Case Studys

Part 1 200-300 words

In the case of Steve Z. that you are handling by yourself, you notice as you monitor Steve’s progress and obtain information from service providers that there are some conflicts between some of the service providers that you believe are having a negative impact on your 15-year-old client. Specifically, you observe that two service providers have formed an alliance and are negative in their language toward the other service providers by insinuating that the other service providers are not doing their jobs properly. There are also nonverbal gestures being made by the two person alliance against the remaining service providers in the form of making faces, laughing inappropriately when other service providers give an opinion, and inappropriate whispering among these two providers that have formed an alliance. The problem here is that the service providers are not behaving in a professional manner toward one another, and this is impacting their ability to focus on your client as the focus is taken off of your client and put onto the conflicts among the service providers.

• Discuss how you would handle this situation. Include what actions you would take and who you would talk to regarding this situation.
• Give specific examples of what you would do to address this problem between service providers as outlined in the scenario.
• As an intern, would you discuss this with your supervisor first, or would you just handle it yourself?
• When commenting on other posts, explain why you agree or disagree with other students’ methods of handling the situation.
• Explain which approach you would take, and explain why. Support your chosen approach with reasoning.
• Would you address this issue with your client, or do you think this would be inappropriate? Explain your answer.

Part 2

Sarah Harris, your supervisor at the New York pretrial diversion program, has been pleased with your work and believes you are ready to handle an entire case on your own. The facts of the case are as follows:

Steve Z. is a 15-year-old who is chronically truant to and absent from school. He is living with his single father, Larry Z., who believes he does not have any control or say over what his son does. The 15-year-old’s parents divorced when he was 11, and a bitter custody fight ensued that eventually led to his father gaining sole legal and sole physical custody of him. His mother was a severe substance abuser addicted to methamphetamine, had several arrests for prostitution, and had sporadic housing. While her mental health has always been questionable, she was never formally diagnosed with any DSM IV TR mental disorder, but this may simply be a function of her refusal to show up at scheduled evaluations as part of her probation. She could not physically care for him according to court documents from the parties’ custody trial. The 15-year-old was recently suspended from school for bringing marijuana to his history class. The school contacted the police and the 15-year-old has been charged with possession of marijuana, which is a minor misdemeanor. The court has released him to the pretrial diversion program. The school has reported the father to the local Child Protective Services (CPS) Agency for educational neglect because of the 15-year-old’s repeated absence and truancy to school.

Determine which issues are important to address based on the fact pattern. You should identify at least 5–6 issues raised by the scenario. Once you have determined which issues to address, your job is to prepare a memo to your supervisor outlining an entire case management plan for Steve Z. Your case management plan should contain the following sections: Needs assessment

1. Service plan
2. Coordination of client to appropriate services
3. Monitoring progress of client
4. Advocacy for client

• Prepare a memo to your supervisor outlining an entire case management plan for Steve Z.
• Make sure that your plan is constructed keeping in mind that the agency in which you are working deals with pretrial diversion. Your memo should demonstrate an understanding of what pretrial diversion is, and how diversion can benefit Steve Z.
• The memo should include each of the 5 functions of case management listed above, and be specific to Steve Z.’s case.

Be certain to use the facts within the scenario. Post your individual portion to the small group files.

• Your memo should define and explain the function of case management listed above.
• Discuss in detail what you would do as the probation officer within this function utilizing the information contained in the scenario.

Be certain to use in-text citations in APA format and to have a reference section at the end.

Part 3 200-400 words

Scenario

Cindy Hart is 23 years of age. She was born on 6/11/86, the fourth child born to Betty Hart (born 6/1/66) and Barney Hart (born 4/11/55). Her father, Barney Hart, was an alcoholic who drank daily and recently passed away from cirrhosis of the liver. Mr. Hart was extremely violent with his wife and his children. He repeatedly beat his wife throughout the marriage and was often violent with the children. Cindy and her three siblings were taken from the custody of their parents several times during their formative years because of their father’s drinking, domestic violence, and their mother’s inability to protect them. Cindy likely bore the brunt of her father’s alcoholism and family violence because she was the youngest of her siblings, and her father’s alcoholism was severe for the last 12 years before his death. Cindy’s father could not hold a job because of his alcoholism, and her mother did not work, so the family had limited funds and finances were always a source of great strain and tension. Cindy’s mother was ineffectual and inept as a parent. She allowed repeated beatings of the children by Mr. Hart. Her mental health is questionable.

Her older siblings are Noah, age 25; Colleen, age 26; and Laura, age 28. Noah is currently incarcerated after recently being found guilty of drug trafficking. He is to serve a 40-year sentence. Colleen has six children; three of whom have been removed by Child Protective Services (CPS) because of issues involving drugs, inadequate supervision, and her recent arrests for prostitution. Laura, who is the most stable of the siblings, is married, has one child, and is working full-time as a physician assistant. She has no ties with her siblings or her mother.

Cindy Hart has never been married and has two children: Benjamin, age 5 and Luke, age 3. The children have different fathers and neither father is involved on a regular basis with either child. Cindy is receiving Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) (i.e., welfare) and Medicaid as health insurance for the children. She lives in an apartment in a crime-ridden, rundown neighborhood. She did not complete high school and did not graduate with her class but instead she dropped out in the 11th grade. She had a series of drug binges during this period. She eventually did receive her GED and is very proud of that fact because only her sister Laura graduated.

Cindy works part-time in a day care center as an aide. She has a history of mental health treatment, which includes two psychiatric hospital stays (one at the age of 15 and the other at the age of 21). She currently takes antidepressant medication, has a dual diagnosis (DSM-IV-TR diagnosis plus a substance abuse diagnosis), and has very few social supports. She sees her psychiatrist monthly for medication consults but has missed her last two appointments. She also sees her social worker for ongoing mental health counseling twice per month but has missed her last two appointments.

Luke, her 3-year-old son, was recently diagnosed with autism, and Ben, her 5-year-old son, was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome at the age of 3 (2 years ago). Because she has not followed through with appointments, referrals, services for the children, and additional evaluations of the children, CPS has recently become involved. Cindy is in denial about her children’s special needs. She does not send Ben to school on a regular basis, and the school has notified the authorities.

Assume for purposes of this scenario that the state this scenario takes place in has a criminal statute that states parents can be charged with a misdemeanor when they do not ensure their child’s attendance at school under the compulsory education laws of the state.

Cindy has been charged with this misdemeanor, and the court has released her to pretrial diversion.

After reviewing the above scenario of Cindy Hart, do the following:

• Discuss how this pretrial diversion worker would serve as a case manager in this situation.
• Include 4 specific tasks the pretrial worker might do as the case manager for Ms. Hart. (e.g., referral).
• When commenting on other posts, explain why you would agree or disagree with the other students’ method of how the pretrial diversion worker should serve as a case manager in the situation.

Part 4 800-1000 Words

Scenario

Cindy Hart is 23 years of age. She was born on 6/11/86, the fourth child born to Betty Hart (born 6/1/66) and Barney Hart (born 4/11/55). Her father, Barney Hart, was an alcoholic who drank daily and recently passed away from cirrhosis of the liver. Mr. Hart was extremely violent with his wife and his children. He repeatedly beat his wife throughout the marriage and was often violent with the children. Cindy and her three siblings were taken from the custody of their parents several times during their formative years because of their father’s drinking, domestic violence, and their mother’s inability to protect them. Cindy likely bore the brunt of her father’s alcoholism and family violence because she was the youngest of her siblings, and her father’s alcoholism was severe for the last 12 years before his death. Cindy’s father could not hold a job because of his alcoholism, and her mother did not work, so the family had limited funds and finances were always a source of great strain and tension. Cindy’s mother was ineffectual and inept as a parent. She allowed repeated beatings of the children by Mr. Hart. Her mental health is questionable.

Her older siblings are Noah, age 25; Colleen, age 26; and Laura, age 28. Noah is currently incarcerated after recently being found guilty of drug trafficking. He is to serve a 40-year sentence. Colleen has six children; three of whom have been removed by Child Protective Services (CPS) because of issues involving drugs, inadequate supervision, and her recent arrests for prostitution. Laura, who is the most stable of the siblings, is married, has one child, and is working full-time as a physician assistant. She has no ties with her siblings or her mother.

Cindy Hart has never been married and has two children: Benjamin, age 5 and Luke, age 3. The children have different fathers and neither father is involved on a regular basis with either child. Cindy is receiving Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) (i.e., welfare) and Medicaid as health insurance for the children. She lives in an apartment in a crime-ridden, rundown neighborhood. She did not complete high school and did not graduate with her class but instead she dropped out in the 11th grade. She had a series of drug binges during this period. She eventually did receive her GED and is very proud of that fact because only her sister Laura graduated.

Cindy works part-time in a day care center as an aide. She has a history of mental health treatment, which includes two psychiatric hospital stays (one at the age of 15 and the other at the age of 21). She currently takes antidepressant medication, has a dual diagnosis (DSM-IV-TR diagnosis plus a substance abuse diagnosis), and has very few social supports. She sees her psychiatrist monthly for medication consults but has missed her last two appointments. She also sees her social worker for ongoing mental health counseling twice per month but has missed her last two appointments.

Luke, her 3-year-old son, was recently diagnosed with autism, and Ben, her 5-year-old son, was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome at the age of 3 (2 years ago). Because she has not followed through with appointments, referrals, services for the children, and additional evaluations of the children, CPS has recently become involved. Cindy is in denial about her children’s special needs. She does not send Ben to school on a regular basis, and the school has notified the authorities.

Assume for purposes of this scenario that the state this scenario takes place in has a criminal statute that states parents can be charged with a misdemeanor when they do not ensure their child’s attendance at school under the compulsory education laws of the state.

Cindy has been charged with this misdemeanor, and the court has released her to pretrial diversion.

Using the information in the scenario, prepare a memo to your supervisor Sarah Harris discussing the following:

• Identify 2 disciplines involved with Cindy Hart.
• Discuss in detail 1 theory of each discipline that you identified in part (1) that applies to this fact pattern.
• Discuss how this scenario is distinguishable from a scenario that might take place in the traditional mental health setting.
• Identify 2 ethical obligations/core values at play in this scenario.
• Assess this client’s needs. In terms of the case management, perform the following:
  • Develop a service plan for Cindy Hart.
  • Coordinate Cindy Hart to the appropriate services.
  • State how you would monitor her progress as the pretrial diversion worker.
  • State 2 ways in which you would advocate for her.