with the family, and how to create a treatment plan and work on intervention techniques to help the family; I want you to think about why we evaluate the family.

The Importance of Family Evaluations in Treatment Planning and Intervention

Discuss why the evaluations are so important when working with a family. What are you going to be evaluating and why?