Working With Children and Adolescents: The Case of Claudia Claudia is a 6-year-old, Hispanic female residing with her biological mother and father in an urban area. Claudia was born in the United States 6 months after her mother and father moved to the country from Nicaragua. There is currently no extended family living in the area, but Claudia’s parents have made friends in the neighborhood. Claudia’s family struggles economically and has also struggled to obtain legal residency in this country. Her father inconsistently finds work in manual labor, and her mother recently began working three nights a week at a nail salon. While Claudia is bilingual in Spanish and English, Spanish is the sole language spoken in her household. She is currently enrolled in a large public school, attending kindergarten. Claudia’s family lives in an impoverished urban neighborhood with a rising crime rate. After Claudia witnessed a mugging in her neighborhood, her mother reported that she became very anxious and “needy.” She cried frequently and refused to be in a room alone without a parent. Claudia made her parents lock the doors after returning home and would ask her parents to check the locks repeatedly. When walking in the neighborhood, Claudia would ask her parents if people passing are “bad” or if an approaching person is going to hurt them. Claudia had difficulty going to bed on nights when her mother worked, often crying when her mother left. Although she was frequently nervous, Claudia was comforted by her parents and has a good relationship with them. Claudia’s nervousness was exhibited throughout the school day as well. She asked her teachers to lock doors and spoke with staff and peers about potential intruders on a daily basis. Claudia’s mother, Paula, was initially hesitant to seek therapy services for her daughter due to the family’s undocumented status in the country. I met with Claudia’s mother and utilized the initial meeting to explain the nature of services offered at the agency, as well as the policies of confidentiality. Prior to the meeting, I translated all relevant forms to Spanish to increase Paula’s comfort. Within several minutes of talking, Paula noticeably relaxed, openly sharing the family’s history and her concerns regarding Claudia’s “nervousness.” Goals set for Claudia included increasing Claudia’s ability to cope with anxiety and increasing her ability to maintain attention throughout her school day. Using child-centered and directed play therapy approaches, I began working with Claudia to explore her world. Claudia was intrigued by the sand tray in my office and selected a variety of figures, informing me that each figure was either “good” or “bad.” She would then construct scenes in the sand tray in which she would create protective barriers around the good figures, protecting them from the bad. I reflected upon this theme of good versus bad, and Claudia developed the ability to verbalize her desire to protect good people. I .

1. Working With Children and Adolescents: The Case of Claudia
Claudia is a 6-year-old, Hispanic female residing with her
biological mother and father in an urban area. Claudia was born
in the United States 6 months after her mother and father moved
to the country from Nicaragua. There is currently no extended
family living in the area, but Claudia’s parents have made
friends in the neighborhood. Claudia’s family struggles
economically and has also struggled to obtain legal residency in
this country. Her father inconsistently finds work in manual
labor, and her mother recently began working three nights a
week at a nail salon. While Claudia is bilingual in Spanish and
English, Spanish is the sole language spoken in her household.
She is currently enrolled in a large public school, attending
kindergarten.
Claudia’s family lives in an impoverished urban neighborhood
with a rising crime rate. After Claudia witnessed a mugging in
her neighborhood, her mother reported that she became very
anxious and “needy.” She cried frequently and refused to be in a
room alone without a parent. Claudia made her parents lock the
doors after returning home and would ask her parents to check
the locks repeatedly. When walking in the neighborhood,
Claudia would ask her parents if people passing are “bad” or if
an approaching person is going to hurt them. Claudia had
difficulty going to bed on nights when her mother worked, often
crying when her mother left. Although she was frequently
nervous, Claudia was comforted by her parents and has a good
relationship with them. Claudia’s nervousness was exhibited
throughout the school day as well. She asked her teachers to
lock doors and spoke with staff and peers about potential
intruders on a daily basis.
Claudia’s mother, Paula, was initially hesitant to seek therapy
services for her daughter due to the family’s undocumented
status in the country. I met with Claudia’s mother and utilized
the initial meeting to explain the nature of services offered at

2. the agency, as well as the policies of confidentiality. Prior to
the meeting, I translated all relevant forms to Spanish to
increase Paula’s comfort. Within several minutes of talking,
Paula noticeably relaxed, openly sharing the family’s history
and her concerns regarding Claudia’s “nervousness.” Goals set
for Claudia included increasing Claudia’s ability to cope with
anxiety and increasing her ability to maintain attention
throughout her school day.
Using child-centered and directed play therapy approaches, I
began working with Claudia to explore her world. Claudia was
intrigued by the sand tray in my office and selected a variety of
figures, informing me that each figure was either “good” or
“bad.” She would then construct scenes in the sand tray in
which she would create protective barriers around the good
figures, protecting them from the bad. I reflected upon this
theme of good versus bad, and Claudia developed the ability to
verbalize her desire to protect good people.
I continued meeting with Claudia once a week, and Claudia
continued exploring the theme of good versus bad in the sand
tray for 2 months. Utilizing a daily feelings check-in, Claudia
developed the ability to engage in affect identification,
verbalizing her feelings and often sharing relevant stories.
Claudia slowly began asking me questions about people in the
building and office, inquiring if they were bad or good, and I
supported Claudia in exploring these inquiries. Claudia would
frequently discuss her fears about school with me, asking why
security guards were present at schools. We would discuss the
purpose of security guards in detail, allowing her to ask
questions repeatedly, as needed. Claudia and I also practiced a
calming song to sing when she experienced fear or anxiety
during the school day.
During this time, I regularly met with Paula to track Claudia’s
progress through parent reporting. I also utilized
psychoeducational techniques during these meetings to review
appropriate methods Paula could use to discuss personal safety
with Claudia without creating additional anxiety.

3. By the third month of treatment, Claudia began determining that
more and more people in the environment were good. This was
reflected in her sand tray scenes as well: the protection of good
figures decreased, and Claudia began placing good and
bad figures next to one another, stating, “They’re okay now.”
Paula reported that Claudia no longer questioned her about each
individual that passed them on the street. Claudia began telling
her friends in school about good security guards and stopped
asking teachers to lock doors during the day. At home, Claudia
became more comfortable staying in her bedroom alone, and she
significantly decreased the frequency of asking for doors to be
locked.
Week 3: Assessment of Children
It is essential to obtain a strong knowledge base on the relevant
assessment tools used specifically with children. Assessment
tools historically have been created and tested primarily on
adults, more specifically Caucasian adult male subjects.
Children, similar to people with disabilities or those from
various ethnic backgrounds, are often ignored in research
protocols. In turn, the assessment tools used with them tend to
be mere replicas of those created and tested for adults. It has
become clear in the social work profession as well as other
disciplines that we have not paid close enough attention to the
unique needs and experiences of children. It is imperative to
recognize the importance of using evidence-based assessment
tools that are tailored specifically for children. Children quickly
develop emotionally, physically, and psychologically, and the
assessment tools used with this population must be sensitive to
their developmental process. Further, a child’s physical,
emotional, personality, and psychological development is
strongly impacted by his or her environment. Taking an
ecological perspective, understanding a child’s experience
within his or her home and surrounding environment, will help
to identify the level of support and safety. This knowledge will

4. help guide one’s treatment plan and intervention.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
· Analyze assessment tools for children
· Analyze the importance of using multiple tools for assessment
· Analyze the ecological perspective of assessment
· Analyze the importance of cultural competence in clinical
practice
Learning Resources
Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please
click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in
the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.
Required Readings
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2013). Adverse
Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Retrieved from
http://www.cdc.gov/ace
Woolley, M. E. (2013). Assessment of children. In M. J.
Holosko, C. N. Dulmus, & K. M. Sowers (Eds.), Social work
practice with individuals and families: Evidence-informed
assessments and interventions (pp. 1–39). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
McCormick, K. M., Stricklin, S., Nowak, T. M., & Rous, B.
(2008). Using eco-mapping to understand family strengths and
resources. Young Exceptional Children, 11(2), 17–28.
Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen, S. M. (Eds.). (2014b).
Social work case studies: Concentration year. Baltimore, MD:
Laureate International Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-
reader].

5. · Working With Children and Adolescents: The Case of Claudia
(pp. 15–17)
Note: Depending on your concentration, you may not receive a
case study book until a later term. Therefore, if you did not
receive a copy of Social Work Case Studies: Concentration Year
in your previous course, use the linked PDF provided here. If
you did receive the book referenced above, you may find the
cases there or use the PDF.
Optional Resources
Use this link to access the MSW home page, which provides
resources for your social work program.
Assignment: Cultural Competence
As with all areas of the social work process, cultural
competence is essential when engaging and assessing a child’s
concerns. Being culturally competent includes understanding
the unique needs of your client and asking how those needs can
be fulfilled. Using an empowerment perspective treating clients
as experts on their lives and their needs is essential. Not only
does this establish your commitment to being culturally
sensitive and aware, but it will enhance the therapeutic
relationship. While it is essential to learn and master social
work skills and techniques to be a successful practitioner,
another significant indicator of a successful intervention is the
relationship a social worker builds with his or her client. Some
research suggests that the quality of the therapeutic relationship
will account for 30% of the clinical outcome of the treatment
(Miller, Duncan, and Hubble, 2005, as stated in Walsh, 2010, p.
7). Exhibiting a dedication to learning about a client’s culture,
history, and current environmental factors exemplifies a social

6. worker’s desire to build that client–worker bond.
For this Assignment, read the case study for Claudia and find
two to three scholarly articles on social issues surrounding
immigrant families.
Provide a Paper which includes the following headings.
In a 2- to 4-page paper, explain how the literature informs you
about Claudia and her family when assessing her situation.
· Describe two social issues related to the course-specific case
study for Claudia that inform a culturally competent social
worker.
· Describe culturally competent strategies you might use to
assess the needs of children.
· Describe the types of data you would collect from Claudia and
her family in order to best serve them.
· Identify other resources that may offer you further information
about Claudia’s case.
· Create an eco-map to represent Claudia’s situation. Describe
how the ecological perspective of assessment influenced how
the social worker interacted with Claudia.
· Describe how the social worker in the case used a strengths
perspective and multiple tools in her assessment of Claudia.
Explain how those factors contributed to the therapeutic
relationship with Claudia and her family.
At least 4 references and citations.