Risk Management

In this assignment, you will apply the risk management techniques you have learned to a real-life scenario.

Assignment Scenario

Mr. Ashford is a caseworker at the County Human Services Department. One of his clients, Mr. Lainez, is a young man who presents with many issues. He has been in foster care and is about to age out of the program to live on his own. Mr. Ashford will be assisting him with this transition.

In an effort to connect with his young client, Mr. Ashford accepts Mr. Lainezs invitation of friendship on social media. In addition, he provides his agency email address to Mr. Lainez when he asks if there is not another way to make an appointment rather than making a telephone call and going through a receptionist.

Shortly thereafter, Mr. Lainez experiences several disappointing events. He loses his job, and the young woman he was dating tells him she is no longer interested in seeing him. Additionally, he is struggling to make ends meet, and becomes unable to pay the rent on his first apartment.

At his wits end, he makes a vague suicidal threat on Facebook and sends a desperate request to Mr. Ashford to set up an appointment as soon as possible. Out on calls, Mr. Ashford does not check his email or his Facebook account for several days, missing Mr. Lainezs cues. His young client is found dead of an overdose of medication he has been prescribed by the department psychiatrist.

Assignment Directions

Use the readings, internet, and peer-reviewed research the implications of this case study under current law and practice expectations.

Please be sure to address all of the following in your assignment:

Introduce the case study and list each of the problematic decisions Mr. Ashford made in this scenario, analyzing each in terms of its effect on the outcome.

Identify and explain other choices he could or should have made.

Evaluate the legal and regulatory implications of this case study that you have learned from your research.

Apply and evaluate the risk management techniques you have learned over the past two units to this case.

Do you believe they would likely have led to a different outcome for Mr. Lainez? For Mr. Ashford? Why or why not?

Your assignment should be a 3- to 4-page expository essay, not including the title and reference pages, and should include the following elements:

Title page: Provide your name, title of assignment, course and section number, and date.
Body: Answer all the questions in complete sentences and paragraphs.
Your responses should reflect professional writing standards, using proper tone and language. The writing and writing style should be correct and accurate, and reflect knowledge of professional ethics and personal values in the human service profession.
Reference page: Sources listed in APA format.
Include a minimum of two scholarly or academic sources to support your responses and conclusions.
Use Arial or Times New Roman 12-point font, double-spaced and left aligned.
Use standard 1″ margins on all sides.
Use APA formatting and citation style.

Barsky, A. E. (2017). Social Work Practice and Technology: Ethical Issues and Policy Responses. Journal of Technology in Human Services, 35(1), 819. https://doi.org/10.1080/15228835.2017.1277906

Hokke, S., Hackworth, N. J., Quin, N., Bennetts, S. K., Win, H. Y., Nicholson, J. M., Zion, L., Lucke, J., Keyzer, P., & Crawford, S. B. (2018). Ethical issues in using the internet to engage participants in family and child research: A scoping review. PloS One, 13(9), e0204572. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0204572

Kelley, T. (2017). Telemental health is becoming the norm. Managed Care (Langhorne, Pa.), 26(4), 2629.

Mentovich, A., & Zeev-Wolf, M. (2018). Law and moral order: The influence of legal outcomes on moral judgment. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 24(4), 489502. https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000175

Reamer, F. G. (2013). Social Work in a Digital Age: Ethical and Risk Management Challenges. Social Work, 58(2), 163172. https://doi.org/sw/swt003

Sabin, J. E., & Harland, J. C. (2017). Professional Ethics for Digital Age Psychiatry: Boundaries, Privacy, and Communication. Current Psychiatry Reports, 9, 1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-017-0815-5

Slobogian, V., Giles, J., & Rent, T. (2017). #Boundaries: When patients become friends. Canadian Oncology Nursing Journal, 27(4), 394400.

Sude, M. E. (2013). Text Messaging and Private Practice: Ethical Challenges and Guidelines for Developing Personal Best Practices. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 35(3), 211227. https://doi.org/10.17744/mehc.35.3.q37l2236up62l713

Web Resources

Reamer, F. G. (2008). When ethics and the law collide. Social Work Today, 8(5). Retrieved from https://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/EoESepOct08.shtml

QUICK LINK

National Organization for Human Services. (2015). Ethical standards for human services professionals. https://www.nationalhumanservices.org/ethical-standards-for-hs-professionals

For this unit, please review Standards 8, 9, 33, and 42.