As a social worker, you will meet children and adolescents who are in complicated family situations and may require a variety of resources for support. There are many times when these situations involve drug abuse, domestic violence, child abuse, and/or neglect. If these factors are present within a child’s or adolescent’s environment, it will impact their development. As mandated reporters, social workers are legally required to report any suspicion they have of child abuse or neglect to local authorities in an effort to ensure a healthier environment within which they can grow. For this Discussion, review the case study “Working With Clients With Addictions: The Case of Barbara and Jonah.” Consider this week’s reading in the Learning Resources  An explanation of influences of Barbara’s addiction on Jonah’s future development. Describe an intervention that you would use for Jonah if you were the social worker in this case. Please use the Learning Resources to support your answer. Zastrow, C. H., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2016). Understanding human behavior and the social environment (10th ed.). Boston, MA:  Cengage Learning. Chapter 2 (pp. 62-111) Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen S. M. (Eds.). (2014). Social work case studies: Foundation year . Baltimore, MD: Laureate International Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader]. Working With Clients With Addictions: The Case of Barbara and Jonah Working With Clients With Addictions: The Case of Barbara and Jonah Barbara is a 25-year-old, heterosexual, Caucasian female and is the mother of a 6-month-old baby boy. She is currently unemployed and has neither specific skills nor a college education. At the time we first met, she was living her with her son, Jonah, and her boyfriend, Scott (also Jonah’s father), in a home that her grandparents purchased for her. Scott, a 29-year-old, heterosexual, Caucasian male, is employed by a flooring company, although his work is not regular. Both Barbara and Scott have a long history of severe polysubstance abuse, including heroin addiction. They are both currently prescribed methadone. Jonah was born with severe birth defects due in part to Barbara’s and Scott’s drug use. Jonah remained in the hospital for several weeks after his birth, and during that time he underwent multiple surgeries. Among other abnormalities, he was born with two stomachs, one of which formed on the exterior of his body. He will need additional surgeries in the future and his stomach will never be fully functioning. The full extent of his disabilities is not certain at this time. When our sessions began, Barbara was experiencing financial problems and was trying to obtain Social Security Disability for Jonah. Because Jonah is unable to attend day care due to his fragile health, Barbara has had to stay home and has reported feelings of isolation. Due to the child’s condition at birth, the hospital staff had reported the family to the Department of Social Servi ...

1. As a social worker, you will meet children and adolescents who
are in complicated family situations and may require a variety
of resources for support. There are many times when these
situations involve drug abuse, domestic violence, child abuse,
and/or neglect. If these factors are present within a child’s or
adolescent’s environment, it will impact their development. As
mandated reporters, social workers are legally required to report
any suspicion they have of child abuse or neglect to local
authorities in an effort to ensure a healthier environment within
which they can grow.
For this Discussion, review the case study “Working With
Clients With Addictions: The Case of Barbara and Jonah.”
Consider this week’s reading in the Learning Resources
An explanation of influences of Barbara’s addiction on Jonah’s
future development. Describe an intervention that you would
use for Jonah if you were the social worker in this case. Please
use the Learning Resources to support your answer.
Zastrow, C. H., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2016).
Understanding human behavior and the social environment
(10th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Chapter 2 (pp. 62-111)
Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen S. M. (Eds.). (2014).
Social work case studies: Foundation year
. Baltimore, MD: Laureate International Universities
Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader].

2. Working With Clients With Addictions: The Case of Barbara
and Jonah
Working With Clients With Addictions: The Case of Barbara
and Jonah
Barbara is a 25-year-old, heterosexual, Caucasian female and is
the mother of a 6-month-old baby boy. She is currently
unemployed and has neither specific skills nor a college
education. At the time we first met, she was living her with her
son, Jonah, and her boyfriend, Scott (also Jonah’s father), in a
home that her grandparents purchased for her. Scott, a 29-year-
old, heterosexual, Caucasian male, is employed by a flooring
company, although his work is not regular. Both Barbara and
Scott have a long history of severe polysubstance abuse,
including heroin addiction. They are both currently prescribed
methadone.
Jonah was born with severe birth defects due in part to
Barbara’s and Scott’s drug use. Jonah remained in the hospital
for several weeks after his birth, and during that time he
underwent multiple surgeries. Among other abnormalities, he
was born with two stomachs, one of which formed on the
exterior of his body. He will need additional surgeries in the
future and his stomach will never be fully functioning. The full
extent of his disabilities is not certain at this time.
When our sessions began, Barbara was experiencing financial
problems and was trying to obtain Social Security Disability for
Jonah. Because Jonah is unable to attend day care due to his
fragile health, Barbara has had to stay home and has reported
feelings of isolation.

3. Due to the child’s condition at birth, the hospital staff had
reported the family to the Department of Social Services to
ensure that the parents would provide appropriate care for him
and that the child would be safe in the home environment. After
initial contact was established with the parents, a number of
concerns were noted, and the family was recommended for
additional case management services. Among the concerns were
the parents’ denial about the extent of their substance abuse and
its negative effects on their lives and their child’s life.
Financial issues were a problem, and family support was limited
only to Jonah’s maternal great-grandparents, who are elderly
and not in good health. Scott’s parents had divorced when he
was very young, and he had no relationship with his father, who
also had substance abuse issues. Barbara’s parents divorced
when she was very young, and she was raised primarily by her
grandparents. She reported that her father was and remains an
alcoholic. She presented as anxious and depressed and
experiencing low self-esteem. She appeared to be bonded with
her child and took very good care of him, although she clearly
struggled with his health issues. She also struggled with her
responsibility for his disabilities. She tried hard to educate
herself about his health problems and learn how to parent in
general.
Initially, both parents were uncooperative and resistant to
participate in the case management process. Scott felt that
because he was going to a clinic every day for his methadone,
he no longer had a substance abuse problem. I pointed out to
him that this was a stopgap measure and he could not spend his
life on methadone. I also pointed out that he needed greater
insight into his problems in order to overcome them. He never
really engaged in the process and frequently did not attend our
scheduled appointments, saying he had to work. Barbara stated
that he often was not really working and that he was still using
drugs. Barbara seemed to feel that she did not really have a

4. problem because she was not using street drugs, but was
receiving her medications from a pain management clinic as the
result of a motorcycle accident several years ago. As subsequent
home visits were made, Barbara began disclosing her feelings to
me and addressing some of her issues.
All of my clients are involuntarily in the system, so I frequently
utilize Carl Rogers’ person-centered approach because it seems
to be the most effective method to establish rapport and
ultimately achieve change. Having empathy for your client,
encouraging them, and providing support is critical to
facilitating change.
Barbara and I made a list of the major issues that she needed
and wanted to address and then prioritized them. We did some
research to help her find possible solutions to her needs.
Barbara was actively involved in the process and, over time,
began to feel less overwhelmed. I encouraged her to begin
individual therapy sessions, and she agreed to participate. I
made the referral, and Barbara found a therapist with whom she
really connected. She also began to disclose to me that there
were other problems in her relationship with Scott, including
incidents of domestic violence and a pattern of verbal abuse
designed to affect her self-esteem. We engaged in a frank
discussion with her grandparents, and they agreed to let her and
Jonah come to live with them so that they would both be
removed from any threat of harm and so that Barbara’s anxiety
level could be reduced while she continued in therapy. One
evening, Scott came to the grandparents’ home and was high
and extremely intoxicated. He assaulted Barbara and her
grandfather and was subsequently arrested. She obtained a
restraining order and was committed to terminating contact with
Scott due to his unwillingness to acknowledge his problems and
make any positive changes. She continued with therapy and
enrolled in the community college to obtain skills that would
allow her to care for herself and child.